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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 8307281, member: 101855&quot;]I had the struggle, but when I was young, I put aside some much money a month and waited for the right items to come along. At that time, I was concentrating on the type coins from 1793 to 1807. I would buy only a couple major a coins a year. After a few years, I had really nice group of early coins, but I was young and had a lot of patience. </p><p><br /></p><p>The trouble with buying really expensive coins is that mistakes can cost you a lot of money. That&#039;s why you should start slowly, learn how to grade and then learn how certain issues of coins look. That takes a lot of study. You can learn a lot from your experience with the more common dates. </p><p><br /></p><p>Some collectors say, &quot;Buy the key dates first because they are most likely to go up in value.&quot; That&#039;s great if (1) you know how to grade and spot problems and (2) you run into the right pieces right away. The rarer a coin is, the harder it is to do that. </p><p><br /></p><p>I wish that third party grading holders could solve that problem, but they don&#039;t always do it. CAC is a further refinement, but I can tell you that it&#039;s not perfect either. </p><p><br /></p><p>It really comes down to priorities. If you concentrate on one series, chances are you will know more than most dealers. If you have the talent and the passion, you might know a lot more. </p><p><br /></p><p>Having not seen the 1921 half dollar that attracts you, I can&#039;t say anything about how good it might be. White surfaces on a circulated coin are not always good. They are sometimes not that good on a Mint State coin. Finding a good mentor is great. I had a few dealers and older collectors who helped me along the way. If you find one them, take advantage of it.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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