Hey guys, I am looking to amass every year and mint mark of cent ever minted. It would be some feat if I could. Would you recommend buying certified, graded coins(most expensive), buying ungraded coins and sending them in to be graded( possibly very expensive), or just buying ungraded and keeping them ungraded? I currently have every cent from 1939-2011, with most from 1890-1938. thanks in adavance for you feed back!!
Depends - certain keys like some of the 1793 cents I would recommend buying from a knowledgeable dealer or certified. OOOPs I assumed when you say cent you meant from 1793 to present - there are a bunch of keys that I think you should have certified. Anyway do you like raw better than certified? You can always crack out certified coins. My large cents in my album are primarily raw. My IHC's I have a raw lower grade set in a dansco album and high grade certified set.
Unless you can compete with the professional graders, I would STRONGLY suggest you stick to buying only graded coins. I think you will find that will be considerably cheaper than your grading raw coins. I you don't mind some of the junk you will get, keeping them raw will save you a bunch. However, I think you will be surprised at how much true junk you will wind up with if you ever try to sell them or have them graded.
I agree with RLM - it is good advice. Of course we might disagree on what is junk, but overall your best value is with graded coins. And the toughies I can think of are 1793, 1799, 1804, 1877, 1909-S. The first three will be tough in any solid grade. This would be a wonderful collection when completed - in any grade. I am also assuming you will not do varieties in large cents - like 1793 chain, wreath and liberty cap.
This is a huge undertaking. I spent almost 20 years and still have a dozen holes to fill. It is very doable, just expensive and time consuming. I would suggest you set a more modest goal and finish one series before you commit yourself to all of them. Your attention will be better focused and there will be more fun and satisfaction. You will have better luck collecting the very earliest cents raw. This will allow you to fill holes with coins that are perfectly acceptable to you, but might not cleanly grade. You'll have to compromise on many large cents, being what they are. Expect to spend thousands of dollars on some, even in very disappointing shape (chain cent, '93 wreath, liberty cap, 1799, 1804, e.g.). FE's, ICH's and Lincolns can be collected raw or graded. I'd go raw if your goal is below AU, or PCGS/NGC slabbed for AU-MS. It's fun and challenging but not if you're easily distracted or money is tight. One more thing...don't be too hard on yourself. You will make a lot of expensive mistakes along the way. Good luck! Lance.
Cents circulated, most were used in everyday commerce. So I'd recommend doing a set in VG-VF. That will also save you a bundle when it comes to buying the key dates. Start out with a complete Lincoln set, and a complete IHC/Flying eagle set first. Those are very doable. Then work back from there. I think it gets a lot tougher once you get to the large cents especially late 1700s early 1800s. I like raw coins, but buy the keys certified/slabbed. Good Luck!
That would be great, and a lot of fun to do. Imo you could buy all raw coins, execpt i would always buy a tpg graded coin for the key dates, decide on a grade you would like and can afford and go for it! Good for you!
