Hey everyone I started collecting coins roughly 4 months ago, I'm currently 20 yrs old. Here's a list of most of the coins I currently own. Is it better to stick to one style of coin, then buying many others? Originally I was purchasing Morgan/Peace weekly but found myself randomly buying different coins. I also started roll searching *pennies/dimes/halves*. I have a monthly budget of $200-300. Any suggestions/ideas in regards to where I should possible head with my collection would be GREATLY appreciated. Wheaties= 1150 Morgan 1921 MS 63 1878-S MS 62 *VF-AU 1878 1878-S 1879 1879-O 1879-S 1880 1880-O 1880-S 1881 1883 1883-D 1884 1884-O 1885-O 1890-S 1896 1996-O 1899-O 1902 1904-O 1921 x2 1921-D 1921-S Peace *VF-AU 1922 1922-S 1922-D 1923 1923-D 1923-S 1924 1925 $1/2 Roll 2009 Clad 22 Kennedy Silver $1/2 3 Walking Liberty 1 Franklin 2 Standing Liberty 4 Silver Quarters 44 Silver Dimes *Roosevelt/Mercury 25 Silver Nickels 1982 Proof Set 2009 American Eagle Uncirculated x2 2009 S $1 William Harrison PF 69 2009 S $1 Zachary Taylor PF 70 2008 S Clad $.10 PF 70 1960 25c MS 65 2005 S Silver 25c West Virginia PF 70 2004 S Silver 25c Florida PF 69 2007 S Clad 25c Utah PF 70
the best place that you can go is to the bookstore. Buy a few books on series that interest you, learn a bit about them and then and only then start to buy coins from those series
I think there's alot of ppl who collect like you do at least I did. When I first started collecting I bought everything that I could afford and liked. It wasn't too long ago that I started focusing more on walking liberty half dollars and buffalo nickels. Most ppl who are specific right off the bat are mainly folder coin collectors. Of course this is just my opinion and I am sure others would have more to add. Anyways, I wouldn't worry about it. I never even thought about it till I was looking at someone's album online here at this forum and her coins were so nicely organized that I thought I would take a tip from her arrangement and start to focus on specific coins. BTW my collection didn't get organized but I do focus better> I try to buy only halves and buffalos, but it doesn't always work for me.
My opinion is your just collecting or what some might say hoarding. It does appear your main interest is in Silver Dollars though. My suggestion is to acquire a Red Book by Whitman Publishing and sit down and look through it for ideas of coins you may want to actually collect. Then too read posts here on preserving, showing, displaying, collecting, placing in albums, etc. You mentioned 1150 Wheaties. Do you have any idea of the dates, mints, possilbe errors, RPM's? Are they just in a bag, can, jar, etc? You wanted suggestions. So mine is to really sit down and figure out what you prefer yourself in coins. Then too decide if you want a pile of coins in a jar, box, bag or in 2x2's, an Album or just what. All the suggestions of what to do is really sort of like asking who should I marry, what car should I buy, what type of work should I go into. All are really your decissions and if you do what someone else says for you to do, you'll never really be happy that way. You may well start with looking through all those Wheats as a starter.
I think your approach is fine when starting out... but as noted, you'll find yourself beginning to target specific coins with the goal of completing certain sets. I find myself easily falling into a hoarding scenario routinely, and then have to refocus on the specific coins I need. Welcome to the hobby... and truthfully, you are doing very well by simply finding funds to allocate monthly. Kudos.
Thanks for all the ideas thus far. I plan on picking up a Dansco album for the Peace Dollars, I would like to complete this set by Feb. Would it be better to buy graded 1921,1928, and 1934 S for the collection?
Maybe get a stereo microscope to look through your wheats...you'll never regret it. When I finish my proof ASE collection, I'm gonna start a type set like a Dansco 7070. I like the Morgans as well. I wish money grew on trees. lol
First off, welcome and nice to see some other young (in their 20s) collectors around here, some times I get to feelin everyones about 200 years old who collects coins haha I started collecting when I was a kid, but never got serious till I was about 21. I started off with Morgans but decided it was too hard for me being a noobie to judge value on any rare or key morgans. I didnt have a problem buying the 20-50$ ones, but the bigger guys I felt less comfortable with. Now Im fine with it, but at the time it was the right move to move on for me. Moderns are much more easy to judge (for me) so I went with Silver eagles, Silver maples with privy marks are GREAT fun to collect, and then I picked up some silver buffalos. After those Silver bufs I wanted the gold ones, so thats where I sit right now... I would say its better to collect a bit of everything, never pass up a GREAT deal just because you "dont collect those" but also dont expand your collection too fast, take time with what you collect, learn about them, learn what the market is for those coins etc.
