Kinda tired of the set building… what 5 coins should I own
SMY_Utah_Collection
Posts: 28 ✭✭
I have built a number of sets some range in 22 coins to 115 coins in the set. I have decided after reading these forums I would like to own a 5 coins (yes only 5)… which are the 5 examples I should consider adding to my collection.
I do not want to try to get the coin that’s going to take me forever to find…. I have a couple after reading these threads that seem to be a must:
( I am mentioning what I have so it saves those that offer me an idea the trouble of doubling me up)
Morgan silver dollars date set 1878-1904 + 1921
3 cent nickel set 1865 -1889
American Silver Eagles 1986-2023 (All graded MS70 except for 2 that I am waiting to find)
Kennedy Half dollars Circulation strikes 1964-2023
*** I have a few of the coins below but need help with year and grade that I should acquire.****
I would like to cap my cost for each coin at $5,000.00
My total investment in these 5 should not exceed $25,000.00 ….
I will post pictures on this thread of the Coins as I acquire them…
Again, please if anyone is well versed in the ones I have listed knowing my budget please identify the year and grade I should look for in that particular coin.
2 of the 5 that I come up with are:
1- St Gaudens 20.00 double eagle
2 - Capped Bust Quarter
Okay, those are the 2 so far that I think would be really nice additions to the collection.
I’m looking for 3 more…..
Thank you in advance for your ideas.
I am not looking to sell these, I am adding them to enjoy and be introduced to other coins for which I have not been aware of or know much about….
Comments
Unc Fugio
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Whatever 5 coins you really love.
A 1795 Flowing Hair dollar mid-grade, problem free.
Perhaps a solid GD04 problem free Chain Cent.
(Without checking I think those two coins can be had for 5K- with diligent searching.)
peacockcoins
Unc or Proof Trade Dollar
Chopmarked Trade Dollar Registry Set --- US & World Gold Showcase --- World Chopmark Showcase
So you have the 95 Morgan? If not a cameo proof Morgan is a beautiful coin. Same with a Walker.
Because the Capped Bust Quarter is pretty tough to find even approaching really nice, I would consider a middle-date Capped Bust Half instead (maybe look at the early 20's). These are also not easy, but you will have more chances to buy a premium coin with a budget of up to 5000., unless you are only looking at later-date (reduced size) CBQ's.
Maybe add a Draped Bust Dollar into the mix?
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
I don't know what they cost but the proof Trade dollars seem to look pretty nice in all the pictures I have seen. don't know what kind of Seated Dollar you might be able to get. james
I do, MS-64
Thank you,
Scott
1796 dime first year of issue.
1793 1 cent again first year of issue.
Oops. When I see "date set" my mind goes to Philly. Still like my suggestions.
You should own 5 coins that you choose.
Let the coins you see (not forum members) do the persuading.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Your favorite DOLLAR SIZE coins. Easy to view, easy to sell, satisfying to own.
1796 Quarter. You may pay 6k+ for a nice Ag, but this is a majestic 1 yr type. Some Ags are still pretty, if you dont mind a low grade coin. It is also relatively scarce for a type coin.
I would much prefer a branch mint Liberty $20 over a Saint, if the rest of the 5 coins are early classics...
1851-O in XF for example.
That's not the request the OP made.
Of course he should be the final arbitrator of what he likes/collects/purchases but he asked
us for our opinions and everyone- other than you- have mostly provided that.
peacockcoins
He asked what 5 coins he should own and said “Thank you in advance for your ideas.”
My ideas are 5 coins that he selects. But in deference to your post, I hereby withdraw and apologize for the “not forum members” portion of my previous post, copied below.😬
“Let the coins you see (not forum members) do the persuading.”
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I did not want to start an argument at all, I really was looking for opinions, of course I knew I would get many ideas, then I was going to look at all the ideas sit down look at them and decide based on what appeals to me the 5 I would end up choosing.
I would expect anyone who is collecting that they would collect what they love, My true love are my Morgans, without a doubt my all-time favorite.
However, we do want a to have a variety of different coins and since the knowledge here is without a doubt extremely valuable and extensive, I thought there would be some great
Ideas, in the end I would sit down look at the ideas and then based on what I do find to be something I want to have in the collection pick from those….
You guys know things about the coins you collect and the little things about them, as I do with what I collect. I appreciate all your ideas and just like JayPerm said:
I would have NEVER thought to even look at that idea, so that in itself is exactly what I was hoping to gain from my question.
Thank you all for all of your ideas and others to come.
Scott
Edited for grammar **
Hopefully, there aren’t any arguments. @braddick correctly pointed out that I posted my opinion without providing any ideas for you.
I hope you enjoy the decision making process, as well as pursuing and obtaining your 5 coins.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Here are some designs I like for what is a mini type set.
