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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Gregg, post: 2874624, member: 90419&quot;]My father and I recently started collecting coins.&nbsp; He was stashing silver rounds in preparation for the coming zombie apocalypse and I suggested that it may be more interesting to piddle around with low grade silver dollars - you get a little bit of history that way and you don&#039;t have to pay much more than the coin&#039;s spot silver value.</p><p><br /></p><p>We went with Peace Dollars because they&#039;re a really short series and readily available in low grades with only a couple of difficult dates.</p><p><br /></p><p>We also decided to start with the 1922/1923 dollars knowing that, as clueless beginners, we were going to get burned - this was our way of limiting our losses.&nbsp; The goal was to build a collection of a couple of dozen AU/MS dollars, have them graded, and then use the cleaned/wire brushed/polished examples as tools for learning what to look for in a Peace Dollar.</p><p><br /></p><p>As it stands we now have one of the world&#039;s finest collections of cleaned/brushed/polished Peace Dollars.</p><p><br /></p><p>You don&#039;t only learn about Peace Dollars this way, you also learn about dealers.&nbsp; For example, at our first coin show the kindest and most personable old gentleman sold my father and I five beautiful Peace Dollars <i>- all of which have been cleaned. </i>Not only were they cleaned, but in my small collection they&#039;re the most expensive ones I&#039;ve purchased short of a PCGS slabbed MS63. </p><p><br /></p><p>I still have that guy&#039;s card. </p><p>He won&#039;t be getting more of my business.</p><p><br /></p><p>The point is: We can now look at these Peace Dollars and know why we wouldn&#039;t ever purchase such a thing in the future.&nbsp; I value these because there just is no better learning tool.</p><p><br /></p><p>********************************************************</p><p><br /></p><p>My father is attempting to collect AU 58 Peace Dollars but we like picking them raw and sending them in to be graded so that we learn to grade for ourselves.&nbsp; <i>He&#039;s the only person I know that will send in a coin and be upset that it came back a grade or two higher than he expected.</i> </p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Oh rats, it is Uncirculated!&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>********************************************************</p><p><br /></p><p>At our second coin show (Lansing, MI) I entered a raffle and won first prize.&nbsp; I told the guy on the phone that I was a little bummed because I wanted seventh place which was a 1925 Peace Dollar.&nbsp; He said, <i>&quot;But the 1853 half penny is quite a bit more valuable.&quot;&nbsp; </i>The problem is, what would a half penny get you in the zombie apocalypse. </p><p><br /></p><p>Nothing, that&#039;s what.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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