My Father started us out (2 older brothers) on Lincoln Wheat Cents albums. As my Mother owned a neighborhood grocery store back in the 60's/70's, we would put away all silver...
Lincoln's are cool to me because of the long history, the VDB controversy, the low mintage 1914-D, the 1922 no-D, the 1955 DDO, design change of 59, ETC... I will say that I am not a fan of the Shield...
One of the greatest appeals to what I collect is the fact that nobody can ever have a complete collection. New discoveries are fairly frequent and plentiful. Nobody can even accurately define a "complete" collection. Instead, acquiring as many different examples as possible is the goal. It's sort of like chopmarked trade dollars in that respect, each one different.
And rarity? Notes of the highest rarity with 1-5 examples known start around $100 and most can be had under $1000. Scarce notes with 25-200 known can usually be had under $100. And it doesn't take very much to push prices up in such a thin market.
Collector and dealer in obsolete currency. Always buying all obsolete bank notes and scrip.
@Joe_360 said:
Should this have been a poll question?
Not as far as I was concerned. I declined to use a poll format because I wanted to include more than a few options for answers and encourage stories and discussion.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Interesting thread Mark!
Similar to @Catbert, I picked up the hobby again some 20 years ago. Previously, like many, I collected mostly circulated coins to place in albums (any & all up to dollars). When I commenced again, I started with key dates, particularly the ones I couldn’t fill in albums. It wasn’t long I realized I had a lot to learn instead of sole reliance on those “in the know”. So, I studied, read & studied & read some more. I slowly built a network of both like minded & collectors focused differently. I eventually moved into Morgan dollars. I liked the history & the classic beauty of the piece.
Along the way, I became closely acquainted with a gentleman, now deceased, who was both a copper specialist & a knowledgeable generalist. This numismatist became a mentor & I started to accumulate some nice Lincolns with his guidance.
From there, I became involved into what’s my specialty (& focus) today - Indians & Flying Eagles. The latter has one of the great designs in US coinage, imo. The former has an amazing history spanning 51 years. In this field, too, I had a mentor from whom I learned a lot. Gradually, I became a dedicated variety collector; again out of a developed interest.
Like many of the IHC collectors, I focused at first on the RD ones. Eventually I became attracted to toners & remain so until this day.
Finally, I added “secondary” interests: half dimes & Walkers. Odd duo, right? The former I saw as an area not many collectors explore + all the beautiful toners that are available on many of these “little beasts”. As far as the Walkers, I’m focused on the early ones. And, like others have said, they are perhaps the most beautifully designed of all US coins. Someday soon, I’ll dive into the gold dollars again. Stay tuned!
I like copper coins because they’re otherwise nearly worthless. I like 1 cent coins because just minted they’re common, and collecting rare things once common presents a nice juxtaposition.
Wheat cents pulled from circulation will also be nearest and dearest to my heart. It's how my father got me started when I was in elementary school (mid 70s). I was able to get a lot of them in that 1st Whitman folder, but eventually we had to go to a local show to finish the folder. I still pull good looking coins out of circulation and put them in Whitman folders.
As an aside, I never get tired of seeing @BillJones roll out photos of some of his Classic Head gold pieces. I have a handful of Classic Heads in my collection, but my pieces aren't even close to his beauties.
I love the Hobby as a whole, but there's too much to get a handle on. I need to focus. I love to focus. I love to tear a coin down and know as much as I can about it.
We all have our own things and ways.
It's just me.
Pete
"I tell them there's no problems.....only solutions" - John Lennon
Capped bust half dimes (1829-1837, by die marriages, 124 coins)
1. I prefer silver over other metals
2. Classic series have more appeal to me than moderns
3. My former multi-series approach was too broad and scattershot, and I needed focus
4. The early mint did a lot of things by hand and with old-style equipment (eg., screw press), and kept dies in service way too long, that resulted in interesting die characteristics - which fascinate me
5. There's a great reference ("Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837," by Logan and McCloskey) that has held up well
6. ... but there are still new discoveries being made (1835 LM-12 in 2007, 1830 LM-9.3 recognized in 2023)
7. The community was (and remains) welcoming and helpful
8. In particular, having a guru like @Barndog was a huge blessing
9. I envisioned a nice set that fit within my (multi-year) budget, but not too easily
10. I can (and do) own marriages/remarriages that are objectively RARE (because the collector base is smaller)
After developing presbyopia and discovering eBay (!!), I decided to abandon my childhood focus on pennies and dimes and collect larger coins. I wanted a series that was vast, was valuable in circulated grades, and where one could acquire raw original coins that would straight-grade off of eBay to fill a Dansco.
