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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Tom B, post: 891007, member: 11854&quot;]I don&#039;t necessarily agree with the mantra of &quot;buy the best you can afford&quot; when it comes to individual coins.&nbsp; I believe folks are much better off dipping their toe into the water of a collection and at the same time forming a strategy of acquisition that includes a general idea of budget constraints, goal of eye appeal and any time limit or other goals.&nbsp; If you want to buy Barber coinage as <i>type </i> then you can pick up one or two coins per series and you have the luxury of buying whatever coin fits your purposes.&nbsp; However, if you want to buy Barber coinage as a date and mintmark series goal then you will find serious constraints regarding the availability of various issues and might be forced or seduced into buying coins that do not fit your desires.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If you want to buy these coins as date and mintmark series then I would caution you to <i>not </i> buy coins below G4.&nbsp; Also, I would <i>not </i> limit myself to previously certified examples.&nbsp; What I would <i>strongly advise </i> would be to buy a copy of <i>The Official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards </i> and then read and learn these standards for the series that interest you and the grade ranges that you prefer.&nbsp; You can then go out and buy raw coins with some confidence.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It took me five or so years to build a complete, original-skinned Barber half set in VF so I have a bit of experience in this niche.&nbsp; I have also written articles for <i>Coin World </i> and <i>Coin Values </i> magazines for Barber half dollars.&nbsp; My website, which lists nothing for sale, has several articles that I wrote on it and one of these is written specifically about Barber half dollars.&nbsp; If you want any help, feel free to send me a private message.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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