Is it time to focus on clad coinage?

Respecting all the above opinions, I want to voice mine. I see nothing wrong or cheap about collecting modern clad coins.
Collecting the complete Roosevelt dime series may be one collector's dream while other collectors waste of time. That also goes for the collector of Morgan Silver Dollars.
Also a BU or better collection of clad is as nice to me as a VF - XF set of Walking Liberty Halves. It is the challenge to complete your set/s with the best possible coins you can find and afford. Finishing a Whitman 1959 to 2008 Lincoln Memorial Cents, yes they're not considered clad but close, is really a good feeling when done by mostly searching. There is no way IMHO that a complete set can be completed without purchasing some of them. Financial value being secondary for me because I don't believe I'll ever sell one of my sets which are works in progress anyway.
zeke

 

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I hope your financial interest comes with its own warehouse of clad...

 

Clad coins have not been melted yet but this is the fate of almost all moderns and it will eventually befall clad quarters as well.

Almost all of the pre-2000 European coins have been melted and turned into consumer products. Have you priced something like a nice luminum unc 1950 E E German 10p recently. It goes for well over $1000. A 1969 Russian 5k goes for nearly a thousand. Some of the Greek cu ni from the '50's is over a thousand. A 1991 Russian mint set is over $2500 and an Indian 1950 proof set is over $1000. These coins are mostly high mintage but people neglected to save them. All of these coins that were left after decades of use have been melted over the last couple decades.

The old coins were not melted because no one would want to turn in a silver coin for a debased coin. Of course some have been melted individually but this isn't like thwe wholesale destruction of hundreds of millions of coins. There was a ship that used to take 30,000 tons of obsolete coins back to Japan after each delivery of Toyotas to South America. But you can go to a coin shop and get bags of obsolete silver.

It was highly variable. It ranged from as low as about .08% to as high as about 9%. Multiply that low number by the one third of mint sets that survive to get an idea of how scarce gems can be. Try to find gems of coins that didn't appear in mint sets like the '82-P quarter if you want a real challenge.

 

Again. The value of the metal in a clad quarter in 2008 exceeded the value of the silver in a silver quarter in 1935. Many clads are far scarcer than silver coins. Only 3,000,000 1955-D quarters were made but the coin is so common that it sells for melt value even in nice choice unc. An '83-P quarter is probably more than 25 times scarcer yet sells for only only about five times as much as the common silver low mintage coin. These are just the facts of life. When the demand shows up for the '83 coin you'll see a huge change in the pricing structure.

 

All of the modern sets are a challenge in gem. The dimes are easiest but will still keep you busy for a good long while. Any collectoir who finds them too tough can try a chUnc set. These aren't easy except for cents. If gem is too easy then try a superb set. All of these will attract the attention of even non-hobbyists because quality coins are tough and the old clad just isn't seen any longer.

Typical unc doesn't really inspire me. These coins may be a good financial bet or maybe they aren't but they are not very inspiring. I'd rather look at a nice VF+ set carefully assembled from circulation than MS-60.

 

Fred, a modern quarter's melt value is .057. 5.7 cents.

I have several sets of lincolns, but I kind of stopped at 1958. saved some unc memorials. I don't save any quarters after 64, they just don't do anything for me. I have continued my Roosevelt collection to current, but that's my only complete clad set.

 

the only clad anything I would collect is if it was given to me for free.
Clad just doesn't do it for me. I'll stick with silver.

 

Nobody has that sort of quantity. It cost 25 c to set aside a 1965 clad quarter and in those days a quarter was like real money. Even in 1972 25 c wasn't something to just make change with like it is today. You could get a gallon of gasoline or a hamburger for a quarter. I sure didn't have the kind of money to set aside large quantities. All of my good stuff is in safety deposit boxes. Most everything else I just spend or take to the bank for currency. I might go through a box or bag of new coins and just save a single example of each die pair if it's a bad batch. Sometimes with quarters I won't even save the nicest one of each die pair because it costs to set it aside and store it.

I didn't have a lot of knowledge in the early days since I was just starting and in those days one had to learn stuff on his own a great deal more than now days. Partly this was because I was a pioneer but also because there wasn't the flood of info available from all corners like there is now. I missed a lot of stuff and may not have a single example of many of the most desirable coins. Anyone just trying to "invest" in clad will probably have little of interest and mostly just junk. Even today after decades of inflation filling up a warehouse would be prohibitively expensive. Those little boxes of quarters hold $500 face value.

