hi, after a long time in vintage baseball cards, i'm in coins. i'm familiar with the "buy the book before the..," and "buy the..., not the slab," as both are relevant in cards too. i find myself pulled towards Indian Head Cents in PCGS MS63+, although a few months ago I was into raw civil war tokens. the idea of assembling a full set is appealing, but I also like the idea of having a collection with no central theme, but instead, the highest grades of the most scarce issues i can afford. the part of me that wants the set is the setbuilding type. the part of me that likes the mishmash approach likes a variety of coins. the problem is the internal conflict. s satisfying as a full set of IHC's would be, there would be a piece of me always longing for something different. If I had the mishmas, regardless of how high the grade, I may regret not building a cohesive set. I'm all over the place and am looking for some perspective, but not in generalities. I don't mean to sound ungrateful for the wisdom of "buy what you like-" but I'm looking for something more specific- like- "I build sets because I like completing something," or "I buy the highest grade of whatever I like at any given moment because when it comes time to sell, that will be a better return." This isn't about an investment for me, but it does occur to me that someone someday, maybe even me, might want to sell, and when that day comes, am I more likely to get more of my money back from a full set of MS+ IHCs or a high-grade, scarce mishmash? ANy collecting approach/strategy/advice, etc, is appreciated. What do you buy? Why?
I'm an accumulator. I purchase high-grade, high-eye-appeal, examples of Jefferson nickels. Some coins are nicely toned. Others have a high-degree of surface preservation. A rare few have both. I collect both raw and slabbed Jeffersons, but I have not yet tried to assemble an uncirculated set of them. For instance, someone here on the forums was interested in slabbed, uncirculated 1939-D nickels (the key date for the series). Between MS-64 and MS-67, I have 13 examples. I also have several more raw examples in the same grade range. Someone else asked me about purchasing a 1940-S coin, and when I checked, I did not have a single one. So, to answer your question, I have an accumulation, not a date-mintmark collection per se. I will probably do the set someday, but right now my goal is just picking up whatever nice pieces I find that I can afford.
Sets sell for less pretty much every time. The way to realize the best prices is to sell the coins one at a time. So colelcting sets only matters if sets are what matters to you. Collect what you like is the best advice you'll ever get.
The simple answer to your question is that it's a crap shoot. What's popular today may not be popular tomorrow. The stuff that will always sell the best and for the most is going to be the most popular stuff. If you can see into the future to tell us what it will be, please let us know.
You obviously enjoy both the sense of accomplishment in completing a set and the thrill of the unending chase. But the two need not be exclusive. For example, maybe collect Civil War tokens, any type you can get, but also focus on the tokens of a particular merchant or city. This brings back the point I've made several times in the past: sets are what you define them as. When you collect Liberty nickels, do you expect to get the 1913? No, you exclude that from your own personal definition of the 'set'. The collectors who best realize this are ancient guys - its simply impossible to complete a set of all Roman emperors, as most quickly realize. Jefferson nickel guys are pretty good with this too, often focusing on "the war years."
why the rush to decide I've been in and out of coins . . . and I still haven't decided. I think I'll go for completing easy sets (Jeff nickels) and be satisfied with never completing most other sets (I don't expect an 09 s-vdb in my lifetime, and I'm ok with that) But -- consider this: if you're smart, and you can get coins at a good price, why not go both ways, and if you end up not liking one of the directions, then sell some off? This is a variation of: collect what you like. It's more like: collect what you like, and if you change your mind, sell off what you don't like and/or what doesn't interest you anymore.
It's hard to go wrong with high grade/high eye appeal keys and semi-keys. And like GDJMSP said, collect what you like.
I build sets, or at least I try to. I definitely like the sense of accomplishment I get when I complete a particular set, but it is definitely hard to stay focused sometimes. Lehigh had an excellent thread about set building strategies that I will link to if I can find it. That said, I go for eye appeal in the highest grades I can afford. Luckily for me, there are many affordable options in the two main series I collect (Mercury and Roosevelt dimes), so I've been able to accumulate a number of excellent examples.
I like collecting all sorts of coins from various venues. I love to visit yard sales and find people selling coins with no clue to the value. I love going to auctions and bidding on coins with an audience of non coin collectors. I like coin shows but you won't get the steals but a lot of good advice and information on the coins. ebay can be fun if you have patience. I love helping others get into the habit by telling them the value of their hoard of coins in a big jar. It is all fun to me.
