Jeffersons or Roosevelts?

Hey guys. So after the coin show i was thinking and the design of jefferson nickels as well as roosevelt dimes both really grew on me. One user on here told me that i should try to focus my collecting in one place instead of buying a bunch of random types of coins. I really find it enjoyable putting together sets in albums so i was thinkin about a jefferson or roosevelt set. I know you guys are gonna say just collect wichever i like better. Well, i honestly like both coins equally. I know the dimes would cost more from silver but what would you guys personally pick. And to anyone who has already done these sets how much would a set run me these days? Im not goin for museum quality but now lower then AU50. And widh was more satisfying and enjoyable to collect? Thanks for all the help.

-Ryan

 

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jeffs all the way.

 

The nickels and dimes can still be collected in pretty good grades from circulation. Jeffersons prior to about 1970 are going to be tougher as well as all the pre 1965 dimes which are silver.

I get tired of doing just one coin type and collect several. When I have money in the coin budget and don't see the cent I want, I can shop for something else.

Just a thought.

 

Do both sets. They can be assembled for next to nothing in high grades.
Guy

 

Next to nothing in high grades? The only way i could see this is if i had an angel on my side while coin roll hunting. I know these are of the cheaper end of the spectrum but i mean the dimes alone will cost me like two bucks a piece atleast and thats only if they are low enough to be considered junk silver. In grades higher than au50 each coin will run me from 4 to ten bucks aside fromey dates wich can cost hundreds

 

Next to nothing in high grades? The only way i could see this is if i had an angel on my side while coin roll hunting. I know these are of the cheaper end of the spectrum but i mean the dimes alone will cost me like two bucks a piece atleast and thats only if they are low enough to be considered junk silver. In grades higher than au50 each coin will run me from 4 to ten bucks aside from key dates wich can cost hundreds

 

I don't know where you're looking, but every coin shop I've been in has high graded dimes selling for their bullion only. There are no key date Roosevelt or Jefferson coins, so the only ones selling for much over spot are those that people are bidding up for registry sets. I just sold over $300 face in silver Roosevelts, and they pay the same for G4's as they do for MS 64's, and sell the same way.
Guy

 

Start with the Jeffs.
Other than the war dates, they are not affected by the price of silver.
Silver will go down, sooner or later, and it will take you a while to do a nice Jeff set.
Then you can work on the silver dimes. Clad dimes you can do also.
I am not saying silver dimes are a bad thing, but just making a suggestion to wait out the high prices.

Another thing I notice, having worked on both sets, is the nickels in BU are GORGEOUS!
They tone a bit different than silver, and the colors seem to pop a bit more on BU nickels.
I am very close to finishing both sets, and hands down, I enjoy admiring the nickels far more than the dimes.

Your 38 D/S, 39 D/S, 50 D, and 42 D are the ones that will set you back some bux, not to mention the war years.
(This is assuming you are doing a hand picked set of BUs with excellent eye appeal... Circs are easy cheezy.)

Words just don't describe a page full of red, green, and blue transluscent BU nickels in a Dansco. :drool:

 

I don't have the dates off the top of my head, but there are a few of the dimes from the 40s that sell for over 50 bux each right now in BU. (I don't mean grubby MS60, but rather a nice coin you'd want in your Dansco to match the rest of the beauties you have collected.)

 

The Roosevelt Dimes were my first series to put fully together. It offered a lot in terms of searching for the full torches and taught me substancial amount about grading a common series. As someone already said, you might as well go for BU as they are just as expensive as lower grades (as I don't think there's a big collector's market out there!) The only dates that might get you are the '49, '49S, and '50. Still, they are affordable for the most part, and if they are too expensive, just do what I do and settle for the best grade you can buy. Jeffersons...I don't think it would serve you well to know my opinion. lol. I don't know the availability of the Jeffersons, but it could be very easy to collect both at the same time! Have your cake and eat it too!

 

Dimeguy,
It's harder than you might think to put together a set of Jeffs worth drooling over.
I filled the book with circs just about overnight. Then it took me a couple years to upgrade each one as they became available. I have one left to upgrade (42-D).
That said, I worked on both sets together until silver went stupid.
It's true though, 9 out of 10 dates in the Roosies are available at melt, no matter how good or bad they look.

 

My apologies, ratio. I didn't mean to come across as Jeffs being easy or worthless to collect. I have no doubt they have challenges that exceed many other series (such as full steps), and I know many people love them. I was simply trying to subtly show my disdain for the design while not influencing the origional poster to not collect what he likes. Again, my apologies if my wording came across as insulting toward the Jefferson series.

 

I agree. Jefferson's are a hard series to put together a matching set of. There are so many variations of strike, you can be searching for quite some time. I think it'll be a fun challenge. Hopefully you'll keep us posted as you assemble your sets.
Guy

 

Even key date Roosevelt dimes shouldn't cost too much in AU-50. Coin World's Coin Values is showing $18 for a 1949-S and 1950-S in AU-50, with everything else less than that except for the no-mintmark varieties.

 

Nah, you didn't come off any sort of harsh, and I picked up on the tongue-in-cheek attitude on the nickels from your handle.
I was just conversing with ya, not making any judgements or taking any offense!
It's all good.

 

Even key date Roosevelt dimes shouldn't cost too much in AU-50. Coin World's Coin Values is showing $18 for a 1949-S and 1950-S in AU-50, with everything else less than that except for the no-mintmark varieties.

 

You know, I could care less if any of my Jeffs have full steps!
I just want spotless fields, no wear, and either blast white or eye pleasing tones.
If you open my Dansco, you won't get past the glitter to bother looking for steps!

 

Wow guys. Thank you so much for the advice. Yah i just looked in my blue book and there arent any major stoppers for either series. I mean every dealer at my ,onthly coin show has an album of high grade nickels and dimes for awesome prices so i dont think it should take more than a few shows to get a good start to my sets.

 

I recently bought a set of silver unc Roosevelts MS67.

 

It took me a long time to find Jeffs I was happy with.
Even when I could find them locally in the years I needed, the dealer's idea of BU and my idea of BU were way apart.
Add to that, when silver started to 'boom', dealers spent so much time focusing on that, they stopped keeping a good stock of copper and clad coins.
I did best at our annual regional show, but still had some problem dates, not because they were keys or anything, just that no one had any 'nice' examples of some common dates. I don't mind buying off eBay, but for my final upgrades in my books, I'd rather see the coin in person. So I have toiled locally.
I know where my last BU 42P is, but it's a bit spendy and I have put it off. I still have a circ in the hole.