I have almost completed my AU collection of Franklin halves and would like to begin putting together a set of Walking Liberty halves. I have a few raw coins but most are AG,G,or VG. What grade would you suggest I look at collecting to get a nice attractive yet affordable collection?:goofer:
A Fine or Very Fine set is attractive and affordable but some of these early date Walkers can be hard to find and it will take time but will be something to be proud of.
The walkers are an excellent set to collect. They provide the thrill of hunting for keys as well as having very affordable coins. If you want, many people do a MS set for the short set (1941-1947) and use circulated coins for the 1916-1940 years. I would also have to agree with sticking around Fine. All the detail is very much still visible and the prices are very affordable.
Spartan, what is your budget? That really will determine your grade range. I too just completed my Registry set of Franklin's (linked in my sig line below) - and I too just started a set of Walkers. I chose MS-65 for the later half, and EF-40 for the early half. Walkers are attractive even in circulated grades. VF is attractive, and F coins can be attractive if you take the time to pick very nice examples.
I am a family man with a modest collector budget and cant afford to go with the MS grades. The Fine grade seems more my budget line and i think the challenge will be very rewarding. But the later years may be a possibility set in MS. Thanks for the info guys
I completed my set 3 years ago. Only 4 in my collection are slabbed. The early dates range from G-F. My 21's are all VF and the 1938-D as well. These are great coins and I am now upgrading certain dates when I can afford. I would suggest that you start at F-VF. Anything you can find in 1940-47 try EF-AU. Gotta be careful though as many are cleaned, whizzed or dipped. Try to stay away from raw UNC's unless you can truly trust the seller. Happy hunting!!
The reverse of the WL has got to be the most attractive ever done by the US Mint. I love it. Of course, the obverse is great too!
I think you could assemble a very nice set in F-VF for the earlier dates. Here's a thread I started a while back for folks to post there circ Walkers: http://www.cointalk.com/t56019/
I think sticking in the F-VF area is a great way to build an affordable, and attractive Walker collection. I would also pick up a common date in uncirculated just to have one. But don't buy it without examining it for yourself. Like silver dollars, a lot of mail order coin dealers are passing dipped XF-AUs as BUs.