Kennedys are a huge set, but not scarce enough in circulated grades, and it's not smart to collect condition rarities in a Dansco if you're a slob. Barbers were disappointing - too many raw coins that looked original were cleaned and the photography on eBay was insufficient to catch them. Walkers are a beautiful design, but they're a weird set to collect with the huge difference in availability between early and post '33 dates. Then, @MarkFeld sold me a beautiful '39-D Walker that promptly dropped $200 in value along with other higher-grade Walkers, so Walkers faded in my mind. I still love that splash of mulberry toned 39-D Walker, though. Too bad I have no photos of it.
Seated Liberty halves were perfect, a classic design, a huge series with lots of affordable dates, and lots of raw coins in original condition available on eBay to fill a Dansco. Subsets like the ultra-low mintage yet readily available '80s dates have their own appeal. My first few SLH, all raw, original coins of eBay, "set the hook."
Circulated Classic commemoratives have also been fun and inexpensive to collect as a second set. Some great designs in the mix. Just don't expect them to appreciate much. They're perfect for a large marketplace like eBay. I also like the look of light to moderately circulated commemoratives, and particularly where the toning can enhance the design.
Barbers were disappointing - too many raw coins that looked original were cleaned and the photography on eBay was insufficient to catch them.
Seated Liberty halves were perfect, a classic design, a huge series with lots of affordable dates, and lots of raw coins in original condition available on eBay to fill a Dansco. Subsets like the ultra-low mintage yet readily available '80s dates have their own appeal. My first few SLH, all raw, original coins of eBay, "set the hook."
That's very interesting! Why would raw SLHs not be cleaned like raw Barber Halves?
50 + coin machines were collected by 2 of us and destroyed. Inside these machines, many coins were tossed in the cabinet section.
The magnets placed in their train of the coin count, to me, were so powerful. When extracted, and attached to anything,
movement was very ...lets say lol.
Many years of coins were filtered. The one cent, that I knew about, but I never saw such a clean coin of a 1943 steel,
and was attached to one of these magnets and never moved, kick started me.
Then the 1982 cent came into play as I have many, due to a armored truck co. moving into our neighborhood, which must have stirred up some inventory. (Phila. area)
Barbers were disappointing - too many raw coins that looked original were cleaned and the photography on eBay was insufficient to catch them.
Seated Liberty halves were perfect, a classic design, a huge series with lots of affordable dates, and lots of raw coins in original condition available on eBay to fill a Dansco. Subsets like the ultra-low mintage yet readily available '80s dates have their own appeal. My first few SLH, all raw, original coins of eBay, "set the hook."
That's very interesting! Why would raw SLHs not be cleaned like raw Barber Halves?
I believe it's because seated Liberty halves have had longer to acquire toning and one can judge their originality and even hairlining better by their toning in photos whereas hairlining is easy to hide on lighter toned coins with lighting angles. A lot of those early SLH coins were well toned such as the coin below.
I just started looking for original-looking toning amongst raw coins and found them more often in the SLH. At least I had much better luck finding them on eBay. Here's one of each plucked raw off eBay.
I try not to overthink it, i don't always succeed but I try. I have to like the design of a series to seriously collect it. If there's a reasonable expectation of completing a set I'll attempt a set, if not I'll gather an accumulation of choice pieces, maybe some with different types of luster and die states.
It is not my question to answer, but I think the circulating history's of the two different coins has resulted in very different results. Seated coins went thru periods of hoarding and then getting pushed back into the economy. I think Barber coins hit the economy at the exact time that there was a much larger demand for circulating coins. I have often seen low grade Seated coins with a variety of toning that would indicate a much different past. It seems all most all low grade Barber coins have the well used grey you would expect for work horse coins that were used extensively. James Thanks for question though, it was interesting to reflect on.
