Collecting and Grading

There are people here that appear to be very knowlegeable on coin grading. I applaud all of you that are.:smile When I build a set of coins I try to get an idea of what the highest grade of the most expensive coin in the set I can afford. That usually works out to be in the AU territory. An exception to this was the Peace Dollar. A couple of years ago the 22's and 23's were so cheap one could afford to spend a little more on the 21 and 28. I try to learn what a XF to AU to low MS should look like and go from there. Since the vast majority of my coins are unslabbed I thought this was important to do this and still do. I spend a few days looking at slabbed coins to see if I think what I learned is reality. So I apply three things: #1 my budget, #2 what I learn and #3 eye appeal. I like all my coins to be about the same in the grading. I don't care much about having a MS 63 1909 Indian Head Penny and F15 1909-S. Do others do the same, or do you have big differences in the grade and appearance in your sets? Curious to know, thanks for any and all comments.

 

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+I'm a type collector , I try to buy the best coin I can afford , I try for MS-63-64s as with a little patience you can usually find some very nice coins , eye appeal to me is subjective as I like blast white and toned coins , but I'm pretty picky so if I'm looking for a specific coin it probably will take a while , other times I'll walk into a shop and see a couple of coins I really like then it just depends on being able to afford them . Also my grading is average at best so I tend to look for the higher priced coins slabbed , but it's getting to the point where I will buy some coins raw , either way it doesn't matter to me .
rzage

 

I didn't have any type of dime collection and looked into collecting the mercury heads, but whoa, the 1916-d ( I think that is the one) could end up costing as much or more than the rest of the collection. For those that sell coins I read once that if the most expensive type of a coin costs close to or more than half of the remainder of that type of coin then the price has probably peaked. After saying that I guess the above dime I mentioned is like this and a 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter. I don't know if this is a good rule of thumb or not.

 

Don't know about your rule , but you could collect just a date set , 1 coin for each year . Without the '16-D you could reallyget some beautiful coins with the money you save .
rzage

 

comparing the SLQ 1916 Type i to the 16-D dime might be unfair. I could be wrong but the SLQ 1916 SLQ was really a mistake, a released pattern, like the 1856 Flying Eagle Cent.

Ruben

 

Ruben,

It actually was a regular production coin, problem is, they didn't start making SLQs until, if I recall (I used to be a walking encyclopedia on these coins, it's coming back in spurts..) somewhere around the 15th or so of December, 1916 hence a mintage of around 52,000 pieces.

Bill

 

Each collection of mine was done to different criteria.

For instance, my WLH set.
CRITERIA: Complete the set. Best coin for under $100.
So the grades range from G to MS.
A few cost me more than $100.
The DETERMINING FACTOR about collecting this way: Money balanced against completion.

My silver Roosevelt business strike set.
CRITERIA: Matched set; slabbed by PCGS or NGC; MS-66 (a few are MS-66FT.)
My silver Roosevelt proof set.
CRITERIA: Matched set; slabbed by PCGS or NGC; MS-67.
Actually at the moment I'm one coin short in each of the sets.
DETERMINING FACTOR: They're inexpensive and I had never done a matched set.

My type set.
CRITERIA: They changed over time.
1. XF or better (two or three coins are VF; enough design remaining so that people can get a good idea of what they looked like in the original.)
2. $500 or less (later upped to $1000, and even then a few cost more.)
3. Oldest design to be Liberty Head (older are too expensive; there's a couple older exceptions if they were inexpensive enough.)
4. All slabbed, preferably by PCGS or NGC (I've got one ANACS and one SEGS in the process of being replaced.)
DETERMINING FACTOR: Money balanced against a showcase set. I decided this set would be my pride and joy, so the criteria were a bit more flexible and the wallet opened a bit wider.

Bottom Line: It's your collection. You can do whatever you wish.
And each can be different.
Just do a bit of research first. The Red Book is a good start for that.

 

None of my collections run in one certain grade. And that is okay with me - I look for coins I like. It would not bother me to put a nice AG coin next to a nice XF coin.

 

And that's my point.
You decided on your criteria.
And that guides your acquisitions.

 

Coin Lover,

You are right! Those two coins alone are generally worth more than their entire Series in the same grades! The 1916-D Mercury Dime has made up a lot of ground (price-wise) on the 1916 SLQ but I think we will see a significant increase in the values of the 1916 SLQ's in the next few years. Some of these increases are already being seen for pieces auctioned through the bigger Auction Houses and especially for FH specimens with Full Bolts and details on the Shield. Personally, I believe that the 1916 FH SLQ's are way under valued!

Like rzage stated, you could start out your' Dime sets as a Date set then you can expend from there! You can do this with some other Series, Types and Denominations as well but there are others that will be very costly.


Frank

 

AU is my favorite grade. Many of the coins look better than MS coins for a fraction of the price. I don't collect by type or by year, I just buy what looks good for the price, mostly silver dollars and gold commems. My next project will be a one-coin-coin-collection with a large number of the same coin in various grades and conditions.

 

I agree that this is often the case and if your collecting, an AU coin is a terrific coin to look at most of the time.

There are, however, cases where I'd enjoyed coins that were MS63,64,65,66 which AU grades couldn't touch, especially with Mercury Dimes.

Ruben

 

You think this is undervalued?



http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=1118&Lot_No=1285


Last time this auctioned off for more that $14,000

Ruben

 

Previous Prices from Heritage Auctions
Lot Date Grade Service Realized
Auction 428, Lot 996 Thursday, October 26, 2006 62 PCGS $13,800.00
Auction 402, Lot 601 Friday, April 7, 2006 62 PCGS $17,250.00
Auction 428, Lot 995 Thursday, October 26, 2006 62 NGC $14,950.00
Auction 66062, Lot 24526 Sunday, June 11, 2006 62 NGC $18,400.00
Auction 404, Lot 1598 Saturday, April 29, 2006 62 NGC $14,950.00

 

Bowers and Merena have 3 FH MS 1916s coming up for auction...

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/20...itemZ160298046259QQptZCoinsQ5fUSQ5fIndividual

That's a stunning coin. I think the bidding on it will exceed my budget however.

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/20...itemZ160298046268QQptZCoinsQ5fUSQ5fIndividual

That's a nice FH coin... I like it. I intend to bid on it, I might get lucky.

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/20...itemZ160298046262QQptZCoinsQ5fUSQ5fIndividual

Too toned for my personal liking...

But 3 FH 1916s in one sale?

 

And I am convinced that this was a bargain...

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/29...m14QQhashZitem290273050517QQitemZ290273050517

 

wow - that ebay coin was incrediable. That is one of the nicest 1916 coins I'd ever seen even with the week shield.

Ruben

 

Nice SLQ!!!
Nothing like getting the key to a set.
I've got a few keys and semi-keys, but nothing in that price range.
Nor will I ever (unless I hit the lottery.)

 

Ruben,

Personally IMO, yes! Considering the Mintage, POP in this grade, the POP for higher graded coins and the POP for all graded coins, I believe that it is undervalued. When considering the POP for all graded coins, compared to how many were struck, it is apparent that the total of surviving specimens is a fairly low number.


Frank

 

If these coins were 1917s none would make a FH , or else it's just the pictures , but I think tpgs are giving FH designation because of their rarity , '16s aren't the best struck coins but a FH means FH not well it's a 1916 with a almost FH so we'll let it slide .
rzage