Just my opinion but if you equate popular with being the most widely collected, I would answer that is seems likely. If you look at eBay under US Coins, the category Small Cents is on the top of the list, that list appears to be based on search requests, note that the 20 Cent piece is at the bottom. I have heard that the Lincoln cent is the most popular coin to collect but no evidence was offered. If true, I wouldn't disagree.
I'd go with Lincoln Cents, or the statehood quarters, that got a lot of people interested in numismatics
They are from a price stand point especially now with gold and silver as high as they are. IMO Morgan dollars are the most sought after and popular, followed by Silver and Gold Eagles, then pre 1933 gold, bringing up the rear are walking liberty half dollars and type coins like 3 cent nickels, flying eagles etc. Most under valued and often overlooked nickels especially liberty (V) nickels the later half of the dates are all under $100 a piece in UNC and pre 1946 Jefferson nickels tops the list for me, peace dollars (although with the expense of morgan's and silver prices this isn't true right now), SBA/IKE dollars, mercury dimes from 1929 on and all P mint are still relatively cheap and available in all grades except MS64 on up and FB attributes.
There ya go, quick and to the point! So let's twist this question to make it more thought provoking...what do you believe was the most widely collected series 100 years ago? Before Lincoln cents.
Indian Head cents. There are reasons cents are the most widely collected coins. 1 - far more of them are minted than any other coin and therefore they are the easiest to find in circulation. 2 - more applicable in years past than it is today, but cents were and are the cheapest for people to collect. I don't mean cheapest as in "buy", I mean cheapest as in remove from circulation. In other words it affects your pocketbook less to pull a cent out of it and put it away than it does to pull a quarter out and put it away.
There's no doubt that Lincoln cents are the most collected series ever in coin history. Think about all the people with small stashes of wheat cents sitting somewhere.....ditto with memorial cents albeit those are mostly just change hoards.....collected nonetheless. There are billions of Lincoln cents that have been "removed" from circulation.
That's a pretty valid point Doug. I would have pegged the entire seated series as been widely collected only because it was available in dimes through dollars. And I would think they would still be floating around in circulation at that point.
