i understand that when it comes to key dates you may have to sacrifice condition because the higher grades may be out of your price range, but do most of you set a minimum condition when puting your sets together. if you are on a budget of say $300 a month, is it to ambitious to say i will ony take au50 or better for say merc dimes? or do you find yourself filling holes with good deals until the set is finished, and then going back and upgrading after you have finished your set? just something that has been on my mind. i went to my first coin show today and i saw a lot of mercs in very low grades. most of the ms grades i saw were in the 1940's. so i began to think that my low level of au50 may be a bit high and should keep my eyes open for a good xf deal. thoughts?? thanks, greg
I think it would depend on the set I was collecting. So for example my IHC collection - all coins are going to be VF or better period. But I buy the best grade of the date that I think is reasonable. I completed the set with some low grades - now I am upgrading those that I think need to be upgraded. I will not upgrade all of them, but just some that I think need it. For my large cents - the grades are all over the place. And yes this set does have some problem coins - eventually I will complete it. So far for upgrades I try to get a different variety. As far as I am concerned your set can contain whatever you like.
A real good question! One (or at least most) of us has to take a budget into consideration. When I started my business strike Two Cent collection I was striving for VF-XF. I got a good deal on an MS grade 1865 and it made all others pale in comparison. Still, I went ahead and finished the set as planned. The small motto and 1872 (keys) were G-VG. Then I worked on upgrading the whole set within my budget. A good dealer with a layaway plan helped immensely on this. Now, I have a complete MS set and 4 subsets. I can sell at any time and make a profit on the keys that are "lower grade. It took a lot of patience and a lot of years but worked out. Set your goal, attain it, and move on but if a deal comes up don't feel afraid to upgrade or even downgrade if the price is right. We all tend to get to know "our" coins. I have more Two Cent Small mottos and 1872 than most dealers and always have people wanting them. I have no reason to sell them YET. Know your series, get the "commons" and never pass up keys at the right price. You can always get the commons.
I completely agree with Clembo on this topic...of course we all have a budget... Many years ago I adopted a phrase that I live by till this day, "Quality over Quantity" and has it ever paid off. Sure it will take longer, and like Clembo says...find a good dealer and establish a relationship with him/her and let me tell you the benifits of that are truly unique! To this day I can call any of 3 dealers I have worked with for many years and say hey, mind putting that on hold for me? It always is a good feeling to get that sure thing Rick...I never lie to them and when I say I am sending $$$ I send it...it is a trust building task and very worth while! If you look at my note collection alone, the majority of the large size and obsolete notes were purchased this way! Good luck and good relationship building to you!! RickieB
Very good topic, and something that I feel gets overlooked a lot of times. I am putting together a Lincoln cent set 1909-1933, VF minimum. Will get some XF-AU coins if the price is right and I like the coins. Also, I try to go for problem free examples also. 1934 on have to be UNC. I hate to be picky, and generally not too picky of a person, but I like to "get the best I can afford" Some days I can only afford a cheap hole filler G/VG example. In that case, I just save up my money till I can get the minimum of VF. Also, I like to go for eye appeal too. I could easily obtain a 22 D in VF condition pretty cheap. Except, I want to wait until I can get a nice looking example, hopefully one with full wheat lines, or close to it. Just me. DOn't want to sound greedy, please don't take me as that, but I do try to get what I like. Phoenix
i dont think anyone can be to picky when it comes to collecting something you like, its something you take pride in and have to be happy with. its just kind of hard when you see the price of silver rising. a 1941d merc dime in ms65 is about $25-$30. when u see them start selling for $50-$75, you have to think long and hard, can you afford the inflation prices, or do you have to lower your minimum grade. its just something to think about.
For my new 7070, I'm trying to stick to VF, but on a cpl of them I will have to go with F, and I just started a BU Roosy set and a buffalo set in VF. Lincolns? XF/AU 09-33 / ChoiceBU 34-58, as well matched as I can find.
I try to keep a set all the same general grades, and the same "look" to the set. But keys are expensive, and I will drop down a grade or two to be able to afford the coin.
the only set im working on right now is lincolns from 1909-1973. i have found some really nice cents in my bank rolls, im talking uncirculated condition cents from the 60's. i have a nice 61 that is uncirculated and that went right into my album. i have some wheats that are AU and went into the album. i didnt pay more than face value for them. but this is the exception rather than the rule obviously as you can still find wheats in circulation and anyone can fill most of their collection easily. now for other sets, it would depend on how big of a collection it would be. for something like franklin halves, i'd like to go BU since ive seen very reasonable prices for BU franklins. but for others, i could go say...no lower than fine or very fine. i guess it would also depend on how much i was into the collection. if im not really into the coin that much i probably wouldnt care about the grade as much as another set i was really into.