Many years ago, I found a really cool dealer. His name was Mark. He helped me build a nice type set. Once I was happy with the set I had to pick something new to start on. I wanted to go with larger and older toned coins. Bust Half Dollars were a good fit for me. A guy named Al offered me part of his collection and it gave me a start to a great collection. That's about all I collect anymore.
You meet some cool people on coin forums.
@seatedlib3991 said:
It is not my question to answer, but I think the circulating history's of the two different coins has resulted in very different results. Seated coins went thru periods of hoarding and then getting pushed back into the economy. I think Barber coins hit the economy at the exact time that there was a much larger demand for circulating coins. I have often seen low grade Seated coins with a variety of toning that would indicate a much different past. It seems all most all low grade Barber coins have the well used grey you would expect for work horse coins that were used extensively. James Thanks for question though, it was interesting to reflect on.
Interesting comment. I hadn't considered the differences in how they circulated and the effects of hoarding on their condition.
Is it due to:
the design?
affordability?
possibility of acquiring an entire set?
ties to your childhood?
remembrance of a family member?
history?
age?
other reason(s)?
Changed for me over time, but I generally like or dislike the design:
1. At one point it was gold and I preferred the Liberty coins, especially the $20. The Mexican gold peso coins are also nice.
2. Now I like Bust, Seated Liberty, and Walking Liberty Halves
3. Affordability is a big issue
4. An entire set doesn't make sense to me; the design is usually the same but one has to pay more for a certain date
5. Ties to childhood in that I can now afford what I could not afford then.
6. Remembrance of family only plays a part for inherited/gifted coins
7. History is a big component and I prefer 19th Century to 20th Century, except for a few dates like 1918, 1948, etc.
8. Age plays no part; once you have the coin bug it is always lurking; just have to say no more sometimes
World, Ancient & Medieval, US Type, Exonumia. You name it. If I like it, I grab it.
Under that vast aegis, I have lots of smaller spotlights of focus. Maybe it’s the ruler or historical era of the coin I’m interested in. Maybe the aesthetics of a cool design. The best coins combine all that: history and aesthetics.
Although I've moved on to different interests, my first love was Indian Head Cents. When I was around 10 years old I would go through the dealer's junk bin pulling out dates to fill an album. I later moved on to nice XF to Unc. pieces. I've since sold most of those coins but still have an affinity for them, so a childhood connection for sure.
Need a Barber Half with ANACS photo certificate. If you have one for sale please PM me. Current Ebay auctions
Like my friend Rob, Lord Marcovan I collect a wide range of coins, foreign, and United States, new and old I like them all!
There are many factors as to why, primarily aesthetics, but also rarity, and the history of when and where these coins were made lots of factors that make these things so much fun!
I have things that are super common, but extraordinarily pretty:
And then others that are a little bit crude, but very beautiful to me, LOTS of character:
Right on up to modern Coins that I have had a lot of fun with recently:
I definitely like finding and having coins that aren’t so easy to find scarcity is part of the fun for me.
I also like paper money, especially the weird, obscure stuff:
One thing, though, originality is vital! I can’t deal with stuff that’s been altered or processed…
This has been a fun thread to read!
Hopefully Lord Marcovan will join in…
@BillJones said:
I collected sets of the Classic Head $2.50 and $5.00 gold pieces because the history and the connection to Hard Times tokens. I also admired the design as something "exotic" when I was kid.
I like these a lot, they are as good as it gets for "exotic/price" ratio. Amazingly cheap for how cool they are and how special they would look to a non-numie type. Go back one generation and they they rocket to the moon.
@seatedlib3991 said:
It is not my question to answer, but I think the circulating history's of the two different coins has resulted in very different results. Seated coins went thru periods of hoarding and then getting pushed back into the economy. I think Barber coins hit the economy at the exact time that there was a much larger demand for circulating coins. I have often seen low grade Seated coins with a variety of toning that would indicate a much different past. It seems all most all low grade Barber coins have the well used grey you would expect for work horse coins that were used extensively. James Thanks for question though, it was interesting to reflect on.
Interesting comment. I hadn't considered the differences in how they circulated and the effects of hoarding on their condition.
To follow up on this, I like the dark toning on Capped Bust halves as well, and they are well known to have spent considerable time in bank vaults. I have over a dozen terminally toned BCHs and could easily become a CBH Nut.
