If a person was to start collecting, let's say "Mercury Dimes", from when they were first minted in 1916 to when they were last minted in 1945 and attempting to find each year and every mint mark. Would you personally, as a collector, try to find any year and mint mark regardless of the grade to fill out the collection. Or should a person concentrate on collecting only a certain grade coin and limit your search to VF-20 or above coins as an example or only for AU-50 etc. Would it be time consuming and also very expensive looking only for quality rather than quantity? Your feedback and personal experience would be appreciated.
Most of the time collectors don't do a set all in one grade BUT some of the bigger collectors do...they have to have all of the coin in 1 grade...its hard but it makes for a fun hunt...I'm trying to do it on a set I have going...it can get $$$-- With Mercury Dimes I would go with any grade...the 1916-D is going to be hard and high to find in any grade...I have only seen about 5 in 5 + years of collecting and I think they were all AG-G. Speedy
In my opinion the most important thing is to collect what you like, (of course, taking your budget into consideration.) If you want your mercury dime collection to be all of one grade, go for it. As Speedy says, it will take longer and be more expensive if you pick a higher grade, but the fun of collecting for me is in the hunt. I have more fun putting together a collection than I do when it is completed. I usually put a range of grades on my collections, such as G-VF, VF-AU, or MS63-MS66, for example. In my opinion that keeps the collection even looking, if you know what I mean, and is a little more flexible than picking one grade only. I like having one pricier collection going at the same time as one or more cheaper collections. That way I can save up and shop around for a coin for the more expensive collection, getting one a few times a year or so, but can still enjoy purchasing the cheaper coins for the other collections on a regular basis. Also, you have to determine what your definition of "completion" for a particular series is going to be. Almost every US coin series has a "stopper" or two, coins that are are way more pricey, or even prohibitively expensive. Also, will you include major and minor varieties? I have no problem putting together a collection and calling it "finished" when there are still holes left in the Dansco, but that drives some collectors nuts, lol. Anyway, have fun!
I've been working on my Merc collection for two years and I just finished the first page (1916 - 1931) of the Dansco album. I set my grade goal at AU - MS62. Budget is important in determining your grade goal. I really do believe the series collections that are close to the same grade, say Fine to extra fine for eaxample, present the best as EagleEyed noted. I would give serious consideration to going for the key & semi key dates first as these coins will only increase in price over time. Take the 16 D Merc for example, the prices i've seen these selling for over the lat two years is out pacing the CDN Grey sheet. Good luck and happy collecting
The few 1916-D's I have seen have all been selling for over $600...and that was even for a AG.... I agree...get the keys first... Speedy
For me, anyway, I am trying to find Lincoln Cents from 1909-2000 P, D, and S mints in any grade I can. When I find a coin that fits a higher grade later on down the road, I swap it out for one I already have, and use the lower grade coins to trade with. So far, it has worked really well, and I've got a full Lincoln Memorial cent collection minus the '70-S Small date and 60-P Small Date. I would definitely suggest this method to you because it enables you to fill your collection rapidly, and I've made quite a few friends from trading coins with them! Connections are everything, and if you can find someone who can get you good deals on quality coins from meeting them this way, it's all for the best! AJ
Not sure I would agree with "Get the keys first" any longer. Actually I would say get whatever you can whenever you can! When it comes to the keys it is very important you know what you are doing and what to look for. Your safest bet with the keys is to buy slabbed coins and boy do I hate slabbed coins but you are protected with those biggies!!! I worked a Mercury set for a couple of years and now down to just one coin and that is the biggie, the 16D. I bought whatever grade was available at any given time. If I get the opportunity to upgrade, I can and will, but until then I have all those holes filled except the one and filling any set in any grade, especially prior to 1965 can be an accomplishment these days. Again, as the others have stated, the only thing that is really important is the self satisfaction you get working on YOUR set. It is not important what any of the rest of us think or do as long as you please yourself and have a good time doing it. There is no right way or wrong way so everyone answering your questions here are correct! Speedy is correct with his 16D pricing as that one will be the kicker! EagleEyed and Twoods have also served up some fantastic points so now you must decide where to go from here. Good luck!
