Do you guys consider it better to have a coin that's more rare all together, or a more common coin that's of a high grade?
I would much rather have a circulated coin that is somewhat scarce than a high MS coin of equal value that is more common.
I would much rather have a super high-grade eye appealing common date of a given issue than a lower grade better date. Rarity by itself doesn't really do much for me when I'm looking at a coin.
I'd go with rarity... However, conditional rarity is a nice thing itself as well. Given a choice between an 1804 half cent, low 4 00 touching in F-VF and an 1856 half cent in MS-65 red, I'd take the 1804, but I would certainly stare longingly at the 1856. Mmmm, 1804. Fish
Def. rarity. I've been overhauling my type set to represent the lowest mintage coin of each type (and/or variety when necessary) in the best condition I can afford. This may mean my 1921 Mercury is in pretty rough shape, but I'd rather have that then a 1943 in MS, esp. since the rarer dates/mints tend to see the best price increases.
Rarity vs condition While it's terrific to find a coin with great rarity AND condition, I generally lean towards a beautiful example of the type rather than a rare variety in lesser conditon.
Man, do I have this backwards! I've been searching for coins that knock my socks off and THEN factoring rarity into what I'm willing to pay! This is what happens when you get old! :goofer:
I would rather have the rare coin, Why?, because not that it is worth more in monetary value, but for the main reason that it is so uniqely difficult to posess. And once aquired it is like an unbelievable feeling just knowing that you have one and you know what it is. It's just undescribable with words.
I dont care how rare it is, I want coins that are well designed regardless of whether they are common or rare...You can have an ugly rare coin and I wont care...you have a great designed common coin and I am all over it...so I would have to say whether rare or common it needs to wow me with the design...but then again I think MOST coins are interesting..there ARE a few though that I just dont care for the design and wouldnt pay for even though they are valuable and sought after...
I struggle with this question also. It seems rarity would be the obvious answer. However, I just can't decide if it is worth paying $300 dolars for a single coin (say a Morgan dollar), or pay the same amount for a roll of Morgans that are of a common date but BU/high grade.
I would say rare. But, it depends on the situation. For example, I'm putting together a partial set of Walking Lib. halves. For the most part I'm going for condition, like MS-63 and up, and absolutely no less than AU-58. But for the 1938-D I went ahead and got it in fine. Having that somewhat difficult date was the most important thing. And rather than spending all of the money I took to the show on the one coin, I was able to get that, several more common Walkers, a nice Morgan, and some roman bronzes.