the morgan set i am working on will wind up containing coins from ag/g (1893-s) all the way to ms65pl (1881-s). i buy what i feel is the best coin for the money in whatever grade it may be. i have only purchased 3 morgans this yr due to being outbid on several auctions. i will note the top price i will pay for that specific coin and if i get outbid, the search continues. i have so many i still need to complete the set, that unless it is something truly special, i will wait for another coin to come along. fortunately, there are a lot of morgans which come up for sale, and that allows me to wait for another time. i am also not under the pressure of wanting a registry set. it is the fun of the hunt along w/ finding the right coin for the right price..
for years I went with quantity, being young and underinformed. Now that I am older and wiser I have been going for quality, even though it takes longer for me to get the coins I want, like my VG-F barber dime set, the only VG-F coins are the keys and semi keys, the rest are XF and above. Will I have to upgrade, probably, but my MS Jefferson, Roosevelt, Franklin sets will only have to upgrade if I find a coin I like better than one that is already in the book. Do I buy lower grade coins, if the price is right you bet I do, sometimes they can make for a better deal when you go to upgrade something else.
Part of the answer depends on how important it is to you to actually complete the set. If you would rather have several examples of the series, you can budget more money per coin and buy higher grade examples. If you are dead set on completing the set, you may have to accept lower grades. I don't think dropping from AU to XF is much of a compromise because both represent pretty high quality circulated coins.
I agree that it depends on the set you're trying to build. Whichever set I am working on, I try to keep a consistent grade with all of the coins in the set, it makes for better eye appeal. For example, my Lincoln Cent collection, all of the coins in this set are at least XF-AU except for a few exceptions. My Indian Head Cents are all F except for a very few. My Franklin Halves are all at least MS65 or better. Most of my coins that arent consistent with the rest of the coins in each set will evenually be upgraded. Its a real challenge when you're working on 15 different sets at the same time. As a side note...I'd rather build sets of higher grade circulated coins than sets of MS coins....thats just me. Budget? Whats a budget?......lol
This is probably just repeating what other here have said, but here's some of my thoughts: 1. I want coins that people can look at and get a good idea of what was intended. Of course this is MUCH more important for typesets where one coin represents a whole issue. 2. I would prefer not to have to repurchase a coin for at least 10 years. In other words I don't want to be continually upgrading. After 10 years I might be in a position to afford more expensive coins, so upgrades are a consideration. 3. Survey your complete interest area and decide what your budget will afford with respect to a minimum grade. Then work to that end. Compromise only when you really have no option. An XF Lincoln set is nice, but for a start you might have to accept the keys and semi-keys at something less. At least later you have something to upgrade with. The value of a Fine '14-D gets you about halfway to an XF. I decided my (short) typeset would be XF or better. So far I've only had to compromise twice. My 1814 cent is VF-20, and my 1807 half dollar is VF-30. My Lincoln set is XF or better except the 1922-Plain. But my WL halves go from AG to MS since I just wanted to fill holes with reasonable coins, no specific minimum. It's your collection. You get to make your own rules and exceptions.
Usually get coins as high condition as I can reasonably afford. Some harder to get coins I'll overlook minor damage if the coin is overall pretty good (have a bust half that has decent "character" lol, scratched up and dented a little, but great details under all of that, and a hreat conversation piece... and allows me a good example of the coin that I probably wouldn't otherwise be able to afford). Will almost never get a coin worse than a VF unless I just can't find or afford better... even then will usually pass, as if I can't see the coin for what it is it just doesn't seem worth it. Holes, green corrosion, pieces of the coin missing, forget it... Slight damage, slight corrosion, scratches, a gentle cleaning... maybe. My standards get higher though the more modern and common the coin is, at which point I should be able to afford near perfection. Morgan dollars though I actually think look better slightly circulated lol... don't ask me why, but a slightly greyish worn piece excites me more than a blast white near perfect one. There's just something about a century old coin that looks like it's a witness to history that you can't get out of the same coin that could have been minted yesterday but for the date. I have one MS Morgan for my type set but any other Morgan I get is usually in the VF/EF range... even got a VERY worn Morgan just for the heck of it lol... I don't feel this way about any other coins, but there's just something about a circulated Morgan that actually improves with wear, up to a point. HATE toning. A little minor toning I can put up with if it's not too distracting. Werid colors a coin has no business being, forget it (green, red, purple, whatever...) A tad golden brownish, or even black as long as it doesn't cover much, fine. Monster toning... ew! Forget that! Modern proof sets better be practically perfect lol... no excuse for them not to be.
In my early-mid 20s, I tried to only buy uncirculated coins. Because it meant slow growth of the collection, I quit actively collecting. I just let the coins sit for several years. Around each Christmas, I'd get another coin maybe and that was it. Now I'm 30 and have more money to play with. I also found a really great shop on the other side of town. Another reason I'm excited about collecting again is because I loosened my standards a bit. I'm having a ton more fun coming home with 10 different coins instead of just one. I'm sure I won't stay like this forever, but I believe that whatever way keeps you most interested in the hobby is how you should collect...unless you're more concerned about making a profit.