I started out by going at everything much like you describe.. I wrote down a want list of all the key date coins that i thought I could afford at the time and then worked that list until complete. It was fun to compile the list by looking at all the coins in my redbook and listing the low mintage ones in each series that were within my reach... That motley crew of coins as done very well over the past (humm) decade/s or so (am i that old now)... easly the best performing partiton of my collection... So if your in it for ".. getting the most back down the road at some point.." then I would say that going across the board at key date coins you can afford in any series that strikes you at the moment is a good way to ensure you own what is popular down the road and all of it should sell readily...... It's also neat to have a wide range of quarry when hunting on ebay or at the local show. Try to stick with certified stuff, because going after it all kinda slows the learning process within a given series that makes for smart raw purchases. Now when that list is complete, make another one and rinse and repeat... I didn't do that.... because: .. at some point, what happened to me, was that I was exposed to too many outstanding looking complete sets and all of a sudden wanted to cross all the t's and dot all the i's within a specific series. Eventually I captured all of them, with the exception of some varriety's and errors... luckely the lincoln series captured my attention first, and the series has done well over the recent past. Taken as a whole, they have not out performed the motely crew of key dates, but still are up (on paper). Another series that I went after and completed has been very flat in comparison, Jefferson nickels... not even close to the lincoln or key date performance.. Grade doesn't seem to affect the return rate too much,, those key dates in VG appear to have does as well as the one's in MS as a percentage........ I think you'll find that if you stay with coins, your fancies will change often based on what you are exposed to,,,,as will you disposable income and ability to chase after high grade common stuff that you know has little upside.... anyway, if you can afford the flight, then take the trip, and enjoy... It's been a good ride in coins for the past "xx" years or so,, up, up, up....... and what goes up... must come... well, you know. I say that because I believe we're probably due for some flat times ahead,, somewhere.. maybe worse... but the advice for best return would still be certified key date,, across all series....... It's fun to make the lists and then hunt the best deals down,, shopping for them is 90% of the fun IMO and imparts alot of learning along the way. I'm probably overdue for a rinse and repeat of this approach myself......
Collecting focus I consider my coin collection an evolution of sorts which has resulted in a dialed in narrow focus on Lincoln cents. In 2000 I thought it would be cool to own a K Rand but quickly bored of that and started buying numismatic coins. That triggered a search for the best examples of almost every type of coin I could find / afford to study MS detail and artwork. When my focus turned to a bag of Lincoln cents I was amazed at how different each coin could look in color and strike and I was hypnotized. I have since liquidated almost all of my collectible silver coinage and have paid a "tuition" and devoted that allowance to building a collection of Lincoln cents to 1933. I have a decent understanding of the series because I have focused my studies exclusively and have developed a feel for the market and what I like. I have spent the last four years building a nice set and I am only half done. There are some rules I stick to as I try to remain focused on my goal. 1) I never buy duplicates unless the coin is higher in grade as that eats up reserve capital needed for coins I need. I then sell the lower grade to pump up coin allowance. 2) I don't cheat on the set and buy coins from other series. 3) If the coins are available I try to buy the highest value coins first. I always try to remember that this is a stress relieving hobby and its the collecting and the hunt that is as fun as the owning. I like having the anticipation of auctions, coin shows and relationships with dealers and collectors in my life as a contrast to my work and family realities. I primarily collect to put order in one small place in my world as a kind of therapy. Anyway , my collection won't sink a battleship and I don't get to add coins to it often, but its heavy duty to me and it represents a lot of work, sacrifice and joy. MT
I build sets. But the concept of the word "set" can be a bit fuzzy. Yes, I have a Lincoln set. But I also have a type set. Two entirely different definitions. Each is defined by me (grades, content, etc.), i.e., my Lincoln set may contain coins that others feel are not really part of the "set". How I assemble my sets has changed over the years. When I was younger with less disposable income I collected "bottom up" (least expensive first). The Lincoln were done this way. Now that I'm a bit better off I start with the keys/semi-keys. This means only 2-4 coins a year (I said a bit better off; I didn't say rich). My newest set is IHCs. This is being done "top down". For a while the set was composed of only six coins. - 1859 (is part of my type set too) - 1862 (is part of my type set too) - 1864 L - 1877 - 1908-S - 1909-S Now I'm filling in the gaps. So what is the point of all this? It's your set. Define it the way you want. Collect it the way you want. I just highly recommend you plan it out before you start. Sit back with the Red Book and browse through it until you find something that really grabs you.
I'm going to agree with the thoughts expressed that you can define what you want to collect. You might want to google NGC and PCGS registrys. You can look through listings of sets, and see how other collectors have approached this question.
Have fun, collect sets and collect other stuff I agree with Doug that sets typically sell for less but I still assemble sets. Just yesterday, I received NGC multi-coin holders housing the 1942 and 1961 proof coins that I had been accumulating individually. The set provides something to focus my attention & the definition of the set and sub-sets is up to me. When you have your PCGS MS63+ set almost complete what are you going to do when your favorite IHC is in an NGC holder & PCGS won’t cross it? Collecting coins is so much fun...
That is so true. You should just tell yourself this is a hobby so do what you like. Sets are for fun and if you want to have fun with this hobby, try making sets. Or just go nutty trying to find all sorts of expensive, slabbed, rare coins that may or may not ever be worth what you paid for them. Then where is the fun.
