Got tired of album holes, due to some in slabs, so I did this...

It would definitely be impressive - like a legal library.

 

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I hope you didn't misunderstand my post. Saying your set was circulated was not intended to be an insult. Those coins all appear attractive, well matched in terms of color, and look to be a great set. Not everything has to be MS-65 RED. I really like the look of your set. I actually often prefer patinated (Brown) copper, because it is far more stable.

I myself am currently working on a VF-EF early Lincoln set (the very definition of mid-grade circulated). Similar to you, my grandfather gave me the start of this set. I've been upgrading and filling the holes for the last 15 years (it hasn't been my main priority, but it is important to me). My grandfather started my collection when I was very young, and he passed away last year.

My concern was that a 65RD key date would look out of place with a AU Brown coin. If the later dates are UNC, that helps - but you didn't show us any of the later pages. I sincerely wish you the best in your collection, and hope that you are able to build a beautiful set!

 

The 65RD wouldn't look out of place with the album coins since it will remain in a slab. It seems you think I'll be cracking the coins from their slabs, which I said previously I would not be doing. I didn't misunderstand your post or take any part of it as an insult. I understand the value and attractiveness of a "matched" set. From a practical standpoint, however, my set is complete, until and unless I upgrade some of the coins. Even if I do upgrade some, however, by color there will still be mismatches. Were you suggesting I buy replacements for my slabbed coins so they don't stand out by color, as different from the brown ones? This is not practical from a financial standpoint, for me or most others I would assume, and since they would not be in the album there would be no visual mismatch. The alternative would be to match the more red coins on the following pages to the one pictured by buying red or at worst red-brown coins to replace the brown ones. This also is not practical from a financial standpoint. So where is the balance point? For me it's where the collection now stands -- complete, with most coins uncirculated and some darker than red or red-brown.

There is no way to affordably change this set to one with all coins being similar in color/appearance. I am very happy with it as is, and if I can upgrade some I will likely be happier still. To me, it is already a beautiful set. What specifically would you have me do to meet the standards you're suggesting? Sell my slabbed coins and buy lesser ones to place in the album? Or sell my brown coins to acquire reddish ones? I think I understand where you're coming from on this -- to achieve an even look to the coins in the collection, which is a desirable goal especially if starting a collection or adding to one that's already very much the way you want the entire collection to be -- but I don't see how you would have me get there in any practical way. Additionally, I have no intentions of replacing the coins my father collected, and some of those are darkish uncirculated.

I appreciate your comments, and again, I was in no way insulted, but I just don't get specifically how you're proposing I meet the "similar appearance" goal. Further, my purpose in posting was to show what I did as a way to address the problem of a mixed collection with coins in an album and album holes due to some of the collection being in slabs. I had not seen others do this, although some likely have, and I found it to be a way to solve, at least partially, a vexing problem of having a complete set of coins but still having unfilled holes in the album, and that it may be helpful to others.

 

I assume you had tongue firmly in cheek when writing that? "Unwieldy" might be a better term, and expensive. The albums, slabs and pages alone would cost over $500, and the cost for safe deposit box storage would add an additional sizable, ongoing expense.

 

I guess there's no rule stating that you must have coins of similar grade put together. You can have coins all the way from P-01 up to PF70 if desired.

The real advantage of digital album is that I can put in any coins that I want without harming any coins / slabs. If need be, I can print them in high resolution and they look very close to what they would look like in person. You can even share it online. Will take time to design but cost is close to zero, except the coins... Of course the only down side is, you still want the real thing.

An example is shown here:

"Dansco-style" binder products?

 

I have no clue as to why all these pics appeared here -- I only uploaded once for each of the three.

 

Agree. For those who asked, here are pictures of the 09-S VDB in the slab.