Out with the old ?

By the same token, what is the fetish with high grade MS coins that never served the purpose for which they were minted? I never understood why people wanted coins that went straight from the mint to a bank (or vendor) to a collector to be put away and never thought about again. (other than to perhaps rub one's hands in glee at the thought of the huge windfall profits one would reap when it was sold.) Where is the historical wonder about a Morgan dollar that sat in a bank vault for 75 years instead of being tossed in the middle of an old west poker game or being spent on a train ticket to the big city?

Those worn out Barbers worked every day to move America. Sounds a lot more interesting to me.

 

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Those MS coins are nearly perfect examples of what the coins looked like when they first started their long careers as tools of commerce. There is plenty of room for those that collect the used and possibly historic coins and those that are a glimpse into what one may have gotten from bank teller the day the coin was new.

 

Great points above. Which is precisely why I choose to collect both.

 

Well, you'll find I am not a Morgan collector for that very reason. I am not all about obsessing on a coin very few wanted when they were current. Presidentials anyone? What DOES fascinate me is the "story" behind coins from the Great Depression, or other hard times, that somehow escaped being circulated to death.

The coolest Dansco album anyone ever showed me was a nearly complete set of Barber halves which were ALL between VF and XF. Now THOSE are stories! For me, 1933 is the line of demarcation. I want nothing in my collection below MS that is post-1933. Before 1933, we can talk.

 

Good to see your affinity for VF-XF Barber halves.

I prefer pleasing mid-grade circulated coins, in general (F-XF). You get good detail and inherent history. But I agree about AG-G Barber dimes (or simply dimes in general). The Barbers really just lose pretty much all their design detail at VG- and lower.

 

Like I had stated when I started this thread. The old worn barbers where what I started out collecting. I found one in circulation about 4 years ago it was an old worn 1912 ever since I just loved the barber series . When I started collecting I purchased lower grade coins and wanted to fill holes in my album. Over time I wanted better and better untill most of my barber collection is atleast EF with the exception of some key dates. Now I have all the lower grade stuff I started with and I still love the old worn stuff like was stated above those worn coins have traveled around and have a lot of history to them. After thinking about it I decide rather than having 5 of each date I'd sell these lower grade coins and buy something better. Glad I did it all worked out for the better. That doesn't mean I don't still have old worn coin or won't purachase one I may come across . My pockets arnt as deep as some and if not for me finding a old worn barber that sparked my interest and me buying what I could afford I may not have come to enjoy this great hobby. For me it all started with an old worn barber dime..

 

I agree.
Alot to be said for F-Xf coins who spent it,want did it buy just adds to the mystique and history.

 

I keep them all, I guess I really have OCD.

I have over 3100 Barber dimes, over 2,800 quarters, and 2,200 half dollars.

 

I've got to admit, THIS I don't understand. I keep thinking about what else I could get by liquidating a hoard like this.

 

Simply said: I keep them, not sell them, except on occasion

 

Okay, my only remaining question is how you came to even be in contact with that many Barber coins. You must have a time machine, or you actively seek them out at every turn. Again, I don't get it, because both the designs before and after the Barbers seem to attract more people aesthetically. For me, a couple of nice AU to BU examples, plus a proof or two, and I feel I've had all the Barber I'll ever want.

 

How was easy, first I found some metal detecting.
Then, I just started buying them, originally when you could get them in junk silver.

Then I went for the key dates, then better grades, and dealers knew I looked for them, back when no one wanted them.

As a contrarian, I always looked for that which no one else wanted.

Then I started to hoard them, and the rest is, as they say, history

 

Gotta respect a fellow contrarian. Long live the sine curve!