Somehow, this little story sounds extremely familar. I have tended to jump around. I usually jump back a little too, and continue to pickup coins that I use to focus on as they fall in my lap as timing and pricing opportunities. Good luck with the set building. Your plan sounds good to me. What is important is that you are interested in it. I started a set that I thought I might never finish because the price tag seemed unreachable. It started like this: I answered an ad, which lead to a letter, which lead to a phone call. During that phone call, I knew in my gut I had the right guy (after years of half-tail looking). I have not been disappointed. Now , I am only 4 coins short for my set. He has two in his vault while I gather up some more funds. The last two will come too when the time is right. To the newer member, be open to opportunities and have fun.
Zach, I started out as a type collector and I want to offer you two pieces of advice I learned collecting: 1) Be patient and don't buy the first coin you see. Take your time and especially with type coins, buy one that you're going to be happy with. Otherwise you will eventually want to upgrade the coins and you will lose time and money in the process. 2) Collect what you like, as you like it. If you want to collect coins in slabs, by all means do so. My suggestion is that you educate yourself as much as you can about a series before you buy your coin. A little reading now will save you a lot of heartache down the road. My original idea was to put together a 20th Century Type Set of just the key date coins and all in UNC condition. I since (over 15 years of working on the set) pared it down to just key dates. I am trying for F or better, but even that can prove to be price prohibitive. Point being that over time, you may change your focus, but always remember that it's for relaxation and enjoyment. If those are what you seek, then the journey will be it's own reward. Your destination will not matter at all. Good luck!
Thank you so much for that information. I'm definitely be reading up in the red book on all the different coins. I may want to go with semi key dates depending on prices. Can someone either post + message me some sites that sell some nice coins. Hows teletrade?
I got a few slabs, about half ngc. and about half form self graders. Then I thought that it would be an easy way to cover a copy up. All say returns must be returned in original undamaged container. You can't test it or even look at the rim. I got a XF raw today that looks better than some ms I have recieved slabbed. I've only returned 1 a MS67 when I have better MS62 & 3's from ngc. But now I go for the raw, or the big 3.
You shouldn't buy raw coins on eBay unless you or someone you know knows the seller. You should treat coins slabbed by TPG's like NTC, ACG, SEGS, etc. as raw. As a general rule, coins that are self-slabbed are more than likely problem coins. Otherwise, they would be slabbed by a reputable company. Chris
SEGS is fine for authentication and attribution, but grading is likely to be a bit high. Their slabs are very solid and hard to crack.
Most I have seen have been overgraded, and that is why I said that you should treat them as raw on eBay. It's too easy for sellers to manipulate the photos. In-hand is another story. One of my favorite commems that I have is a 1915S/S Pan Pac 50c in a SEGS MS63 that is borderline. I bought it at the FUN Show a few years back because I love the rim toning on it. Chris
I picked up a 1941-D AU55 FB Mercury Dime. I wasn't aware of lower grades receiving a FB. I can't wait to see the coin in hand.
I slab my coins because one day my kids will inherit them and it will save them a ton of greif. but it does suck to not be able to hold the actual coin
