Happy New Year to All Seeking your opinions, fellow collectors! Background I'm an individual collector with a Peace Dollar set (almost complete). I am collecting in XF40 to AU58 condition. For the three key dates (1921, 1928 and 1934-S) I have slabbed AU coins by NGC, PCGS and ANACS, respectively. So far, so good. For the raw coins, some are significantly more toned than others. Some have lustre, some are uniformly toned (tarnished), and some have blotchy toning. Hey...some may even have been "wiped." (See my separate post on this topic). Question: When you plan your collection for any silver set, do you seek to have the coins "look" similar, or are you happy with a mixed bag: various toning? Of course this is a personal preference, but I was curious as to what you think. Do you believe having a set that "looks" similar makes it more valuable? Or is it just art versus cash?
I also have an almost compete Peace Dollar set. With all of my sets that I have completed or am still working on I always try to keep them all the same as far as grade and eye appeal. So far my Peace Dollar set is all AU and I'm going to finish buying the rest in AU. I like to keep all of my sets in either VF or XF. I think the set looks better as a whole this way. As far as making the set more valuable this way, I really dont know if it makes a set worth more but I beleve a "matched" set would sell faster than a set with mismatched graded coins. JMO
I like to keep my collections relatively close together in my collections as pertaining to grade. For me having a MS-60 or AU-55 next to a VG is not that great, but to each his own. I also have a Peace Dollar Collection (complete). They certainly have gotten very popular over the last 12 to 18 months.
My collections are usually mixed grades with some coins lower in grade because that's what I could afford at the time. For my Peace $ set my grades run from F 12 (1) to MS 62 (2) with some raw & slabbed coins in BU (6) and AU (7). I'm still missing the 1928. Now that I noticed the F12 graded coin I need to upgrade that one closer to the others. Bruce
Most of the sets I've seen the "key dates" are always in a lower grade than the commons. As a matter of fact alot of sets are just missing the key dates altogether. A good idea is to try and buy the key dates first.
Each of my sets had their own criteria when I started them. In most cases the criteria changed over time. That generally means I upgraded some of the individual coins in the set. EXAMPLE: I wanted a MS-/PF- set of silver Roosevelt dimes (1946-1964). Initially my criteria was: - slabbed - MS-65/PF-65 or better This criteria was based mostly on money. This was an affordable set to put together. Plus I got the idea in my head (right or wrong?) that Roosevelt dimes were flying below the radar and probably underpriced. But as I put the set together and was essentially done based on the original criteria I sat back and took a look. I noticed a commonality. Most slabs were PCGS or NGC. Most business strikes were MS-66. Most proofs were PF-67. So my criteria changed. I wanted a matched set. Now they were: - PCGS or NGC slabs only - All business strikes in MS-66 - All proofs in PF-67 I needed some upgrades, and a few downgrades(!) And there was a handfull of slab switches. I'm still short one replacement for a business strike. And a few of the business strikes are FT's (that's okay with me.) Once I get the last replacement the set will be complete to my satisfaction and get retired to the safe deposit box not to be seen again for probably years. This is one example of how a set was conceived, implemented and morphed over 3-4 years. Criteria for other sets may be different, but the growth process is quite similar: 1. Concept 2. Planning 3. Implementation . 4. Modification of concept 5. Replanning 6. Re-implementation . . (There may be several repeats of Steps 4, 5 & 6) . 7. Finalization and storage 8. New concept and start the process all over with some new set
I have decided to take a much different approach to my Peace Dollar Collection which is still in it's infancy. Since the TPG's can't provide me with strike consistency for the series, I have decided to take a shotgun approach at the collection. I search auctions and when I find a coin that I like, I bid on it. Makes no difference if the strike is similar, toning is similar, luster is similar, or anything else. The goal at the end is to have a group of uniquely beautiful Peace Dollars that have nothing in common. Here is what I have so far. The coins shown above are: 1922 NGC MS64 (upper left) 1922-D NGC MS65 (upper right) 1924 ICG NGC MS65 (middle left) 1924 NGC MS66 (middle right) 1925 NGC MS66 (bottom left) 1926 ICG MS64 (bottom right) Eventually I will have to work on the key dates which so far have proved to be a disappointment of selection. Too many dipped average looking coins.
