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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Publius2, post: 5193951, member: 105571&quot;]I think it&#039;s a good idea to set a goal and standards for a set before you begin collecting it, particularly if one of your goals is to &quot;complete&quot; the set.&nbsp; That means doing some research to see, among other things, if there are &quot;stoppers&quot; that you won&#039;t ever obtain and whether or not that makes a difference to your decision to collect that series.&nbsp; I understand fully how our collecting is often an organic process where our tastes, knowledge and budget change over time but let me offer up my own experience to perhaps illuminate a way to decide if your collection is &quot;complete&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p>A couple of months ago, I looked into how I might collect capped bust half dimes in a way that had a reasonable chance of completion.&nbsp; The choices were:</p><p><br /></p><p>1)&nbsp; Date set only - 1829 to 1837, nine dates and no stoppers regardless of condition.</p><p>2)&nbsp; Date set with Red Book varieties, 16 coins and no stoppers regardless of condition.</p><p>3)&nbsp; Date and die marriage set, 123 die marriages, some quite rare.</p><p><br /></p><p>Since, for most of us, cost is always an issue, I ruled out #3.&nbsp; I also ruled out #3 because at age 68 I am unlikely to have the time to complete the set.&nbsp; #1 was easily achievable and wouldn&#039;t cost too much even in MS grades.&nbsp; #2 was a bit more challenging in terms of cost and some of the varieties pose a bit of challenge, particularly for nice coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>I also factored in my interest in die marriages.</p><p><br /></p><p>Then I figured out what I wanted to spend.&nbsp; After some research and cogitation, I settled on starting this collection using the Red Book set, #2, with a targeted grade range of AU-55 to MS-63, with a goal of nice, well-struck, preferably toned coins.&nbsp; I also set a goal of trying for rarer die marriages if they met my other requirements and especially if I could cherry pick.&nbsp; I also set a requirement for only slabbed coins and CAC-certified where possible.</p><p><br /></p><p>This set is achievable in a reasonable amount of time, within budget constraints that don&#039;t preclude my other collecting interests, and sets the original collection up for expansion into a die variety set should I ever decide to go that route.&nbsp; Also by selecting an upper range of grade preference and eye appeal, I should not ever have the need to upgrade.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, the end point of this capped bust half dime collection was determined before I bought the first coin, completely unlike my Indian Head Cent collection where I started and made significant progress filling it out with AG to VF raw coins and then decided that I wanted the set to be almost exclusively MS.&nbsp; That IHC set is still in transition and will be for a long time, primarily because my evolving tastes, knowledge, and willingness to spend changed my collecting goals. </p><p><br /></p><p>So, collect what you like and how you like but if completing a set is of importance then it pays to have a plan before you start.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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