I have an interesting conundrum. When putting together your 7070 album would you rather put a MSwonderful coin in the book worth oh $40-60, or if you had the chance put in a Key date coin worth a bit more. I am trying to decide whether a nice MS 1946-S walker or a nice XF 1938-D should go into that half slot. I don't collect the series but I already own both of those coins. What would you do?
I am building a 7070 also. I am trying to keep the majority of coins in the same grade range, which for me is VF-EF. I am keeping that range for even the common coins. I think the set looks much better if the grades are consistent. So I would make my decision based on the condition of the other coins in the set.
My 7070 has all grades of coins in it. I even have a bent dime in there. I'd put whichever coin I liked best in the set.
There is nothing more attractive than a well matched set. If the rest of your coins are MS - put an MS coin in there. If the rest of your coins are EF, put an EF coin in there. Putting key dates in a set is cool, but if you are going to do that it would be cool to put all key dates -and that gets really expensive really fast. Often, key dates don't represent the series as well as another choice might. When choosing a coin for a top notch type set, you want one that shows the series as best as you can - strike, planchet, luster, condition, etc. Just some things to think about.
Yep I'd put what ever the rest of the set looks like. If all nice Mint ones then Mint. If key's then dont worry as much about the quality.
I agree, you should put the best you can to show that particular type. My 7070 runs from EF40 - MS 63. I have a nice MS St Gauden Double Eagle,but have a EF Large cent(1808-1814). The best I can show with what I can afford.Four years back I added the Gold coin page and completed that within a few months.It took me about 8 years to complete the set the way I enjoy it. Upgrading is an option as well. Good luck with your set.
I think Type Sets will be the "sets" of the future - especially given all the types and varieties coming out of the mint.
Very well said. I've been gathering a small hoard of coins in combination with what I already owned, getting ready to start filling my Intercept Shield US type set. physics-fan has basically spelled out the way I look at it. Although I will do a mixed grade set, I would rather have the sharpest, best quality coin, with as much luster as possible, instead of the key date. I figure, the whole point of the type set is to showcase the details of what that series looked like, in one coin. A heavily worn key date does not accomplish that. Now granted, I'm not going to be able to do that for Capped busts. But even if every type set collector was independently wealthy, there wouldn't be enough pristine examples to go around anyway. So I think it's understandable to have a mixed grade set if you want one. I'm curious what people do for moderns? The IS album has slots for 2009 and 2010 Lincolns. VF-EFs won't exist for a while.
IMO a type set emphasizes designs, not dates or catalog values. I use the highest grade coin I can afford to represent a particular issue. Naturally that generally means the least expensive. I want people to get a good idea of what a coin from a particular issue looked like. Non-collectors are going to be a LOT more impressed with a 1945 Mercury dime in MS-65 than a 1916-D in VG-8.
I did the 7070 with key dates and cool varieties. It just didn't have the nice look I was after. Over time I changed out many of the coins to get more of a matched look. It turned out really nice and I had a lot less money involved in it. I mostly regret the slabs I cracked when I first built it.
That's how I see it too. The US type set is a fun, but rather large undertaking for me to do on the side. Which will cause me to neglect other sets I should/want to be working on. If I neglected everything else in my life, I likely would never be able to complete a key date type set. Which it's not intended to be a key date type set, but a US type set. It would be an unrealistic goal for most. The gleaming MS-65, 1945 Merc serves the purpose very well.
hmmm, you phrase an interesting way of looking at it. It bears some consideration on my part. It will be a while before my type set is complete as it is secondary to my barber collections, but as I fill it slowly I am looking for coins that are at least VF/XF when I can afford them. So for now I guess I will put it on the back burner and maybe a pickup or two will help me decide what to put in it.
From my own experience and what I read about others on this forum, most of us have an "accidental" type set growing - whether it be in a 7070 or in our desk drawer! How many times have you left a coin show or the dealer and said to yourself, "Now, why in the heck did I pick that up" or "Well, out of that 10 coin lot, I can use four of them". It's part of the game - if you drink a lot of milk, you'll get a white mustache at some point.
honestly, that is how my type set started, with some odds and ends that didn't fit into my collections, so when I picked up a 7070 album out of a bargain bin for $4, i thought i've got just the items for this folder.
I like Kanga's answer. I have a 7070 and I am pretty much stalled on it at the moment. I pay little attention to key dates -- I am looking for a nice look for each coin. Something I can eventually flip through and compare the different designs.
