Your favorite series (or type) you CAN afford but you won’t seriously collect…
TurtleCat
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Lots of threads here are kinda wishlists for when you win the lottery or something. I’ve certainly had a few entries on those threads. So I thought, what is something you really do enjoy as a series but won’t collect it - and why?
For example, I really like morgan dollars. Outside of a few I could easily collect the series. I enjoy the look of them and there’s a lot of variety. I won’t collect them, though. I sold off all I had but my grandfather’s morgan over the last few years. I guess it is partly to focusing on gold dollars that I won’t but also because they are overall very popular.
Another series I really enjoy but won’t do a serious collection of is mercury dimes. My wife is not a fan of the design, particularly the reverse, but I have always liked the series — and the reverse. I have some low grades in a raw album but it’s not a serious collection. I’m not sure why I haven’t wanted to start a collection of them. Just hasn’t clicked that way for me.
Comments
For most things I won't collect as a series but still like, I collect with one offs, being more of a type collector than a series collector.
A lot of it is due to how much marginal happiness I get for incremental costs. For pieces where the costs are significant, I can have high marginal happiness for the first couple pieces but it decreases quickly.
For series with low incremental costs and high rarity, my marginal happiness can generally keep me collecting for a while.
US coins would have to become a lot cheaper before I would ever consider collecting even one series. And even then, only if my budget was noticeably higher to accommodate an addition to the coins I collect now.
There are some one-offs I would like to own, but these are quite expensive and more than I ever intend to pay for any coin. An example is the US Assay Office $20.
I've never been much of a series collector. I'm happy with just one example to represent the type.
But some of my favorite US Federal coins are Peace Dollars, Two Cent Pieces, Three Cent Nickels and Liberty Head Double Eagles.
WLH
Buffalo nickels.
I love the design and consider it to be perhaps the most essentially American of any of our coins. Yes, the series has difficulties, and would be challenging, but it's just a bit "overdone" in my view - sort of like Morgans. If I'm going to do another series it will be a large, impressive coin or something off the beaten path.
Thanks for saying that -- essentially American. That is a perspective that I'm going to hang on to. I had been deferring my start on that series, but now I'm much more motivated to start and to take it seriously.
My strategy is about collecting what I intend to keep, not investing in what I plan to sell.
Indian head pennies, my first complete set as a kid but I don’t really dig copper. I have a few as a tribute set but I’ll never add more
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
V nickels. I wouldn't mind making a top registry set, but I won't.
I think the only reason I like them is they were my first graded coins.
I would love to collect early large cents in VF-XF, the only thing stopping me is that so many of the coins have been messed with. And while I think I can recognize much of the messed with material; the limited supply of good coins and what I will miss makes them one of those window shopping type items. The other area is world coinage, the vast number of countries and coinage is rather daunting to take up at this time. Perhaps in a few years when I'm ready to retire I will have the time to devote to some area of world coins.
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
I could start a proof v nickel collection since I do have the 1883 no cents PR 64 but I am currently working on getting more Morgan’s and buying gold and have no time or money left to think of PR v nickels.
two cent pieces. I love them but won't get serious with them, a great type piece - sure I have one.
I like ancient Roman and Greek coins and think they're really neat but I won't collect them. They are very heavily counterfeited and it's too difficult to determine their fair market value. With US coins, there are enough coin guides to get a ball park idea of what a coin is worth. There's no grey sheet for ancient coins.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
Love walking liberty halves in ms64+. Wish I could afford the early dates. Most beautiful 20th century silver coin. Like the Mercury especially and Buffalo and Lincoln designs. Franklins okay. Don’t like the bland modern designs like Jefferson nickel Roosvelt dime Washington quarter.
Large cents.
I have dabbled with idea of a date set for several years. I have stared and stopped a couple of times.
Two things stop me. First, I am picky and want pieces with good eye appeal. I was shocked when I looked at the prices for the Mint State pieces I have in MS-63 and 64 on the Grey Sheet. Are those numbers for real? If they are, the coins I bought are “great investments,” but do I want to keep going at those levels?
Second, the prices for decent examples of the 1799 and 1804 coins are headed out of the solar system.
I have been collecting imperial Roman coins for a couple of years. Yes, pricing is a bit like a “seat of the pants” sort of situation, but you would be surprised at the number of nice looking coins you can get for a couple thousand dollars. I have purchased some nice coins for $100 to $200. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the U.S. market. You can also buy certified coins if you so desire although chances are they will be NGC graded. NGC does a nice job, I might add, although I prefer my coins raw.