1. $20 1907-1928 St. Gaudens
2. $10 1907-1932 Indian
3. $1 1798-1803 draped bust / heraldic eagle
4. 50c 1853 seated arrows and rays
5. 50c 1807-1836 capped bust
That's a good question to ponder every once in a while. Gives a reminder and perspective on what is important to each collector.
IMO I would pick 5 coins that constitute these criteria:
Historical significance
Scarcity
Beauty, aesthetics.
Political, Social and Economic consequence.
Consider what the coin market will surmise as relevant and representative in the decades to come. Lots of choices. I think two you should have for sure would be:
Morgan Dollar
Liberty Head Double Eagle
$20 gold all mints, which also encompasses all types (minus the 1907 high relief)
Type 1 Liberty - New Orleans
Type 2 Liberty - Carson City
Type 3 Liberty - San Francisco
St Gaudens no motto - Philadelphia
St Gaudens motto - Denver
$20 Saint
$20 Liberty
$10 Indian
$10 Liberty
$5 Indian
This would cover most of the major US gold coin designs and it's possible to accomplish.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
My box of 5:
$20 saint
Draped Bust Dollar
A&R Seated half
1794 cent
Fugio
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Actually, my response was the same as Mark's. You must have me in ignore. 😉
This question gets asked occasionally in various forms and the only good answer is the "coins you want." Why would I buy coin X because someone suggested I should want to own it? And if the coin that "speaks to me" doesn't speak to anyone else, then I'll get it cheap!
No, I just missed it is all.
I don't have you on ignore. I enjoy your commentary and opinions.
In fact, I have no one on ignore and I never have.
I kind of don't believe in that type of self imposed censorship.
I want to read all opinions- as that
is how I learn.
I wise man once stated,
"If you want to learn and grow surround yourself with intelligent people who disagree with you."
peacockcoins
As @MFeld said, don't go shopping to "fill a hole". Look at coins until one speaks to you. Shopping with only one particular type of coin in mind can lead you to "settle" just to get that one checked off your list, especially if the search begins to take time. Considering the price range you're interested in, be extremely selective & get really nice, original, eye-appealing coins. When you've found your five, don't be afraid to go for something you really like that pops up & then to divest the one from your five that has come to appeal least to you. I would highly recommend PCGS CAC coins in order to have the best chance of doing well on any divestitures (this may well apply to CACG coins as well, assuming their market value comes to be accepted as "above the herd" akin to that of PCGS CAC coins). Make the quest enjoyable, not a task that you are working to finish.
Coinlearner, Ahrensdad, Nolawyer, RG, coinlieutenant, Yorkshireman, lordmarcovan, Soldi, masscrew, JimTyler, Relaxn, jclovescoins
Now listen boy, I'm tryin' to teach you sumthin' . . . . that ain't an optical illusion, it only looks like an optical illusion.
My mind reader refuses to charge me....
1893-S Morgan dollar
The five I would love to own are: 1793 1/2 cent in nice condition (think having a coin that was close to the beginning of US coinage and made while Washington was president would be cool), a high end 1909S VDB…..just because, a 68 or higher DMPL Morgan of any date because I think it’s a gorgeous coin, a nice UNC $20 St. Gaudens, and an MS65 or better doubled die coin……with obvious doubling. I’d prefer them all to be slabbed so viewing them would be easy….😉 YMMV…your mileage may vary….🙂
If you only have 5, one has to be a pine tree shilling!
Bechtler $1
Type 1 $20 Lib
Draped Bust Dollar
Three great choices that can be had for 5k. Wahtever you choose, let it speak to you. You dont have to decide what you want now, just keep an open mind and focus on finding an original and eye appealing coin that looks fantastic for the grade.
Founder- Peak Rarities
Website
Instagram
Facebook
Your budget would allow for any one of a number of different territorial gold pieces. Doesn't have to be California (But could be) but something from Colorado or Georgia or North Carolina would be something interesting and different.
An idea not a suggestion. Perhaps decide on a theme first. Beauty? Broad historical interest? Numismatic interest? World interest? Or a combination, something beautiful, something of significant historical interest, etc. I collect in all these areas. BTW there are some ancients that are very interesting and can be had way below your budget limit.
Five $20 DE PCGS MS 64 or higher.
I was only pulling your leg. I even broke with tradition and used an emoji.
All amazing suggestions…
I will look at all of them and as I begin to acquire the ones I have decided on after doing my research I will post them here. It is not a journey that I will fufill in a week, rather one that will take time and I will be selective on the ones I choose and more so on the one I eventually decide to purchase when it comes available.
This is not a race, rather a walk and one I can take and read about and learn, for my wife and I (there have been 2 posters here that have reached out to me and yes have been able to verify that my wife and I both collect) (she of currency and myself coin, although she really does like the coins she just loves the artwork of the notes).
