"Finishing" a collection... Does it Ever Happen?

I am within one coin (a 1926 D Standing Liberty Quarter) of having a decent slabbed / graded set - ranging from an ugly FR02, Details 1916 to my fresh back from ICG 1929 MS63 FH (Full Head). I plan on picking up an XF - MS 1926 D, maybe details, in the next couple weeks. I do have some raw ones. I don't have the 1917/18 S overdate, but that's okay with me. I don't really feel done though, I think I'll keep trying to improve the set, it just doesn't feel like the collection is done. My youngest son who's now off in college started this collection about 5 years ago now, first in an album, then two, then we started getting some slabs. Finding the 1916 was kind of a lucky motivator (consignment shop junk silver lot) (we are "bargain" collectors aka not rich) . What are you working on and how long have you been working on it? I've been collecting off and on since I was a kid, it's been nice to have a focus on completing a set.

 

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I have plugged a myriad of Whitman and Dansco sets. So many that they comprise their own safe! But then I been plugging those books since the 1960's A year or so back I decided a two cent/three cent Dansco would be my current challenge.... And challenge it has been... And still is! The set you have assembled is quite enviable! Very well done.

 

I hate to say it but everything about that 1916 is saying to me 1917. I think ICG goofed.

 

Lol, I appreciate the input, but I'm going with the guys who gave me an actual guarantee of authenticity on this one. I know a lot of people disdain ICG and ANACS and love the PCGS / NGC slabs only, but I've found that provides more opportunities for great coins in ICG and ANACS slabs for folks like me - I try to follow the rule of buying the coin, not the slab - in fact both of those coins were purchased raw and sent by me to ICG. Also! Just thought you might like to know, a TPG grader told me it was easy to tell a 1916 as opposed to a 17 for someone who knows about this stuff, relating to the drape and / arm under her right arm and the "W" shape. Having looked extremely closely at both 1916 and 1917 type 1s, I agree. I'm always keeping my eyes open for another one, though I'll probably never see it.

 

Congratulations on your completion, what's next?

 

Maybe a Type Set? I have a bunch of empty Whitman albums, I want to do something achievable, where the rarest coins in the set aren't in the thousands of dollars, so that limits the options some. What are you working on, if anything?

 

I wish I still had the high quality Franklin set that I built in the 1980's back before we were all tied up with the grading minutia we have now. I bet some of those Franklin's I assembled back then would be for figure coins these days... Sadly, that set was stolen from me.

Have you assembled a Peace dollar set? That is a very satisfying set to put together and only a couple of dates command any real premiums in the higher grades.

 

I always find "completion" to be a weird feeling. I mean, its an end. The fun of coin collecting is the journey to me. That is why I gravitated to ancients, at least part of the reason. Even when I got all Anonymous bronze types, I didn't feel the letdown because I knew there were tons of varieties I didn't own. There are so many permutations I could collect them for decades. Myself, whenever I finished a US set I put it away and never really ever looked at it again.

OP, do you feel delighted or is it kind of anti-climactic to you?

Its another reason I always have 8-10 things I am collecting all at once. I almost always have something to look at, and even if I "finish" one I have tons of others to pursue.

 

I think these two empty used albums are calling out for some attention.

 

I've had a somewhat different approach to completing collections. I have completed two U.S. Type Sets based on the Dansco 7070. I sold the first one and a few years later, started the second, but for this collection, I put a cutoff date of 1976 and sought coins that were slightly better grades than the first set. I finished it, sold it, and started a new one that I am currently working on. This time I put the cutoff date at 1964, and the beginning date at 1793. I am now looking for better grades where possible, and adding the earlier coinage is making it more difficult to find higher quality coins I can afford. This third set is something I may never finish but it's fun trying!

I am working on date sets of half-cents and large cents, plus some ancients I like, plus an odd assortment of "whatever appeals to me", US or world coinage. So, like others have noted, I have several things in progress at once.

 

A great series to complete so congratulations on your accomplishment. I understand the I only need one more to complete the set. Hope you find the one you need soon. I've been looking for 7 years and can't find the right coin.

I do not count varieties and overdates when completing a set but I will add them to the set at a later date.

Please show us your set after you get the last coin.

 

Just a hunch, or...how can you even see the date or something else definitive...? I sure can't.

 

To your question...interesting...and my answer is probably not. The exception might be unless someone...hardly to be called a true collector...is quite limited in their focus and is just doing a set, and a limited set at that.

 

Finishing a set does give me a great sense of accomplishment, so congrats on the Standing Liberty Quarters as I heard that is a difficult one to tackle. Whenever I finish a set, it is always a great sense of pride and then the, "Well, ok. Now what?" As medoraman stated, once a set is done I do not look over it again for some time. Part of the reason is that once I involve myself in the set, I become slightly obsessed. I like learning the history, the art, strike details, how to grade it appropriately, the artist, the varieties, I just become consumed. By the time the set is done, I'm usually read to move on. I will admit my first set was F-XF Mercury Dimes. I looked at the set not too long ago and thought, "You know, you could upgrade some of these now that you are an adult making grown up money," but that set was worked hard as a teenager and I'll keep as is.

Currently, I like to have a copper set and a silver set to work on. Keeps me entertained if I get too bored in one metal vs the other. I am working on Lincoln Wheat Cents and just started Walking Liberty Halves. As for your options, I have never completed the type set but I have the Peace Dollars and they are beautiful in various grades and easily obtained and upgraded if desired. Whatever you choose, just have fun with it. It is a hobby after all!

 

My Lincoln cent book is like that. I assembled 80% of it in the 60's and 70's with kid money. I would never brag about that book here! But it will remain as it is as long as I am here.

 

Agreed.

 

I finished finishing sets over a decade ago, selling a bunch of stuff I acquired as a teen in the 1990s and pivot it into nicer coins for the more focused collection.

I get more enjoyment from type collecting (especially world coins) and 'accumulating' nice F-EF Standing Liberty quarters for my long term hold collection.

Even if you do set collecting, most always have upgrading to do too.

 

It's only "done" when you say it's done and happy with the set overall. Until then, it's a work in progress.

 

I think that a collection is finished when say it’s finished. My type set is finished except when NGC adds a modern coin to it. The last one cost me less than $15.

Upgrades for any coin of importance are very costly. The last coin I needed to finish my type set was the Draped Bust, Small Eagle 1796-7 half dollar. I wanted one in VF-20 or 25, which would have matched my 1796 Quarter. The coin that became available to me was a Fine-15, so I bought it. An upgrade showed up a few weeks ago ... more than double what I paid.

It’s over.

The registries are designed to keep you going. Just say no if that is your decision.

 

Congrats.