Hairlines from wiping bother me more than they should, and I would see more annoying hairlining on toned Barbers than I did on the SLHs I'd purchase. That may simply reflect my ability at detecting cleaning at that time. Gradually I lost interest in Barbers and focused on SLHs, a design I liked more, one in which even common dates held significant value in lower grades, and the set is huge so one can fill it with nice, raw, common date and even some rare date coins scrounging off of eBay.
@Barberian . I ended up going for Seated Halves big time but must admit once upon a time I was going to collect Barber coins only a bad experience affected me.
I had to sell most of my collection in the fall of 1982 but by 1984 I was back again to start a new collection. I spent months looking through Coin World, the Redbook and various coin magazines. A lawsuit went my way and I was awarded a nice chunk of money to start my new collection.
I found an add in Coin World. The hook was that they (there were 3 dealers) had over 100 years of experience. They belonged to all the usual alphabet soup groups. Most importantly they had high circulated grade Barbers in all three denominations. i selected one coin from each denomination to see which one I should go with. Then things went sideways.
I knew I was in trouble the second I got the coins. The Barber Half had been whizzed to death. Both the dime and the quarter had odd grey splotches that turned black! in less than 3 days.
Won't bore you with the protracted mess that followed but they swore I was the crook and was trying to return different coins. All three dealers swore they inspected all coins and their man Dennis was of unimpeachable reputation. Last thing the great Dennis said to me on the phone was. "Geeze, you 'd think you were the only guy to ever get the bait and switch". A statement I always considered a confession.
Anyway, the whole thing almost put me off coin collecting entirely, and absolutely effected the way i looked at Barber coins. James
@seatedlib3991 said: @Barberian . I ended up going for Seated Halves big time but must admit once upon a time I was going to collect Barber coins only a bad experience affected me.
I had to sell most of my collection in the fall of 1982 but by 1984 I was back again to start a new collection. I spent months looking through Coin World, the Redbook and various coin magazines. A lawsuit went my way and I was awarded a nice chunk of money to start my new collection.
I found an add in Coin World. The hook was that they (there were 3 dealers) had over 100 years of experience. They belonged to all the usual alphabet soup groups. Most importantly they had high circulated grade Barbers in all three denominations. i selected one coin from each denomination to see which one I should go with. Then things went sideways.
I knew I was in trouble the second I got the coins. The Barber Half had been whizzed to death. Both the dime and the quarter had odd grey splotches that turned black! in less than 3 days.
Won't bore you with the protracted mess that followed but they swore I was the crook and was trying to return different coins. All three dealers swore they inspected all coins and their man Dennis was of unimpeachable reputation. Last thing the great Dennis said to me on the phone was. "Geeze, you 'd think you were the only guy to ever get the bait and switch". A statement I always considered a confession.
Anyway, the whole thing almost put me off coin collecting entirely, and absolutely effected the way i looked at Barber coins. James
A dealer was also involved in my initial Barber half efforts as well. A highly reputable one from what I learned here years later. At least once a year I read amazing praise and testimonies about this seller here. Well, that dealer or their assistant sold me a nice gray Barber half with someone's initials carved into the eagle's chest, then gave me grief when I wanted to return the coin. I doubt it had much effect on my switching series, but I've always been amused at the praise for this dealer. Maybe the seller or assistant was just teasing me, but it left me with a negative impression of that seller.
Comments
Thanks to everyone for your thoughtful, interesting replies and stories!
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Should this have been a poll question?
My Father started us out (2 older brothers) on Lincoln Wheat Cents albums. As my Mother owned a neighborhood grocery store back in the 60's/70's, we would put away all silver...
Lincoln's are cool to me because of the long history, the VDB controversy, the low mintage 1914-D, the 1922 no-D, the 1955 DDO, design change of 59, ETC... I will say that I am not a fan of the Shield...
I'll make a point that hasn't been made here yet.
One of the greatest appeals to what I collect is the fact that nobody can ever have a complete collection. New discoveries are fairly frequent and plentiful. Nobody can even accurately define a "complete" collection. Instead, acquiring as many different examples as possible is the goal. It's sort of like chopmarked trade dollars in that respect, each one different.
And rarity? Notes of the highest rarity with 1-5 examples known start around $100 and most can be had under $1000. Scarce notes with 25-200 known can usually be had under $100. And it doesn't take very much to push prices up in such a thin market.
