I used to collect Seated Liberty Half Dimes around 10 years ago and I've written a handful of threads in CoinTalk back around the same time. I've been thinking about starting the set over again and I'm really surprised how much the values of these has gone up....which I expected but not at the level that they are now. I once called this a 'sleeper" set because I could find very low mintage coins for very reasonable prices....under $20 dollars. Now all you find for that kind of money are bent, holed or damaged ones. I'm going to dive into the research on these again to get familiar with them again then I'm going to attempt to build another set. In the meantime I'm just a few coins away from completing my Walking Liberty halves.
As an avid h~10 collector I can tell you now that the values have increased very notable even more on certain varieties. I am down to the last 14 dates needed. I have a complete set of cap bust half dime 1929-1837. 1837-1873 Im still working on die marriages of both series. But a word to the wise be prepared to accept coins with issues to complete the set.
I am a fan of the half-dime. I have been collecting them - in a haphazard way - over the years. I need to bring the ones I have together and see what I have, and what I "need."
How do you collect? By date & mint , die marriages, varieties... I'm all of the above...lol. Im always on the look out for what ever comes by. Sometimes one must make exceptions to obtain a certain marriage. As pictured below .
The Liberty Seated Half Dimes are a much tougher set than people realize. The reason why they were cheap back in the day was because they are small. Some collectors don't like and won't touch small coins.
In all my days of coin perusing, I have only managed to pick up a single Seated Half Dime - it was love at first sight and I scooped it up immediately - the dealer said he had just put it on the floor 20 minutes before I bought it. Given what the OP said about rising prices, I may have purchased this at the right time. Completing the entire Seated Half Dime set would definitely pose a challenge. I know it lies way beyond my abilities, so congrats to anyone who manages to pull that feat off.
I really wanted a Proof Seated Liberty coin and the most affordable one I found, was a half dime - still pretty pricey at $264 with shipping, but I really like it. It's a lower grade (PR50) proof 1871 Seated Liberty Half Dime in a PCGS slab, mintage 960. Now I've got a hankering for a complete date set (not proofs, lol, too rich for my blood), that's the nature of this hobby isn't it? You find something you like, and then you start thinking, "Hey, why not get another one? Maybe a set of these would be neat!" Before too long you're in deep.
I bought the 1872 s raw and sent it to NGC for grading. Maybe should have kept it raw but ... Not to mention my photography is pathetic.