One might say the same for hammered British coins. I have sold a few of those when I got upgrades, and was pleasantly surprised at how eager some dealers were to buy what I had at my prices. Once more, there is no Grey Sheet, but it’s like dealing Civil War tokens. You learn to sense the flow. Of course you have to study the books and review the auctions before you jump in with both feet.
Morgan Dollars are just too large to collect in Date/MM.
I just have too many interests in other series.
After a list of cool VAMs I just look to play crackout game.
Best use of time and resources.
BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out
I guess for me it would be $5 Liberties. Don't know why but I have always liked them. That 54-S is a stopper. But then again I said I wouldn't collect Barber Quarters because of the 01-S and now I have 1!
This seems to be a popular choice, but I would also love to collect large cents. The early designs are wonderful but finding examples with enough "meat" to really appreciate them is way out of my league.
If I hit the MegaMillions, I would love to duplicate the achievement of Dr Juan XII de Suros. He assembled a complete set of US overdates, everything from the 1817/14 bust half to the 1943/2-P Jefferson nickel. The catalog from the sale of his collection is one of my favorites.
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
Business strike Liberty Seated Dollars.....sigh.
Anything copper. I hate the changes from red to brown, the brown looks bad in many cases, and it’s too prone to environmental issues.
I know what you mean. Mint red looks so nice but it can be fickle.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Yea I totally agree I too love ancients and have a few but it’s harder to find a recorded value and hard to get a true grade unlike U.S. coins that have straight grades and prices.
I like most US Mint design types and except for my focus series I am satisfied with one or two examples. I am looking forward to completing a half dollar type set over the next five years or so - will take my time.
I don't own any ancients but the last thing this segment needs is adoption of the Sheldon scale. The same one used for Ancients by NGC would also be better for my primary series (Spanish colonial).
There is no such thing as a true grade, it's an opinion, especially when it comes to the concept of "market acceptability" where the TPG standards are US centric anyway.
Agree it's less liquid for most but not necessarily all. The most widely collected sell frequently enough.
As I get older (get older...yeah right) certain denominations are just to small to deal with...half dimes, silver trimes,
etc.
If I need a magnifier just to read the date??? No thanks.
I will second the thoughts about copper. I certainly could afford to collect Lincoln cents but I would want them in red. I would not seriously collect (ie spend significant money) for fear my red coins will become RB.
Franklins. Though I could easily afford a high grade MS set I only have a high color date set and that's as far as I'm gonna go with that series.
None. I have collected all business strike regular series coins that I can afford and some of them I did not like that much.
If you include bullion issues, I will not collect any silver or gold bullion issues even though I do like them. They are all just bullion value to me, whether proof, business strike, or special finish or whatever. All dates the same. I will purchase bullion coins at the right price, but have no intention to make a date set or even a type set. I do not even know (or care) if there are better date or mm coins, all bullion coins are just bullion to me.
Painted coins. I really like some of the Canadian painted coins, but will never buy any of them.
I know!! Even quarters seem small now!!
High end Bust Halves--but . . . . GoBust has everything nice tied up. And I mean everything.
Check out some of my 1794 Large Cents on www.coingallery.org
Five dollar gold coins...I really like the Indian - and have a favorite one by my computer. However, while affordable, I am just not interested in doing a series. The last series I did was CC Morgans, years ago now... Now I just buy what I really like. Cheers, RickO
I am going thru a copper phase and even a statehood Quarter phase.
Know it will pass, but try to keep something and learn something.
More like trophy deer hunting for lack of a better analogy.
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I've built several nice series and sold them all over the years. I find that I get more enjoyment now out of type coins as I'm able to constantly expand my definition of type, which means I'm never complete and I'm always learning something new. I've expanded into proof, colonial, and foreign that circulated in the US. Collecting proof has lead me into assembling proof sets (notwithstanding type redundancy) for transition years, such as 1859, 1874. 1883, 1909. I've added end of design last year sets and first year design sets as well as birth year sets. Colonial never seems to end as I keep learning about interesting and distinct varieties. I've just scratched the surface with foreign, including examples of foreign coins that have been found by detectorists and at archeological digs, such as Jamestown (many are impossible to find slabbed). And yes, I suffer from obsessive collector syndrome.
I love them, too, but don't want to begin a full set, at this stage in the game.
My plan is to buy one nice MS piece from each decade they were made (including one from the Civil War years) and one from each mint and maybe one Proof. That will be about 8 or 9 coins. I'd be extremely happy with a set like that. 
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947)
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/