LOW GRADE KEY OR HIGH GRADE COMMON?

resloan

I am a collector of buffalo nickels. If you had $200, would you rather buy several nice high grade common dates or one or two keys in lower grades? What keys would you try to buy?

crazyhounddog

Welcome to the forum. My opinion would be to find some common high graded attractive coins to get your feet wet. JMO

ifthevamzarockin

Welcome to the forum!

I think I would go with the better grades.

bearcave

@crazyhounddog said:
Welcome to the forum. My opinion would be to find some common high graded attractive coins to get your feet wet. JMO

I agree.

ShaunBC5

I’m nobody’s pro, and I’ve got a combination of high grade common and low grade key/semi-key...but sometimes I like having something low montage or expensive even when worn. Lots of folks here will probably tell you to buy the highest graded coin you can afford, even if super common. But scratch the itch you’ve got right now.
I, today, would probably buy the expensive lower grade coin.
Edited to add examples.

abcde12345

What a neat set to own: matched AU Buffalos in a fresh Dansco.

pursuitofliberty

Welcome!

Go for the middle ... maybe a mid-grade better date?

Not sure what $200 buys but check out the '14 to '17 or later 20's mint-marked pieces and you might find a winner

Consider that the combination of eye appeal for the grade, a fair amount of detail remaining, and some rarity rarely goes awry

my 2c anyway

resloan

Thanks everyone for the opinions. Keep them coming.

Jimnight

I'd go with the higher grade.

CoinJunkie

What's your long-term objective? Are you going for a set with a certain theme or just a random assortment of coins? Without knowing that, it's hard to answer your question.

erwindoc

Go with certified on this one rather than raw! You'll do better when it comes time to sell!

ricko

@resloan.... Welcome aboard.... I agree with @crazyhounddog ....Get some nice ones and show us..Cheers, RickO

jedm

I sure had a lot of fun assembling a set of buff nicks with the most costly one being around $250 for the '13 S type 2 if I remember correctly. They all looked really nice in the dansco. (I didn't go so far as to get the overdate or 3 legger.)

@CoinJunkie said:
What's your long-term objective? Are you going for a set with a certain theme or just a random assortment of coins? Without knowing that, it's hard to answer your question.

With a certain look of affordable more scarce examples to match, the later dates in lower grades were all very low cost and think I did well when they were sold as a set also.

asheland

Welcome to the forums! I like eye appeal , so I’d take the common, but high grade.
Example:

FranklinHalfAddict

As a collector just getting I recommend going for a higher grade example with tons of eye appeal. Something really nice to look at. Lots of luster and maybe some color.