Not as far as I was concerned. I declined to use a poll format because I wanted to include more than a few options for answers and encourage stories and discussion.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Interesting thread Mark!
Similar to @Catbert, I picked up the hobby again some 20 years ago. Previously, like many, I collected mostly circulated coins to place in albums (any & all up to dollars). When I commenced again, I started with key dates, particularly the ones I couldn’t fill in albums. It wasn’t long I realized I had a lot to learn instead of sole reliance on those “in the know”. So, I studied, read & studied & read some more. I slowly built a network of both like minded & collectors focused differently. I eventually moved into Morgan dollars. I liked the history & the classic beauty of the piece.
Along the way, I became closely acquainted with a gentleman, now deceased, who was both a copper specialist & a knowledgeable generalist. This numismatist became a mentor & I started to accumulate some nice Lincolns with his guidance.
From there, I became involved into what’s my specialty (& focus) today - Indians & Flying Eagles. The latter has one of the great designs in US coinage, imo. The former has an amazing history spanning 51 years. In this field, too, I had a mentor from whom I learned a lot. Gradually, I became a dedicated variety collector; again out of a developed interest.
Like many of the IHC collectors, I focused at first on the RD ones. Eventually I became attracted to toners & remain so until this day.
Finally, I added “secondary” interests: half dimes & Walkers. Odd duo, right? The former I saw as an area not many collectors explore + all the beautiful toners that are available on many of these “little beasts”. As far as the Walkers, I’m focused on the early ones. And, like others have said, they are perhaps the most beautifully designed of all US coins. Someday soon, I’ll dive into the gold dollars again. Stay tuned!
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
I like copper coins because they’re otherwise nearly worthless. I like 1 cent coins because just minted they’re common, and collecting rare things once common presents a nice juxtaposition.
Empty Nest Collection
Matt’s Mattes
And your collection is first class!
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Wheat cents pulled from circulation will also be nearest and dearest to my heart. It's how my father got me started when I was in elementary school (mid 70s). I was able to get a lot of them in that 1st Whitman folder, but eventually we had to go to a local show to finish the folder. I still pull good looking coins out of circulation and put them in Whitman folders.
As an aside, I never get tired of seeing @BillJones roll out photos of some of his Classic Head gold pieces. I have a handful of Classic Heads in my collection, but my pieces aren't even close to his beauties.
Focus Mark. It's all about focus.
At least it is for me.
I love the Hobby as a whole, but there's too much to get a handle on. I need to focus. I love to focus. I love to tear a coin down and know as much as I can about it.
We all have our own things and ways.
It's just me.
Pete
Generally like half $ size or higher.
Capped bust half dimes (1829-1837, by die marriages, 124 coins)
1. I prefer silver over other metals
2. Classic series have more appeal to me than moderns
3. My former multi-series approach was too broad and scattershot, and I needed focus
4. The early mint did a lot of things by hand and with old-style equipment (eg., screw press), and kept dies in service way too long, that resulted in interesting die characteristics - which fascinate me
5. There's a great reference ("Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837," by Logan and McCloskey) that has held up well
6. ... but there are still new discoveries being made (1835 LM-12 in 2007, 1830 LM-9.3 recognized in 2023)
7. The community was (and remains) welcoming and helpful
8. In particular, having a guru like @Barndog was a huge blessing
9. I envisioned a nice set that fit within my (multi-year) budget, but not too easily
10. I can (and do) own marriages/remarriages that are objectively RARE (because the collector base is smaller)
New website: Groovycoins.com Capped Bust Half Dime registry set: Bikergeek CBHD LM Set
After developing presbyopia and discovering eBay (!!), I decided to abandon my childhood focus on pennies and dimes and collect larger coins. I wanted a series that was vast, was valuable in circulated grades, and where one could acquire raw original coins that would straight-grade off of eBay to fill a Dansco.
Kennedys are a huge set, but not scarce enough in circulated grades, and it's not smart to collect condition rarities in a Dansco if you're a slob. Barbers were disappointing - too many raw coins that looked original were cleaned and the photography on eBay was insufficient to catch them. Walkers are a beautiful design, but they're a weird set to collect with the huge difference in availability between early and post '33 dates. Then, @MarkFeld sold me a beautiful '39-D Walker that promptly dropped $200 in value along with other higher-grade Walkers, so Walkers faded in my mind. I still love that splash of mulberry toned 39-D Walker, though. Too bad I have no photos of it.
