I am posting photos of my sets. I have been collecting since 1948 and don't plan to add to them. I do intend to add to this thread as I complete the photography. Barber Dimes, Quarters and Halves
Look at it like this. When I was finding them they were less than 50 years old. There were a lot of them still around. When you look at coins today you are not at all surprised to find a 1971 dime (50 years old). People everyday report on here about coins from the 50's, 40's and earlier. And, WW II had just ended and Korea just started. People were breaking open their piggy banks. It was a very good and fortunate time to be a collector.
I like your sets. I was CRHing in the late 60's. Never found any Barber coins. The teller at my bank traded me a nearly slick half for 50 cents. So worn I doubt there was 50 cents of silver left in it.
My earliest CRH experiences date to the late 1970s. (I started as a ten-year-old in 1976.) I remember finding some pretty slick early Wheats (a 1909 plain and 1911) in Mom's change purse, when she let me paw through there. And the odd silver dime or two. But never an obsolete type like a Merc or Barber or even Buffalo or V-nick. (In subsequent decades, I have managed to find perhaps a half-dozen Buffalo nickels in rolls- some dateless, some pretty nice.)
That's because Insp43 had found them all by then...! Timing is everything. Likewise, I was CRH by about age 8 or 9, and found most of my Morgans, Peace, Walkers, Franklins and WQs that way...oh yes, and an infrequent Barber this/that plus a few SLQs, buffalo, and indians. When I and friends made weekend jaunts to Vegas in the late 60s and very early 70s and hit some modest slot lackpots ($100-$150), nothing but Morgan and Peace dols (then a few Ikes by 71-72) would come pouring out. Days gone by.
Was a bit late for those days I ask for rolls of dollars there like???.Then oh these no thanks im not looking for the gold onesthe time will come at some point.
I haven't CRHed in a few years now, but I mainly did nickels and cents. I am not certain on the ratios anymore, but I think I'd pull a Buffalo every 3 boxes or so (I put together 3-4 rolls of them, 2 rolls at least were dateless). I also found several V nickels (no ratio though as they weren't very frequent, but maybe around 15-20). Maybe a War Nickel every 2 boxes or so. It does come down a bit to location, but watching DatDareNickel guys 500 box challenge, his ratios in TX seemed aligned to mine in CT. Cents on the other hand became a challenge to find Wheeties. Natural scarcity due to obsolescence and the enormity of Zincolns sealed that fate.
On another note, I really appreciate the circulation sets!! I recall advice I received as a kid from the LCS staff: buy the very best you can afford. While that seems like reasonable advice, for those who like to be purists (or lean more that way), better/best is that which comes to you via the circulation route. Some years later, after putting collecting aside as a youngster, I was able to buy better/bests from the LCS. But I elected to keep my circulation sets pure and start new sets. In part, with the resumption of CRH, I was able to keep expanding my circulation sets while buying others for my better/best sets. It's funny to call them that, since while I take pride in my better/best sets, my circulation sets give me the greatest sense of pride. Of achievement. To each their own...so my story may be different than others. To those building BU sets and registries, keep doing it!! They are quite enjoyable. But I do delight in seeing others accomplishments in their circulation sets, combo sets...whatever really. And the stories behind them, often eliciting thoughts of my own youth, making the accomplishments of other collectors that much more delightful.
I had several good sources for the IHC's. The standard searching that I used for all coins, and, an old man in the neighborhood. His brother owned a small grocery store a block from my house. He worked at the store with his brother. The old guy saved IHC's for many years and kept them in coffee cans. I passed by his house often as he lived nearby also. If he or his wife were outside working I would always stop and help. I never asked for pay and he never offered. That's the way things were done back then. However, he knew I was a coin collector and once in a while he would open a can of IHC's and offer me a few. Yes, he let me dump them out and search through them.