Well if i was focusing on modern coins like Mercury Dimes then i could personally not live with coins less than EF. Admittedly this grade bias comes from the fact i was reaered on UK coins of that period which aren't half as pricey in EF or UNC grades. Heck i was attempting 20th century sixpences all dates in BU nothing less. But US coins are far more expensive, but i've been brought up to see EF coins of the 20th century as the absolute minimum. It's hard to change that habit now. Maybe it's just me but i don't like coins that lack detail, i ditched my 17th/18th sixpence collection because i'd bought some substandard coins (i.e low VF's instead of high VF's) thus i thought, well i'm gonna have to upgrade about a third of what i've got, that and the overall 'look' of the set wasn't as uniform as i'd like. Thus i got disheartened and sold every last one of them. With Mercury dimes my general approach (and with most US coins), is to pick the common mint, most often P mint and just do a date run of P mint coins because it's cheaper and allows me to more realistically focus on the higher grades i like. You can also axe all the minor varieties such as overdates which also saves money! Or conversely you could pick the mint that didn't run as long in an series, often S mint in the US that i've seen, but these are usually dearer! Although looking through the Redbook the S mint Mercs don't look too bad. Some may know i'm currently working on a Nazi Germany 5 reichspfennig date set and i want them all in UNC/BU condition (which is tough), but because i'm focusing just on the Berlin (A) mint, it means there's only a handful to get anyhow.
Thanks to all who replied. Your opinion and experience is appreciated. Gleaning information from all the posts tells me there is no right or wrong way. I have been assembling a couple of sets of ASE, one PCGS MS-69 and one NGC in MS-69 all slabbed coins. But I really wanted to try a set of earlier coins and really like the looks of the mercury dimes and am fascinated with the historical time frame that these coins represent, the early 20th century. Thanks again, I might ask for opinions later as I start this new collection.
I would find any grade and all mint marks I could,then up grade as my collection grows. I hate to have holes in my collection. Best of luck to you.
There are a couple of very good reasons that it is recommended to get the key coins for any collection first. One of them is that the key coins tend to continuously rise in value, sometimes even when the rest of the coin market does not. This means that the longer you wait to obtain the key coins - the more they are going to cost you when you do obtain them. The second reason is again related to money out of pocket. Many collectors believe that they are saving money by buying a lower graded coin than they really want for their collection just to fill the hole - with plans to upgrade at a later date. Well that's all well and good - except when it comes time to upgrade. For what usually happens is that when you try to sell the lower graded coin is that you receive less than you paid for it. Not only that - but the higher graded coin you really wanted usually costs more now than it would have when you bought the lower graded coin. So you have lost money two ways by following this method. Rule of thumb - do not buy any coin for your collection that is not what you want it to be. If you want XF or Unc - but can only afford VF - then wait. Save your money until you have enough to buy the coin you want - the one you will be happy to own. By doing this your collection costs you less in the long run and will be worth more if the day ever comes that you or your heirs decide to sell it.
I try to go for coins in higher grades VF & up,but there are some coins that are very scarce in any grade,such as the 1723 British 1/- with the French Coat-of-Arms at the date.I bought one of these a few years ago for NZ$125 off a dealer in Auckland. Aidan.
Sounds like you've been dabbling in my old area. I was into sixpences of that period though, but alot of the knowledge learned on those is applicable to shillings also. Inverted shield positioning being one, haymarking, adjustment marks and milling variants being another. Would that 1723 have been the SSC, although for shillings i believe they issued 1723s without the SSC and with regular provenance marks.
If you want to do the Mercury series you must first define what a complete set is to you. Will you do a date run for all mints (P,D,S) or just one mint? will you include the 1942/41 and 1942/41 D overdates? Once the completeness question is answered, then look at the price range for the most exspensive coins and pick a grade that matches what you can reasonably afford. Then begin the set in that grade (or 1 grade higher for the cheaper coins). I recommend getting the keys frist, but that is completely up to you. Good luck and have fun!
Sylvester,my 1723 1/- with the French Coat-of-Arms at the date is an SSC one.I know what the 'SSC' stands for.It is 'South Seas Company'. Aidan.