Seated Liberty halves were perfect, a classic design, a huge series with lots of affordable dates, and lots of raw coins in original condition available on eBay to fill a Dansco. Subsets like the ultra-low mintage yet readily available '80s dates have their own appeal. My first few SLH, all raw, original coins of eBay, "set the hook."
Circulated Classic commemoratives have also been fun and inexpensive to collect as a second set. Some great designs in the mix. Just don't expect them to appreciate much. They're perfect for a large marketplace like eBay. I also like the look of light to moderately circulated commemoratives, and particularly where the toning can enhance the design.
That's very interesting! Why would raw SLHs not be cleaned like raw Barber Halves?
50 + coin machines were collected by 2 of us and destroyed. Inside these machines, many coins were tossed in the cabinet section.
The magnets placed in their train of the coin count, to me, were so powerful. When extracted, and attached to anything,
movement was very ...lets say lol.
Many years of coins were filtered. The one cent, that I knew about, but I never saw such a clean coin of a 1943 steel,
and was attached to one of these magnets and never moved, kick started me.
Then the 1982 cent came into play as I have many, due to a armored truck co. moving into our neighborhood, which must have stirred up some inventory. (Phila. area)
I believe it's because seated Liberty halves have had longer to acquire toning and one can judge their originality and even hairlining better by their toning in photos whereas hairlining is easy to hide on lighter toned coins with lighting angles. A lot of those early SLH coins were well toned such as the coin below.
I just started looking for original-looking toning amongst raw coins and found them more often in the SLH. At least I had much better luck finding them on eBay. Here's one of each plucked raw off eBay.
I try not to overthink it, i don't always succeed but I try. I have to like the design of a series to seriously collect it. If there's a reasonable expectation of completing a set I'll attempt a set, if not I'll gather an accumulation of choice pieces, maybe some with different types of luster and die states.
It is not my question to answer, but I think the circulating history's of the two different coins has resulted in very different results. Seated coins went thru periods of hoarding and then getting pushed back into the economy. I think Barber coins hit the economy at the exact time that there was a much larger demand for circulating coins. I have often seen low grade Seated coins with a variety of toning that would indicate a much different past. It seems all most all low grade Barber coins have the well used grey you would expect for work horse coins that were used extensively. James Thanks for question though, it was interesting to reflect on.
Many years ago, I found a really cool dealer. His name was Mark. He helped me build a nice type set. Once I was happy with the set I had to pick something new to start on. I wanted to go with larger and older toned coins. Bust Half Dollars were a good fit for me. A guy named Al offered me part of his collection and it gave me a start to a great collection. That's about all I collect anymore.
You meet some cool people on coin forums.
Interesting comment. I hadn't considered the differences in how they circulated and the effects of hoarding on their condition.
Sometimes I go overseas.
IMO, that could be a LIBERTY portrait just as easily.
Okay, I was sick all week, but I really have wanted to post this (I know, this is my second response).
Maybe it's the med's
.
lala la la lala la la
.
I
Like
Big
Bust
and I can not lie
You other Collector's just can't deny
When one shows up with a little color on her face
and plenty of luster to grace
my wallet gets a twichin'
and my fingers get to itchin'
And I need to figure out how to make her mine!
.
I
Like
Big
Bust
and I can not lie
Put her in PCGS with a Bean and she's a special prize
But I like 'em when they're graded low or high
Whether the Eagle's ready to fight or head held high.
It's all about the coin, and I'm ready to try!
.
I like Big BUST!
.
.
“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 ALSO like Big Busts and I cannot lie!
They allow me lots of coins to buy!!
Hope you feel better Pursuit!
Changed for me over time, but I generally like or dislike the design:
1. At one point it was gold and I preferred the Liberty coins, especially the $20. The Mexican gold peso coins are also nice.