First - welcome, zachfromnj ! :high5: Second - I suppose the short answer is collect what you enjoy. There's something about the Morgan / Peace $1s that drew you. Enjoy that. The nice thing about staying with a few series of coins is you develop specialized knowledge and expertise. I strongly suggest "Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan and Peace Dollars" by Leroy Van Allen and George Mallis. Readily available. I think you'll be fascinated. It's very instructive - much more than I expected. I'm sure you'll branch out to other series as well. Frequent advice around here is to learn as much as possible about the coins themselves and let numbers on a slab be secondary. Keep on postin' ! Enjoy !
I agree, find a series that you really like and stick with it, nothing wrong though with buying odds and ends you might like from time to time either. You have started with the Morgans and Peace dollars I would suggest you continue with those. Think about if you might want to start a Modern set of some kind. Do you like Proofs? There are so many ways to go about it, what makes you happy is the key. Tony
Hello zachfromnj, Welcome to the CT forum. You should collect what you like. I suspect that you will learn about the good coins in your collection & you will probably begin liking some more than others. If you really enjoy collecting coins like the Morgans, then please learn about them before you invest in them. Others have recommended the Bowers book and the VAM book which describe Morgans. Recognize that the US made millions of silver dollars each year. These books will inform you which ones are scarce and in which conditions they are scarce. Many Morgans are common in low grade & several are common in Mint State grade. Go to a coin show in your area & see how many dollars you find there. There are a plethora of counterfeits on the market so please read-up before you buy anything raw. This is especially important if you are buying on the Internet. Also, feel free to post a photo or link to a coin here for comments BEFORE you buy it. I feel like giving advice so here is some: Never buy a coin that you don’t like. You are probably not going to like it any more the next day or the day after that. Only buy a coin if you like it. My collection began with pretty much the same coins that you have listed (with the exception of coins dated 2000 something because I started before that). I collected Morgans & Peace dollars. I collected cents, nickels & dimes by date & mint mark. I collected US type coins. I collected error coins. I collected V-nickels. I collected key dates. I collected world type coins & I collected tokens. I’ve even got some rocks that I collected. I collected what I liked. Very best regards, collect89
Welcome to the forum. I say collect what you like. Concentrating on one or two sets is great, but it is also nice to collect nice uncirulated coins by type. It looks like you have a good start, and yes, I would buy (top three tpg) tpg graded key date coins.
I really appreciate all the comments thus far. I'm off to Barnes and Nobles to pick up some reading material.
I agree, pick a series and tell yourself to fill in all the holes. You get to a point when the holes left are the keys, but that is a different story. I chose the lincolns and I also get other stuff along the way, but my true love is the Lincolns followed by either the Indians or Morgan's. Can't make up my mind. Also, "stay tuned" to this forum. I have learned quite a bit just reading all the post. One day, maybe 30 years from now you will be truely gald of the effort you put into the coins. I wish you would have had the opportunity that a bunch of us had when we were a kid to pick wheaties, silver dimes and quarters, and buffalos out of change and bank rolls.
I've been working on a Dansco Album of Peace Dollars for the last few years. If you're carefull and purchase from a reputable dealer, raw coins can save you a few bucks. There's a certain safety net involved with purchasing certified graded coins but if I did that I couldn't bring myself to busting open the slab so I could put the coin in an album. I'm more into uncertifieds anyway. BTW, welcome to the forum Zach. Hey, you from New Jersey?
Zach - some good advice given so far. Don't be surprised if your tastes change either. I'm amazed that when I first got started back into the hobby, I was determined to collect an example of every kind of U.S. dollar coin. I learned quickly that I couldn't afford the early stuff. After awhile, I gravitated toward early copper and surprised myself in falling in love with 18th century British provincial tokens! I still love and collect some U.S. type, but I think you'll find that there are so many things to fall in love with that you should not be surprised if your "focus" changes. Also, while you at the bookstore, pick up the ANA grading Standards guide. This will help you develop your grading skills. The Red Book and the ANA guide will take you far. Good luck!
LOL at the jersey comment. I picked up the LARGE print 2010 red book and Grading Coins by Photographs by Q. David Bowers. All my Morgans/Peace have been purchased from a coin dealer who's only 5 minutes from my house, nice gentleman and don't mind bringing him business. He's been very helpful thus far and always talks to me while i'm there.
