I have a set of Buffalo nickels less the overdate. A dozen are in PCGS holders, the rest are raw in an album. I'm picking up a few less expensive MS examples from time to time and was thinking about continuing to do so, but can see that I can't go far on my meager budget. Thought about upgrading the keys, but my 26-S is a F-12 in a PCGS holder, so don't think I want to upgrade there. Perhaps I should have had an end result in mind before I started. Any thoughts?
Pictures? It sounds to me like you're undecided on whether you want to even keep the set at this point?
How do you feel about the set now? I see that you have a mix of slabbed and raw examples? If you think that you have gone as far as you can/want with this series then maybe start working on a different series. My collecting goals have been pretty dyslexic over the years. My goals seem to change with the weather. My suggestion is to pick something that excites you right now and set the buffaloes aside for the time being. I was putting together a raw set of buffaloes with full horns and strong dates. Recently, I sold it to my LCS so I could move on to something new.
No thoughts on selling the set. I started out just buying a beautiful 1913-P MS-65, intending to be a "specimen collector". Somehow got sidetracked into building the set.
Okay, so you mentioned not being able to upgrade due to budget......... how about turning the complete set into a date set instead? Sell off some and upgrade the dates. I think you'd end up with a pretty fine date set. I would also limit it to one or the other......slabbed or album.
I don't like the set with part of it MS and part in an album. Might be a good idea to put it aside for a while. Thanks
After a lifetime of collecting I have a lot of complete albums. I finish them and tuck them away in the safe to be looked at once a decade or so.... I made a decision two years ago to put together a bit of a challenging set. Two cent and three cent nickels. I have yet to complete the set. But what I decided is rather than build more catalogs that will be relegated to the back of the safe, I am going to complete this one and as time goes on, I'll cherry pick high quality examples to replace the average stuff in the book. The way I figure it is that should satisfy my set building needs for the remainder of my life!
The one thing you have to remember is that you are building your collection to your satisfaction. Putting it aside for awhile may be a good idea...gives you time to perhaps consider which to keep & which to liquidate to obtain more desired specimens (which is a good option if you're short on funds, but want to continue the hunt). Also remember, we don't need coins, we just want coins. Virtually all of us have gone through the "set building" stage, & many of us stopped/changed direction long ago...doesn't mean it's a bad thing, just means we adjust our methods/desires. Just decide what satisfies you most & do that!
If having a mixed set (some raw, some slabbed) bothers you, try replacing the raw with certified slabbed coins, or wait for a TPG deal and send in the raw ones to be graded and slabbed. Just a thought.
Yes, yes, yes!! I just made a deal with my LCS to get another coin from a very old collection. It's a raw cameo proof 1882 seated liberty quarter that I just couldn't let go. I used money I got from selling the raw buffalo nickel set I was building. The thought of having the opportunity to buy another coin from a collection assembled over 75 years ago just seemed too good to pass up.
The reason I posted was that there are 50 or so coins to upgrade and that didn't look feasible. Everything in Buffalos on eBay seems to be priced higher than the PCGS price guide and I always thought it was high.
Keep in mind that right now we have had quite an upswing in coin values across the board. I think current prices are unrealistically inflated.
"See coin, Buy coin" I have a couple of circulated sets I am working on where completion won't cost a fortune and they provide an outlet for the above compulsion when my more serious/expensive/difficult collecting goals hit dead ends. I do think it is a good thing to set some goals and some collecting parameters ahead of time or even change them as you collect and your knowledge and tastes get more refined. But trying to articulate them is both the most difficult and the most beneficial way to get your collecting on the path you want.
I've had a similar issue brewing with each set of coins I started to collect. Luckily, I got everything for each of my Danscos, CAPS, and Whitmans, before going after the Key Dates. I finally decided I would follow the same pattern. I get everything raw for my album in decent shape and then purchase a slabbed Key Date(s). I then print a colorized picture of the missing coin with the exact dimensions of the slot for it in the album. So for example My Lincoln Cent collection has all of the coins in the album raw, except for the graded 1909-SVDB, 1914-D, and 1922 No "D". Those are all slabbed. That's the only way I could rationalize things in my mind. Good luck with whatever you decide.
I've found that many of the raw higher grade buffalo's on eBay won't straight grade (cleaned) but still get high prices. I had a nice 1916-S that I bought on eBay that my LCS wouldn't buy because the "S" was suspicious. One thing that I've learned the hard way is to be suspicious of all raw higher grade coins being sold on eBay or other auction sites; especially the less common ones. Everything we do in life is a learning experience; especially grading and evaluating coins. Although the TPGS aren't perfect, they do give one more confidence when purchasing a coin. Unless I can see a raw coin in hand, or from a trusted seller, I probably won't buy it.
I agree. I tend to buy key coins that are PCGS graded and buy the commons raw. But even that isn't worry-free these days.