After taking a long hiatus from collecting I found a silver dime in my change and the bug bit again.I thought I would ease myself back into it with a nice easy Ike set in a dansco. Boy did I get the surprise of my collecting life. Not only was it impossible to find them in 68-69 the 66-67s were very difficult. Then I ran into the Varieties! Whoa! I spent most of what was supposed to be a relaxing Sunday on the net doing research on the Ikes and I ran across The Ike Group.(So much for a relaxing Sunday) By the end of the day my brain felt like pudding. Information overload. Never new there were so many things recently discovered anywhere in the coin collecting hobby.Let alone in one short series that began 38 years ago. Fast foward a year and the obsession is only growing. The chance to obtain all kinds of varieties inside of one series with study and observation and not just a deep wallet has just amazed me. Not to mention the fact that average guys like me are finding discovery pieces. If it is not a challenge to me I get bored with it. I don't think I am going to be bored for quite some time. All of the above is just my opinion, There are many in the hobby who hate Ikes and that is fine. That is what makes our country great, differing opinions.Plus it would be a boring place if we all liked the same thing. But for me I LIKE IKE Stewart
Ike collecting in my opinion is one of the fastest growing series. It's difficult but you can still find original $1000 bags to go through and sometimes you get lucky with a high grade toner. Good luck and it is addicting. I had to sell my Ike's so I would spend more time on my main series.
Pursue your passion! Looks like the Ike field is fertile ground for exploration. It amazes me that examples in high MS even exist, given the large open areas on these coins-- the last mega-size regular issue we will probably ever see.
I don't know, I could eventually see a $5 coin if they ever get rid of the $1 and $5 bills. Although I would think that most likely would be smaller but you never know.
With the other moderns the best pieces almost invariably are found in the mint sets but this is much less true with the Ikes. This means you have to look at a lot of coins to find the finest specimens. You also can find new things and make important finds in raw coins. You can't ignore the mint sets though since the finest Ikes are in mint sets for some dates.
I can second that! Not that I collect Ikes, but I sure can agree when you say they have been drowing in popularity fast! I remember hearing on coinchat rado last summer about the Ike Group (I do believe that was roughly when they started) and I was impressed then with all the discoveries they were making. I can only imagine now, a whole year later. Good luck on your set!
I like the Ike dollar. I have targeted the series as the first I can finish a year/mint set. (not counting proofs, I am only talking about buisness strikes) but the variety factor was unknown to me when I first thought about doing that. I am amazed there are so many varieties. I need some more Ikes to go through, but I don't think my bank will ever get them...one of them can't (won't) even stock half dollars. What my plan of attack, so to speak, is: I will complete a year/mint set. If I happen to aquire any variety issues, that is fine, but it won't be my main goal.
I didn't know there any thing 'new' with this series and would like to hear more about Ikes. Could you post something about the more common varieties and what to look for? Thanx,
Here is the link I use for reading about them. They list some varieties on that site. http://www.ikegroup.org/
Just a couple off the top of my head that caught my attention last year when I started was the 1971-D FEV Friendly Eagle Variety, 1972 Type 2 Reverse. Both of which and many more varieties can be studied in quite some depth at http://www.ikegroup.org my new home away from home Stewart