2. Now I like Bust, Seated Liberty, and Walking Liberty Halves
3. Affordability is a big issue
4. An entire set doesn't make sense to me; the design is usually the same but one has to pay more for a certain date
5. Ties to childhood in that I can now afford what I could not afford then.
6. Remembrance of family only plays a part for inherited/gifted coins
7. History is a big component and I prefer 19th Century to 20th Century, except for a few dates like 1918, 1948, etc.
8. Age plays no part; once you have the coin bug it is always lurking; just have to say no more sometimes
I’m all over the map. Literally.
https://www.colleconline.com/en/collections/4508/lordmarcovan
World, Ancient & Medieval, US Type, Exonumia. You name it. If I like it, I grab it.
Under that vast aegis, I have lots of smaller spotlights of focus. Maybe it’s the ruler or historical era of the coin I’m interested in. Maybe the aesthetics of a cool design. The best coins combine all that: history and aesthetics.
Although I've moved on to different interests, my first love was Indian Head Cents. When I was around 10 years old I would go through the dealer's junk bin pulling out dates to fill an album. I later moved on to nice XF to Unc. pieces. I've since sold most of those coins but still have an affinity for them, so a childhood connection for sure.
Like my friend Rob, Lord Marcovan I collect a wide range of coins, foreign, and United States, new and old I like them all!
There are many factors as to why, primarily aesthetics, but also rarity, and the history of when and where these coins were made lots of factors that make these things so much fun!
I have things that are super common, but extraordinarily pretty:
And then others that are a little bit crude, but very beautiful to me, LOTS of character:
Right on up to modern Coins that I have had a lot of fun with recently:
I definitely like finding and having coins that aren’t so easy to find scarcity is part of the fun for me.
I also like paper money, especially the weird, obscure stuff:
One thing, though, originality is vital! I can’t deal with stuff that’s been altered or processed…
This has been a fun thread to read!
Hopefully Lord Marcovan will join in…
My YouTube Channel
I like these a lot, they are as good as it gets for "exotic/price" ratio. Amazingly cheap for how cool they are and how special they would look to a non-numie type. Go back one generation and they they rocket to the moon.
To follow up on this, I like the dark toning on Capped Bust halves as well, and they are well known to have spent considerable time in bank vaults. I have over a dozen terminally toned BCHs and could easily become a CBH Nut.
Hairlines from wiping bother me more than they should, and I would see more annoying hairlining on toned Barbers than I did on the SLHs I'd purchase. That may simply reflect my ability at detecting cleaning at that time. Gradually I lost interest in Barbers and focused on SLHs, a design I liked more, one in which even common dates held significant value in lower grades, and the set is huge so one can fill it with nice, raw, common date and even some rare date coins scrounging off of eBay.
Two raw SLHs that graded VF35 and VF25.
A decent raw Barber half that graded VF35.
@Barberian . I ended up going for Seated Halves big time but must admit once upon a time I was going to collect Barber coins only a bad experience affected me.
I had to sell most of my collection in the fall of 1982 but by 1984 I was back again to start a new collection. I spent months looking through Coin World, the Redbook and various coin magazines. A lawsuit went my way and I was awarded a nice chunk of money to start my new collection.
I found an add in Coin World. The hook was that they (there were 3 dealers) had over 100 years of experience. They belonged to all the usual alphabet soup groups. Most importantly they had high circulated grade Barbers in all three denominations. i selected one coin from each denomination to see which one I should go with. Then things went sideways.
I knew I was in trouble the second I got the coins. The Barber Half had been whizzed to death. Both the dime and the quarter had odd grey splotches that turned black! in less than 3 days.
Won't bore you with the protracted mess that followed but they swore I was the crook and was trying to return different coins. All three dealers swore they inspected all coins and their man Dennis was of unimpeachable reputation. Last thing the great Dennis said to me on the phone was. "Geeze, you 'd think you were the only guy to ever get the bait and switch". A statement I always considered a confession.
Anyway, the whole thing almost put me off coin collecting entirely, and absolutely effected the way i looked at Barber coins. James
A dealer was also involved in my initial Barber half efforts as well. A highly reputable one from what I learned here years later. At least once a year I read amazing praise and testimonies about this seller here. Well, that dealer or their assistant sold me a nice gray Barber half with someone's initials carved into the eagle's chest, then gave me grief when I wanted to return the coin. I doubt it had much effect on my switching series, but I've always been amused at the praise for this dealer. Maybe the seller or assistant was just teasing me, but it left me with a negative impression of that seller.