You know how if, say, you are trying to collect a set of frankies...you have to go for all three MM...well, for the type set..do you need every coin from every MM? Obviosly the years could vary...but do you need the P,D,S,CC (ET.) for all the coins, or do you just need to collect one of each coin? stainless
No I usualy go for the best sample of that series that I can afford , unless you happen to want a certain MM , the rules are yours to make up . Say for a Mercury dime , I'd get a 40s coin in MS-66-67 , RATHER THAN A 1917 in VF . One of each coin . rzage
rzage has got it right. In a type set you are collecting coin designs rather than dates and mintmarks. And the nice thing is that you get to decide what actually defines a design. EXAMPLE: Standing Liberty Quarters (SLQ) come in 3 major varieties. Since some of them become expensive in XF and up, you may decide in the beginning to get just one of the less expensive dates, generally a Type 3. Later as you can afford more expensive coins, you can go back and get the Type 1 and 2. But you didn't waste anything because you would have needed the Type 3 anyway. You can also start by limiting it to 20th century issues. 19th century coins in nicer grades tend to become pricy, and 18th century coins are out of reach for most collectors. Go for the high grade common date (like rzage said). A slight twist to type set collecting is to get the first year or last year of issue. So for wheat-back Lincoln cents you would get a 1909 or a 1958. Type set collecting is REALLY fun. You make it what you want. You can expand the make up anytime you want.
Kanga has got it right. You aren't forced to do anything. Yes, you define the boundaries of your type set the way you like... and that may change over time. Example : Seated Liberty coinage. With motto. Without motto. Arrows. Arrows and rays. Are those all different types ? You decide ! For me (right now) no, they aren't different types. As my set nears completion, maybe I'll get all those variants. Or not. Who knows ? I'm not there yet.
Well IMO its best to start a Concentrated collection which can be defined as the middle path between typeset and date/mintmark set. This kind of collection contains one example from each decade of a series’ lifespan, and one example from every mint. So its better to collect unique mintmarks (P,D,S) from 3 different years and complete your set instead of collecting just one coin example .
