Hi CT vets! A little background: I'm third-gen coin collector, 18, and planning on collecting entire life (likely getting several thousand worth dollars of coins soon). My question(s) is: how much money would it take to get a MS65 collection of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters since 1900, excluding key dates. I've accumulated almost a complete collection of each excluding silver from circulation, and would like to set this as my next goal. Is it feasible as, say, a ten year goal? Any ideas and suggestions appreciated! Thanks! John
Hi, John! You didn't say if the coins graded MS65 would be certified or not. This would make a difference. However, I think you're going to find that every type, i.e., Barber, SLQ, Buff, Merc etc. will have key dates, semi-key dates and common dates. It may take a little while, but I'm sure you can compute this for yourself. You might be surprised at the results! Chris
Welcome to the board John. I think you need to get some coin price references before you set your goals. When you state you want to collect coins in MS65 minus the keys I don't think you realize that in these higher grades there are a lot more "keys". Just for instance, in the wheats everyone thinks the 09SVDB is the big key. Well in the lower grades it is, however when you get to MS65 and above there are a couple handfuls of dates that are more expensive than the SVDB. A couple of them are worth multiples more, with the '26S being the king. It's listed in the greysheet at $75000-$85000. Good luck in you collecting and remember an educated collector is a much happier collector.
My advice would be to not set a time frame. Look at lots of coins in a series that are graded 65 by PCGS or NGC. Learn what you want in a 65 - not all are equal. Probably you would be better served by picking a series learning the strike qualities then completing a collection of those. Take your time and enjoy the hunt.
With any collection. If you want the best that you can afford, is to get the hard ones first. The rest will fall in place. Most of us, at first, will collect the easy ones, because of the cost. Later the hard ones, are more out of reach later. Save your money, and get best of the hard first. Good hunting for the hard ones, weather slabbed or raw. No time to the end. Most of us never finish collecting.
MS 65 is a tough, tough grade to achieve across the board. Especially when you're talking early 20th century business strikes. Just to give you an example, the 1934D Washington Quarter can be had fairly inexpensively in lower grades. You can buy one for around melt in VG8. Now that same coin retails for $350 in MS63. In MS65 it's gonna cost you around $1500. There are a lot of instances like this, where the price jump for a given coin from MS63 to 65 is a jaw dropper. If money is not an issue for you, go for it. But if you're like most of the rest of us and you have to stick to a budget for your collecting, you might have to dip down into MS63 or even 62 for a few coins. But you could still achieve a mostly MS65 set, and then just dip down a grade or two for the condition rarities, I think that would still be a pretty special set. That's the best thing about this hobby, it's your collection, you get to decide how to do it! Good Luck.
The key is "What you can afford". One doesn't need the lottery, just a goal to work at. Collecting is the fun of the search, and the goal of completing your collection as complete as possible.:thumb:
Hey, maybe you'll move on to be Mr. Eliasberg(only person to ever have a complete US date/mint set of coins(some new ones were found later, but that does not take away from the achievement) ever) the 2nd... I can imagine the whole of the forum watching Jeopardy years from today with the category coins and the question being "who was the second man to ever complete a US date/mint set of coins and it be any one of our members.:rollling:maybe not also...
It's a laudable goal but the cost may be somewhat higher than you anticipate so you might need toscale back somewhat. I'd suggest you go more slowly especially at first when your knowledge is more limited and it's more likely you'll overpay. Sell some coins once in a while so you know what they are really worth. You can pick up the pace as you gain knowledge and experience. Good luck.
1940 to present would be relatively easy. 1900-1940 time frame would probably take a small lottery jackpot to accomplish across all series for MS-65s. It may be difficult to accomplish even if the prices were no concern. I predict your collecting interests will change within the next 3 months. And probably again within 3 months after that.
Howdy, While not nearly as informed as so many of the others, I wish that early on in my coin collecting life (been collecting for almost 55 years), I'd learned more about grading AND done a lot more reading about the hobby. Books by Travers and Bowers. There are specific books written about most every series. If you're going to collect morgans it really helps to buy the book on them by Bowers: http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Morgan-...=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327934121&sr=1-4 Another of his great books is The Experts Guide - http://www.amazon.com/Experts-Guide...=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327934121&sr=1-5 It'll be the best $15 you'll ever spend. Lastly, get to know all your local dealers. Go in and chat. Look for specific coins. Learn from them. Don't do it on the cheap - always try to buy something - time is money. However, most every dealer I've ever know really loves the hobby and sharing that love with others. good luck, peace, rono
If I was starting over I would not collect a complete series. I would go for key dates and highly valued conditional rarities.....QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. Owning a completed set buys you nothing but a completed set. In the end, when you decide you need to sell, you'll be in a tough predicament that will require hours and hours of work.....you'll also most likely lose a lot of money in the process. Quality coins hold their value well and are easier to sell when that time comes.
A big plus 1 on that. I am probably one of the few collectors that does not go for sets and the like. I roughly have a VERY ragged type set, that most people would call a mess. But I love every coin, they are all good quality and I never feel the need to "chase" a coin that "I need for my set" This keeps me from overpaying and I do not wind up with a bunch of lower quality coins that will be difficult to get rid of without taking a loss. I am very disciplined, bid on many coins but win few. If I can't get the price I want, there is always another one around the corner. This method is not for everyone, but as they say. Different strokes...... Mike
You sir are a savy collector! I'm slowly working on my project to reduce volume and increase quality. I have a HUGE collection that I'm slowly selling. I'm 49 now and it's time to pare this mess down. I don't want to die and leave my family with something they won't handle properly. Even if they don't sell it all, they still have the problem of storage. Chances are the coins will eventually be lost, stolen or taken by God in natural disaster. With a small number of coins they can rent a bank box and have piece of mind. My goal is that they will also have financial piece-of-mind in that should they need money, the stuff in the box will be all certified and easy to liquidate.
Collect the coin, not the grades of coins. I'd say don't limit yourself and your collection to a particular grade of each. Collect because you enjoy collecting. If you never plan to sell them or make it an investment, then don't worry about their worth either. Just have fun!
i have a complete set of the smae thing uncirculated . i deceided to focus on lincolns cause theres so many die varities and stuff i found out about,. altho there are a few coins i could never afford..like it was said earlier in the board quality over quanity is the name of the game.. but keep collecting,. have fun..