 

1965 was the time to be focusing on silver coins.
One reason why my grandmother got me started in 1966

 

He never said they were "melted". He said they were recalled and destroyed. Millions of Euro coins are removed from circulation by government banks every year and scrapped for metal. I don't know how much that affects the total surviving mintages, but it is a known fact. In fact, I remember reading a story about how the Chinese had gotten their hands on this scrap metal, reworked the scrap into Euro coins, and then smuggled them back into the EU.

 

Being "king" may seem an enviable place to be but it's come at a high price. No, I don't regret any of the work I did or friends I made along the way but I was relying to some extent on profits that never really materialized until they were just too late. In the early years I feared even telling people what I was doing since it seemed it would drive the price sky high before I had a chance to capitalize on it. It never crossed my mind that it might take more than a decade for people to realize they were missing out on clads and all moderns. Yet here we are 40 years later and still most people have no interest in these coins.

Investing in coins is really a dicey business. Few make money and even if you do it might not be what you expect. Collecting coins is a lot of fun and the more you learn the more cheaply you can do it. This is fun and profitable to a far higher extent than is investment.

 

Typical....every other post in response to the OP's question is centered around "value". He didn't state he wanted to invest in clad coinage, but wanted to collect it. I know...thats a novel concept in these parts in this day and age. But, there are still a few people out there who collect just to collect, with the obsession of value detached from the experience.
Guy

 

Coleguy, great summary. :thumb: I personally collect lots of modern coins, and I collect them because I like them. It's an interestingly one-way judgement-street though. I often hear collectors who have "investment intentions" telling others that their coins are not "worthy" of being collected. But, I have yet to hear a person who collects non-PM coins judge those who do. I say (and many others do to), "Collect what YOU like".

 

I am on the fence on the subject. If you are talking about "collecting" then of course, colelct what makes you happy. Many though are more hoarders, putting away a quantity for future profit, especially of modern issues. For them, its a different discussion. Many times I read about people asking about modern issues and then they wonder if they "should put aside a few rolls". That is not collecting, that is hoarding. Maybe that is the reason for the nature of the responses.

I don't think I referenced money per se, but when talking about modern issues I try to keep that in mind as well.

Chris

 

Oh, come on.

Almost all coin investment is in the old coins and key dates. Until the las few years you never heard of anyone buying moderns for investment. In case anyone missed it I'm AGAINST investing in any coins at all and this goes double for moderns. While moderns have far far more potential for increases than old coins they also have more risk. Investors tend to have a knack for buying the wrong coins whether they like them old or new.

Just because I invested in moderns many years ago doesn't mean modern collectors are just seeking quick profits. Just because I've done extremely well "investing" doesn't mean anyone else should try it and I'd strongly advise against the attempt. You're more likely to come out ahead if you do it like Pittman; learn a lot and have fun. Collect what you like and you'll learn more and have more fun.

 

And, maybe, you just might stumble onto something valuable down the road. Or maybe not, but when you're a collector you just don't care. Well.....maybe a little bit. We all like to think that our collections are worth something, but I don't kid myself. My "moderns" are collected for pure pleasure. My clad proofs and unc's I don't expect to appreciate in value anytime soon. But I like and enjoy collecting them. The silver proofs I own have become worth more, especially the ones I purchased back years ago. I enjoy, and continue to enjoy, collecting them. In short, I don't let the hassel of making a profit enter into my collecting endevor. I don't think I'd have as much fun if I had the pressure of having to turn a profit on everything I purchased. Just not me. Just not where my head's at.........

 

It seems like high grade clad coins should do well considering the generally poor quality of circulating coinage coming out of the Mint. If you find a diamond in the rough at the right price, hang on to it.

 

To heck with all the investment talk.
I am a hobbyist, and collect for the hobby, not the investment.
Yes, it's fun to 'win' a couple when values go up, but that is NOT why I collect.

The attitude in this thread of "if it ain't silver, it ain't worth your time" is the same attitude that TRUE collectors get from dealers nowadays, and what many of us have been complaining about.


If you are a collector, right now is a serious buyer's market for clad... as well as nickel and copper.

If you are an investor... why get into urinary olympics with hobbyists on a hobbyist site?

 

urinary olympics! Brilliant! Ill have to use that one when I have to be in "PC Mode".

 

I am not sure why the drama. TC simply brought up the idea its a good time to concentrate on modern issues, and I think most of us agree that for a collection it is a more cost effective way to collect. If I still actively collected US coins, I would be concentrating on these areas myself.

Signed,

Confused