I am closing in on completing my Franklin set in ms65. I have completed sets of LWC, Roosevelt dimes in silver, Jefferson nickels prior to 1965 and a variety of LWH, Morgans and Peace dollars. I could upgrade my LWC set as many were found in circulation as a kid. But, maybe going the type set route might be more fun. If I go that route, should I go for key or semi key dates in lower grades or common dates in higher grades?
That's a tough question. I guess if it were me i'd go for higher grades, then second guess myself halfway through the set, then get frustrated and put it on a shelf for awhile, then go back to my original plan after a year or so.
I would guess that the route I would take would depend upon my budget and what issues in a type set really tuned me on. I suspect you will really like some of them — and buy others because there’s a hole in the set that needs filling.
I'm VERY pro type set. Take a look at what NGC and PCGS registries consider type sets. The are different. Pick one and then get a feeling of what it will cost you to complete it. You can use the Red Book for that since you are just trying to get a general idea. Match up what you'd like your set to look like with what it'll cost you. A spread sheet will help with this; coins in the rows, grades in the columns. When I started I decided XF or better, $500 or less. I quickly found out that for issues before 1900 that criteria wasn't going to work. So my minimum acceptable grade went down (I believe my Chain America cent is VG-08). And my maximum $ amount went up -- considerably. Or consider FE's and IHC's.
I like the type set idea too. I collect by eye appeal. Or you could try to do a complete set of trade dollars in au or better with proofs too