Maybe I should have said this in the original post, this came about this morning when my wife and I were
looking through one of our raw collection dansco books and she said well now that you have completed the last set (except for the 2 that will probably take a long time to find) what do you want to do next? My response was well I really do not know, I really would like to find 5 or so coins we do not have that should be in our collection, some that symbolize domestic coin history, but I do not want to spend 20k on one coin, I would prefer to own 5 or so that we really love, but yet are also something that over the next 15-20 years when we pull it out to look at it, it gives us the same excitement that it did the day it arrived if not more.
That’s when the idea of asking you guys came about, my wife suggested to ask the more experienced collectors on these boards for their ideas, we would then write them all down and look for examples of them and decide on the 5 that WE want.
Today we received so many great ideas and for that we thank you.
Here’s the wife holding her favorite 2 currency notes
Assuming you are a US collector, I'd go -
1652 Mass coinage, probably a regular large pine tree shilling
Fugio Cent
Chain or Wreath Cent
Any flowing hair silver
Any draped bust silver
Nice little story of early US coinage right there, and you get get each one for < 5K, though of course not in top condition.
I don't have any suggestions for you...I just keep opening the thread to get ideas as to what I should liquidate my collection for to buy...
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I really think you should first decide the series of coins of which you want an example. Then decide do you want a rare, better date, or type coin of each example. And lastly, you are the one who is buying and looking at these coins. Their grades have to be acceptable to you. Ie., I wouldn't want to buy a very rare coin that I'd be afraid would bite me if I held it.
First dibs!
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
I tried to advise my children, once. Enjoy.
Find 5 that are out of reach. Life quest
Have you thought about a type collection? 1 coin of your choice for each type. DANSCO makes a 7070 (could be wrong on the #) Album that is really nice. Good luck with the set. 🙂
USN & USAF retired 1971-1993
Successful Transactions with more than 100 Members
Congrats to you and your wife on enjoying your collections. She has great taste in currency! Now I know you know this, but (for both security and preservation reasons) I love that you love displays of your coin and currency, but ideally -- I hope they are kept in a room with no exterior light (esp. for notes that can fade) and aren't shown openly to visitors at your house (if any.)
That said, for type purposes, there's a lot of great suggestions here I'm basically echoing. A single bust dollar would be a great choice, be picky, really picky. I wouldn't say "only" get a CAC example, as surely there are many Bust $1's that haven't been to CAC, but so many of these exist that are graded gently on the forgiveness scale, get one that both passes CAC and your standards for what you like.
Going further, if the big early dollar appeals to you, you could then search for a 1795 flowing hair, 1796-98 small eagle, then the 1798-1803 large eagle (but that's still just the 3.) Expand to include a pair of nice Seated $, one no motto and one with motto.
Moving away from dollars, love all US gold coins, and if bigger is better, you can get an early Lib $20; subdividing it, you can get types 1, 2 and 3 for the Libs, and two basic Saints (no motto and with motto.)
In either case, big coins are always impressive, but as you have a set of 3 cent nickels, you aren't afraid of small coins either. Thinking back to Bust Dollar design -- you could look for a Bust set of: half dime, dime, quarter, half, and dollar. That could be a very neat set of 5 for sure, again I'd suggest being picky amongst already CAC-certified pieces. But, don't let that stop you if a gem of a coin surfaces, and hasn't been tried at CAC -- you can always politely ask to buy on condition it gets submitted to CAC and passes. Just depends on the coin in question if this is a worthwhile ask. Your collection, so definitely do what feels right for you. Good luck!
I'd go with the key dates of sets you have never done before, assuming that you like the series.
I'd go with a heavy mix of darkside if I had 5 coins as a hard limit
A Queen Victoria 5 sovereign gold coin
A 5 Franc Napoleon silver crown
A high-end crusader states coin
A Spanish 8-Reals that has a shipwreck pedigree
A "dang that's nice" $20 Liberty
(All certified by our hosts of course 🙂)
I hereby nominate these widely-known, popular and impressive US coins:
1955 Double Die cent
3-leg. Buffalo nickel
Double Eagle
Morgan Dollar
1943 steel cent
or substitute a virtually unknown,
either a $3 gold or 20c piece piece.
I know, i know, the 1909s VDB 1c Is also well known to non-collectors.
But they basically look like nothing special Lincoln pennies, so … no.
30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!
All five 1913 Liberty Nickels.
Oh, but I guess that would be set building wouldn't it?
Collector, occasional seller
"I would like to cap my cost for each coin at $5,000.00
My total investment in these 5 should not exceed $25,000.00 …."
I find it hard to limit myself to 5 coins, maybe 20, but 5.... Anyway.
Hawaiian Commemorative Half Dollar - One of 144 silver commemoratives.
No. That would be hoarding rather than set building since they're all the same date.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
You'd also have to resort to theft to obtain the full "set".