I'm surprised to see that you were the only one, so far, to say "Morgans"! For me, my collection has been mostly unorganized. I started with Whitman albums that I wanted to fill (every date and mint mark) - Cents, Nickels, Dimes, Quarters. I loved Mercury Dimes, so I wanted to do the same with those. Then, I found Morgans, and wanted to do the same with those! Then, someone showed me some cool IHCs, so I "had" to get a bunch of those! FECs.....Half Cents.....SLCs.....Seated Liberty.....3-Cent Pieces.....Barber series.....Type Set.....on and on!!! Unfortunately, I think I became a hoarder of US coins, rather than any kind of focused collector. Now, my goal is to catalog everything I have (well, much of it, anyway!). Then, figure out what I want to get rid of and what I want to keep. I'll likely keep my Morgan collection. But, I think I'll just collect coins that I really like, rather than trying to complete a series. I don't know....
Formerly: Barber dimes, quarters & half dollars. Now: Bust Half dollars. Also, Red Books & Red Book memorabilia
I'm mightily impressed by that PL US type set, Jason. Of the coins you don't have, how many do you think actually exist in PL, regardless if they're in holders that say as much? I'm envious, simply because my budget requires me to cut off my gold purchases at 1834. At some point, I would love to acquire a C or Georgia D mint coin, but it's really not in the cards right now. Heh, me too. My last few purchases have been US coins, but I also dip into world coins, ancient coins of all cultures, and certain types of tokens that happen to catch my eye. I can tend to be a bit of a magpie that way sometimes. Interesting! Did they use modern engraving tools, or Depression-era tools that the original hobo nickel artists would have used? Todd does good work. He shot a couple coins for me at Long Beach a couple years ago. Love that coin! It reminds me a little of one I bought for all of $10 and sent into ANACS for giggles, which, unfortunately, came back MS-60 details, environmental damage. I don't care though. I like it and I'm not ashamed of it. Morgans are a long, expensive slog of a series if you insist on collecting them by date and mint. I might put together a rainbow toned year set someday, but there's no way I'm doing the whole series unless I win the lottery or something. --- Now, as far as what I collect, here is what I have going right now in terms of subcollections: US type set, 1800-present, based on the Dansco 7070, but expanded. Denarii of Antoninus Pius, by RIC number. US classic silver commemoratives. World proof and mint sets from my birth year. Numismatic items from my hometown (a tiny town in middle-of-nowhere, Michigan). Michigan Civil War tokens. Rainbow toned coins (some of which are included as part of my US type set). Recently, I've been primarily focusing on #1 - #3. My last 5 purchases have been (in reverse chronological order): Raw 1813 large cent, estimated XF 40 with beautiful, smooth, brown surfaces. This is a coin I've been hunting for 2+ years. It's taken that long to find one within my budget and grade range. This really is the toughest coin in the Dansco 7070 -- don't let anyone fool you! Most of these are pretty junky due to corrosion or other planchet issues, but not this one. Somehow, I even managed to score it for $500 under budget! 1924 St. Gaudens, PCGS certified, OGH. Fairly graded, and I scored this one at 3% over melt! There was no budget for this coin, because it wasn't on my list... I just visited a coin shop on vacation, saw it, asked the price, and couldn't pass it up. 1928 Hawaiian commemorative, ICG certified. This coin has the typical light toning that most Hawaiians have, and it is fairly graded. Because it's in an ICG holder, I was able to nab it for a price more comparable to what PCGS or NGC UNC details coins sell for. Not to mention, that price happened to be $4-500 under budget! 1943-S war nickel, NGC certified, rainbow toned. Again, no budget, because it was just something I saw and felt like owning. RIC II (Antoninus Pius), 2: Bare head of Pius right / Minerva standing left holding Victory in right hand, rest left hand on shield and spear leaning against her left arm. XF, and datable to the last 3 weeks of July 138 AD, before the consecration of Hadrian. Rare. My next purchase is almost certainly going to be a safe to hold my collection. I'd prefer to have a bank box, but you almost literally have to wait for someone to die around here to get one because of the limited supply and years long waiting lists. I've also recently become an ANA Life Member, and will be insuring with Hugh Wood as soon as I get the safe installed. EDIT: Grades redacted, since I might want to do a couple GTG's on them.
I'm working on finishing a Peace Dollar set right now, but I also have a type set I've been working on for years that I occasionally add to, and I've kind of gotten interested in modern silver bullion coins, so I've picked up a few of those (My Canadian and Australian bullion coins are my favorite right now). After I get the last two Peace Dollars, I think I'm either going to finish a Mercury Dime set or a Lincoln Cent set. I've started both, but they have both been sitting for a long time without additions.
For the past decade Seated Liberty Halves have been my focus, with most of the Dansco now filled. Many are VF-XF with an occasional AU. Missing are the rarities, which will probably remain that way unless luck shines on me.
I collect just about everything...US business strikes, Canada, Mexico, Britain, Scandinavia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Euros and on and on. Click on my signature link and you will see what I have.
I am a very "eclectic" collector. Whenever I want a coin, I buy it, even when it appears on a lot, like that Washington Quarter, strongly toned. I bought 50 coins just because I liked one of them. (Seller photos) (In my hands) (The photos can't show the true beauty of this coin)
The theme here is for "our hobbies/collections?" For coins, I love Indian Cents. So far I have all of them except the 1877. I thought that I had gotten one on ebay twice. The first time I bought one, but got 4 stamps of 1877 Indian Cents. The second time I thought I had it right, so I bought it. Sad to say, it is a 3" coaster of the 1877 Indian cents. Well, I've learned my lesson. I am looking for one that falls into my small budget. Another item that I like is the Flying Eagle cents. I have a few of the 1857 and 1858 Flying Eagle cents. After greater research, I found that the Red Book states that there were only 2,000 1856 Flying Eagle Cents.. All of them way, way, over my budget. I keep looking. I use to building plastic models. After I had built a stash of over 290 models, I decided to throw in the towel. My favorite hobby is a theater with over 500 movies. I have 11 speakers and 2 subwoofers and a 4K UHD HDR projector in a room 17" by 20". It's in a separate building so I don't make my wife and cat deaf. I got my hearing aids last year. Oh, well. Love hearing from you guys.
I started with state quarters, then got into Morgan & Franklins. I try to keep up with all moderns in Dansco albums w/proofs
My first love was/is Franklin halves. From there it's branched out all over the place... US type coins, 1893 proof set (no gold), 1858 business strike set, Washington quarters, Battle Creek Morgans, the occasional dark side coin, and space flown coins. Here's the Franklin proof set: https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetGallery.aspx?PeopleSetID=8601 The business strike Franklin set: https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetGallery.aspx?PeopleSetID=8611 Battle Creek Morgans: https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/WCM/CoinCustomSetGallery.aspx?s=282