Are dimes a good starter collection Is the Mercury head dime date collection a good starter collection for a kid?
I started with state quarters, since they are easy to find in circulation and don't require a small fortune to collect. I'm not sure how tough Mercury head dimes are.
I would say no---the 1916-D and 1921P and D are kindof hard---now if the kid has a pocket book of around $700 for one coin then I would say go for it. Speedy
dimes I would say if you were not interested in getting the key dates it might not be so bad. With any series if it did not have to be completed in a short period of time, then pick the coin design the child likes and go from there. Also a starter set doesn't have to be all in mint state, so affordable coin should be plentifull, especially cents, nickels, and dimes.
I think it would be a good place to start. I remember when I began collecting I prefered "older" coins because I found them more interesting (by "older" I mean designs that are no longer used). So, for a kid like I was, that would have really peaked my interest. Since you mention a date set as a starter set, I think Mercury Dimes would be good. You can then omit the expensive 1916-D by getting a 1916 or 1916-S as the 1916 year coin. I think the only difficult year would be 1921 because both made that year are rare. But, that makes it more of an accomplishment once completed. Plus, if the set peaks the interest of the kid, a date set could eventually be converted into a complete set down the road...so I feel this has room to grow. Anyway, thats just my thought.
Older coins are also more interesting to collect, you can just skip the key dates. Plus the coins will have more value when he grows up.
It all depends on the kids age, interests, monitary availability and lots of other things. If, for instance, the kid wants to put the coins in an album, most Mercury Dime Albums have slots for the 16D, 21, 21D, 42/41, 42D/41, 45 Micro S. These as well as a few others, 31D, are becoming costly and not exactly something you will find in a pile of Merc Dimes at a coin show. You've got to remember that there are several million coin collectors out there and many of the Merc Dimes have mintages in only a million or so. My suggestion is Roosevelt Dimes of Jefferson Nickels. Nice thing about them is you could go to a bank and buy a bag of them and give the kid a real time consuming project looking through them. Then just return the unused ones to another bank. I do this all the time. I've filled several Whiman Albums of Jefferson Nickels and Roosevelt Dimes just doing that over the years. Also, you may want to get him a few books on coins so he will learn to look for error coins also. I would suggest the new quarters but I hate them and they are the only coin I do not collect.
If you are lloking for price you can build a complete set of jefferson nickels for cheap. There are no rare dates, and the only keys are expensive in higher uncirculated grades.
Roosevelt dimes are also an easy set to complete. Can still easily find all clad dimes all the way back to 1965 in circulation. The silver ones are not too expensive, and none are rare. Same can be said for Kennedy and Franklin half dollars, though those are much harder to find in circulation.
I was going to mention a "one a year" dimes folder, but that pesky 1921 is still in there... Jefferson Nickels are probably the easiest set to complete. Even the 1950-D isn't that difficult. How about a short set of Indian Cents? From 1880 to 1909 is not so bad. A convoluted way of getting there: You need two folders to get in all the Lincoln Memorial Cents. I bought Thalia the usual Whitman folder for 1959 to 1998 and then a blank Cents folder for 1999 and forward. Since the first page of the three in the folder gets you to about 2013, I used the third page for the Indian Cents that Thalia gets from our local coin store. Working backwards from 1909, you get to 1880. We're also probably going to do Canadian Cents. Just doing the Queen Elizabeth II examples gets you 53 years' worth! That will keep us busy for a while.
Like I said before, I feel a date set of Mercury Dimes is a good place to start. I know that the 1921 is going to be a pain but a little challenge in putting together a set is a good thing-at least it was for me. It gave me a feeling of accomplishment. The place I started, which is probably the most common, was Lincoln Cents. I went out and bought the 3 Whitman book set for Lincoln Cents. I knew at the time (being 12 or 13) that there were a few in the set that would be hard to get on my budget (mainly 1909-S VDB, 1909-S, 1914-D, and 1931-S) even though I wasn't going for errors. But, I started pulling coins out of circulation and visiting the bin of wheat back cents at a local coin shop (he sold random lincoln wheat backs for $0.05 each) and I had a blast. As time went on I eventually did fill the set up and I even saved up for some of the key coins. As of right now (and I'm 21 now) I am only missing the 1909-S VDB. My point is, the set doesn't have to be completely "easy" to be a good starter. I think the best way to start is with a set that most is easy but there are a couple challenges. Lincoln cents are the best in my opinion, because there are many that can be found in circulation, almost all of the wheat backs are very cheap to buy in circulated grades, there are some interesting coins in the set that give it "variety" (VDB coins, steel cents, ect...) and a couple challenging coins to "shoot" for. So, to me, that is the best kind of starter set. For the same reason, I feel that a date set of Mercury Dimes would work fine too.
I think the Mercs are a great place to start. Except for the 1916D and the two 1921 coins, you'll have no problem. And the three rare dates, although expensive, can be found easily at any decent dealer or show. Gives the kids something to work towards.
Waste of space. I bought the Whitman Classic Albums where you can add pages. Also, sheets of rub on gold looking dates, letters, numbers. I have 10 Lincoln Set Albums with 10 pages in each one and have all coins from 1909 to present in each Album. I've done similar with Roosevelt Dimes and Jefferson Nickels. My Washington Quarter Albums go from 1932 to 1998. No room for all the new Quarters after 1998 so I stopped collecting Quarters. I still recommend starting any young person with coins they can acquire from sources other than purchasing them. Jefferson Nickels and Roosevelt Dimes.
I don't disagree for a more advanced collector, but I'm talking about a six year old, so I need to make sure that she stays with the hobby before going too far.
Get A Jefferson Nickel Folder Or Album Go Get 20 Rolls Of Nickels. Put Them On A Table ,Sit Down With Your Child And Watch The Joy In There Eyes When They Find A Coin And Say Look Daddy What I Found. It Just Does Not Get Any Better Then That.:thumb:
I agree 100% with Bruce. Jefferson is the way to start. There is a chance that they can complete the set with circulation finds. (albeit slight) However, if dad is wanting to really set the hook, he will plant a war nickel once in a while in one of the rolls that he picks up. To me when I was starting out, it was all about finding "that" coin. maybe it was the last one in a particular row, page or book. I did start with the Whitman trifolds. The coins that got put in those holders have long ago tarnished almost black. The Unc. Lincolns are nice and brown now. : (
For a 6 year old the Jefferson is probably the way to go because so many of the coins can be found in circulation. One step up from that might be to collect the Roosevelt silver dimes from 1946 to 1964, which can introduce a child to the world of shopping in coin stores. They are inexpensive but also give you the opportunity to explain how they are made out of silver and therefore different and more valuable than modern coins.
I agree that for a child that young, a Jefferson collection would be a good starting place-possibly the best set to start because it has the possibility of a "key" find with the war nickels. Another good place to start would be Lincoln Memorial cents. I know that Whitman makes a trifold folder that is memorial cents from 1959-1998 which could also be all found in circulation.
Jim Good point about the plant a few coins idea ,black hawk if you go with the jefferson nickels let me know. I have some extra war nickels I will be glad to send you just so you can see the look in there eyes.
