To answer your question Jefferson nickels will be both easier and cheaper. A Good coin (G-4) will cost you between 5-cents to $10, some Indian Heads will start somewhere around $2.
Another vote for the Jeffersons. I was actually thinking about starting a Jefferson Nickel set myself! It is an attractive coin and readily available in all grades at reasonable prices.
I have to go against conventional wisdom here and say go for the Indians. It's a lot harder set to put together, but to me it would be more interesting and more of a challenge. Besides, I love coppers better. Good luck in whatever you decide to do WheatiesFan. Bruce
I think everyone needs a COMPLETE nickel collection: Jeffs can be found in circulation, and if you get impatient you can get the war nickels, 1939 coins, and 1950-D at reasonable costs. If you include proofs in your collection, there are a few major key dates. The 1994 Matte Proof, 1997 Matte Proof, and some early year SMS coins. In short, the Jefferson nickel is a common coin, but you can assemble a truly uncommon set of Jeffs. Then go to V nickels. A short run, only 3 key dates, reasonably priced because there's no silver content. Then move forward in time to assemble your BUFFALO herd. An iconic coin with a handful of keys. You can make this set as easy or challenging as you want... you can stick to low grade and you'll find only a few coins that cost more than $20 or you can go for completeness and get all sorts of overdates and the 3-legger. Finally, as an experienced nickel collector, you can tackle the shield nickels. Minted in the first year that "IN GOD WE TRUST" was emblazoned across our coins. (But I obviously don't have any strong feelings on the matter.)
I too, suggest the Indian Head Cent. When I started to collect these coins, I became obsessed and looked all around for the best information. I found Rick Snow Attribution guides to Flying Eagles and Indian Head Cents. I bought them all and then became an educated IHC collector. Now I buy most of my copper from The Penny Lady and Rick Snow. Im assurrd of quality coins and a good deal. Plus there are plenty of good deal to be had on line for IHC's. Go for it.
The Jefferson series is definitely cheaper and easier than IHC's. Better? That is purely a matter of opinion. I guess it depends on which design you like better and which metal you like better. I prefer silver coins myself.
Collect Kennedy's! Order your rolls from the bank in $500 boxes and assemble a set. Maybe if you find some 90% or 40% Silver coins, you can sell those to pay for the tough ones in the series like the Mint Set Only 70D or 1987 coins.
I feel the Jeffersons would be the easy, economical choice for most collectors. I would do the nickels first, then the IHCs when completed. Some of the key dates in IHCs will set you back a small fortune.
If you don't have much of a budget, then Jefferson nickels would be your best bet. Its great that you can still find them in circulation. Well technically you can still find IHC in circulation, but its a lot harder and usually they're the common 1900s dates. But the IHC set would be more rewarding IMO. Third option is to do what I do, and just collect both!
If your goal is to collect a series that is easier, cheaper, or better of the two...I would recommend going with the Jefferson collection. They're 2 of the 3; easier and cheaper. But IMO not better. It's very gratifying to complete the Flying Eagle/Indian Head Cent collection, but very expensive (and that's without the 1877 and 1909 S...I'm not getting those, at least nowhere in the foreseeable future). -LTB
Easier, cheaper: Jefferson Nickels. If you want a little more of a challenge, you could assemble a BU set. Indian Head Cents in my opinion are the more fun of the two. They've got some great history behind them, the series ran from just before the Civil War to 1909 and basically covers the period in which America "comes of age", from the pioneers to the industrial revolution. The iconic indian chief with full head-dress hearkens back to the old west, and imho is one of the more striking obverses in US coinage. The set is fairly easy to put together in lower grades, minus the 1877 and 1909 s. But even those are not completely out of reach depending on your budget.
I like the Jeffs. I started my set thinking it'll be 'ho-hum'... but then silver prices took off, and the Jeffs stayed inexpensive, and gave me something to work on while silver was up. The more I built the set, the more I fell for it. You can pick up some beautiful MS coins for cheap and build a great set. The nickels also tone all sorts of great colors, especially the blues. My set is almost done, and will be gorgeous. (for a Dansco set)
I still vote for Kennedy's since finding uncirculated examples is MUCH easier due to the fact that the coins really didn't circulate like nickels, dimes and quarters. Yes, there are a lot of beat up examples and what seems like a never ending supply of crap 1971-D's but the odds of finding a nice AU example are much much higher than any other other currently circulating coin.
wow thanks for all the input.i am going to go with the jeffs first.but will do ind after.ive been going by these two old books for coin info the first is a 1981 blue book 38th ed..by yeoman ,and the other is a 1991 red book 44thed by yeoman.but yesterday in walks my wife with a2011 us coin digest.wow what a cool book...and a jeffs book only from1968 to 2009 and i filled like 40 holes just with jeffs in my coin box.anyone collect old coin books
i was thinking that i want at least 1 cent from each time they started a new one. since they started making including half cents
I already have coins from 63 different countries, each have their own unique beauty. I am trying to find a reliable source to purchase more. I would love to expand my collection to at least one "cent" from each world country. Any recommendations?
