ASE's for first collection series?

Hello, all. New guy here. Please see my intro thread in the Intro forum.

My question...

I've decided on some series that I'd like to collect, and of them all the American Silver Eagle seems to be my preferred first series. I also like Morgans, Walking Liberty Halves, Buffalo Nickels, and Mercury Dimes. I've done searches on ASE's and honestly the number of threads that are returned is overwhelming. Before I decide for sure and put in the research effort I wanted to find out about the series as a whole. I don't ever expect to get rich from collecting, but I do want to collect coins that others will find interesting and worth discussing and sharing. Is the ASE series such a series?

The reasons I like ASEs are:

1. I like silver.
2. I like the dimensions of the coin.
3. I love the Walking Liberty design. I know it's borrowed from the half, but it's still beautiful.
4. I love the eagle on the reverse. I wish it was bigger and filled more of the field, but I still like it. I also wish the reverse just read "One Dollar" without the "1 Oz. Fine Silver", but I understand why it's there so I'll live.
5. It's still being made so I can get new years from the mint.
6. It's not an old series so I can get MS specimens all the way back to '86 without spending thousands.

So, there you have it. I believe the ASE is a great start for me, but if it's one of those niche series that no one really considers "real" coin collecting I'd like to know.

Also, I read somewhere that the ASE is the most widely collected series? That surprises me since there isn't a lot of reference materials for it. Do you think the author of the article I read was including people that buy ASE's as strictly bullion investments?

 

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Collect something because YOU like it, not other people. If you like SAEs, then more power to you, I say.

 

I think it is an excellent choice. The coins are among the best looking ever produced, in my opinion. It's a large and beautiful coin available at a very reasonable price. It doesn't take a high level of numismatic skill to successfully collect them, and it is difficult to make a serious mistake. You are correct that some people don't consider it "real" coin collecting because it is a bullion coin, not a circulation coin. This shouldn't matter in the long run. The coins will never be worth less than the silver content and may be worth more at some time in the future if/when the US Mint stops making them. When that happens, it seems likely that their popularity will increase. Full date sets should sell at a small premium to the individual coins. This is the only set of anything I've ever actually completed. Normally I just buy individual coins that catch my interest. ASEs are the only modern coin I collect.

 

I also like the ASE. Some time back I had to decide if I should collect the proof, which I could buy directly from the mint or the version that mint sells to the distributors (without the W mint mark). I decided to collect the proof. As you know, recently (since 2006) the mint started directly selling the Uncirculated coins minted at West Point, which I am also collecting.

 

ASE'S are nice looking coins. Good choice! I also collect these.

 

ASEs are a great place to start if you want to collect a series. Inexpensive, easy to find and they look great.

 

My son and I are collecting the ASE's. We have all the bullion coins from 1986 to present. We have most of the proofs. We are collecting all the uncirculated "W" minted coins. We bought the 20th anniversary set and were too busy to open it so it's still unopened.

The one coin we may never own is the 1995-W ASE. Too bad. That's the year my son was born. If I had only bought the 10th anniversary ASE set...............but I wasn't into coins back then.

I'm also planning on accumulating bullion ASE's for my son. Maybe someday he can pass them on to his children.

We're also going to start collecting nickels, both buffalo and Jeffersons, but I've just been too busy lately.

 

Sounds like a good start to me. You can get almost all of them for low prices. At least low compared to the older series' like the Walkers which is what I'm collecting now.

 

Those are very good reasons ! Really you don't need a reason. If you like 'em, collect 'em. If you like eye appeal (who doesn't), you'll never get more bang for your buck than proof ASEs.

If someone says "It's not legitmate coin collecting"... nonsense.

One word of caution - be careful with storage. Same rules as anywhere else... low humidity. But it might be more important with these because they're so close to perfect a small imperfection is conspicuous.

I use Intercept Shield + dessicant. I got started on that when one of my ASEs showed a little toning.

 

I collect these coins but not in the sense of trying to track them all down in a series. I'm really not that kind of collector. BUT and this is a BIG BUT, the disadvantage of these coins is that they are not REALLY coins, in the sense that they are never intended to be circulated.

The first series I'd try to collect, if I would do so, would be the IKEs. Its a small series, with a number of silver examples, available and doable with some real gems.

Just my opinion...

Ruben

 

One thing about the ASE's is that they production just keeps getting better and better with an year. This coin actually far surpasses the original Walking Liberty half. The detail of the hand, flag, everything is just stunning and truely the greatest of workmanship.

Ruben

 

Love them. I have two full sets and lots of extras.:smile

 

Welcome. And good choice to start with. I have collected them since the beginning ('86). Both mint and proof. I like them also.

 

In many respects, yes.

I'm sure some purists hate a reproduction like this, but I love 'em. No way can an average guy find an original Walker with this brilliance and detail.

Same with the big Buffaloes. Not everyone can afford a proof original, so the modern ones are a great "tip of the hat" to Fraser.

 

I agree. The Mint really got the ASEs right, and it might go down in coin history as one of their best efforts.

By contrast, the new dollar coins look like cartoon characters.

 

I'm about to hijack my own thread, but...I do not like the new pres dollars at all. I'm surprised to hear myself say this, but my least favorite part is the '$' sign. It looks like a subway token.

 

I have this complete collection and it is one of my favorite sets. Like Modernman said above, the only one I am missing, as I think most collectors are, is the 1995W. Wish I bought that set back then, but I was in college and didn't have the money. I think of this set as the Morgan dollar collection of our generation - without all the varieties, of course. It is very easy to put together a high grade set for a reasonable cost. My business partner was so enthralled when I used to drag her down to the local coin shop that she bought a complete set for her daughter to collect - but that was back when silver was around $10/oz and most of the coins cost around $12 - $15. I definitely recommend collecting them! hya:

 

This is really beyond a reproduction. The original could never live up to the current design, IMO, and you could never find an original with these kind of strikes...at any price. The design has been improved greatly to maximize modern manufacturing technique.

Ruben

 

I've gotten some books, read a lot of internet articles, and visited CoinTalk everyday and I think I've figured out my first ASE set. Maybe you all can give me your opinions?

When I first posted I figured collecting ASEs (or anything for that matter) meant collecting one of every single piece. I've now learned that series can be broken into meaningful collection sets which "tell a complete story" (please correct me if I'm wrong).

With that in mind, I think I've decided to collect all of the ASE's sold by the Mint targeted for collectors. That would mean proofs through 2005 and unc and proofs since 2006. Of course, I doubt I'll ever have the 1995-W set just because even if I could afford the ~$4500 I'd rather spend that on a (some) much older coin(s).

 

I'm collecting the full uncirculated set, there all about 25 a piece, execpt for the 96 witch is like 45ish. and they really look nice. i can have a complete collection with 22 oz's of silver for less than 600 bucks.