What's the Most "Fun" Set to Assemble?

FrattLaw

While waiting and waiting and some more waiting (I feel like Charlie Sheen in that Visa commercial) for nicely toned Peace $ to come around, I started a Dansco Type Set.

It's so much fun dabbling in all these different coins. I went to a show yesterday, luckily it was slow and I must have looked through 10 different 2x2 books the dealer had. I picked up a Columbian Comm. - AU, a Walking Liberty Half AU/BU, a state quarter, an IHC AU/BU, a Silver War Jeff AU/BU a silver 76 Ike, and a SMS 66 Lincoln BU. It's great that there isn't a big pressure to find the highest grade coin. But yet it is challenging. I recommend everyone who needs/wants a break from the PCGS/NGC Set Registry "Rat Race" -- pick up a Dansco Album Type Set and have some fun, it's great for newbies, as well as YNs.

It's really educational for us Modernistas!

What sets have you had the most fun putting together.

Michael

Blade

Michael,
As a YN, I quickly moved into type collecting and had a blast. I was so cool to find that nice VF half dime, an XF 3 cent Nickel or a VF 2 cent piece. My friends thought those now-extinct denominations were really something. As a kid, I never paid more than $15 for a coin except once and had a great type set of circulated coins in an old Dansco album that I picked up used.

CLASSICS

start a 19th century type set, you wont get stuck looking a row of the same thing over and over again. or a coin where billions are made. each coin will be diffrent and have a special story to tell, from a diffrent place in history. plus its a lot of fun

shirohniichan

The most fun comes from putting together a Registry Quality Philippine type set.

Veep

For the reasons Classics mentions, I favor the classic commemorative halves.

dbldie55

I had the most fun putting together a set of Large Cents. Real fun going through auction catalogs to find the PUP's to determine each variety so when I looked at coins on Ebay I could determine if they were the variety I needed.

fcloud

Michael,

Nice thread, I am working on a Mercury Dime collection, and it is still in the fun stage, because many of the coins I need are available. I know, however, that soon it will be a lot of work to come up with what I need.

wingedliberty

Surprise FCcloud!!, I am with you on the mercs.


Brian.

Casey

Michael,

I'm thinking of doing this. I have a Dansco Barber dime album (so I know what they look like), but I'm not close enough to a dealer to see what the pages of the type set looks like. Any chance you could post a couple pictures of some of the pages? I would like to see how it is organized before buying.

Thanks,
Casey

RegistryCoin

From Whitman albums to registry sets, I have enjoyed putting together sets of Lincolns, Jeffs, Roosies, Washingtons, Franklins, Kennedys, Cal. gold and Peace $s, but the Classic Silver Commemoratives have definately been the most fun.

marcmoish

Looks like winged liberty's got a couple of loyal followers here...I'm into Merc's too

Marc

ARCO

hmmm trick question I suppose. Impossible to answer, any series that is beautiful to you, challenging and rewarding to you and fits within your budget fits the bill.

Hell I'll just say it....Barber halves are supremely fun to collect!

Tyler

Mrpawn

I seem to think of any new series as fun.
As a kid I wanted to collect Morgan dollars but could rarely afford them. By accident I found a pop machine that would sometimes give buffalo nickels as change. I bought pop from that machine as often as I could and most of my buffalo nickel set cost 5 cents each. That was FUN. As a teen I still had a love for Morgan dollars but Ikes were affordable (mostly $1.00 ea) and I had fun collecting them. As a young adult I still yearned for a Morgan dollar collection and collected as many as I could, but when I could not afford Morgans I bought whatever presented itself at a good price. I sold my first set of Morgan dollars for what at the time seemed like a large sum and started on Canadian silver dollars. That was fun since most could be had for 3-4 dollars each. I am now further along on two Morgan sets (PCGS & raw) than any previous accumulation and the prices for acceptable coins to fill the blanks are becoming high. To bide the time I have started a few Type Sets and I am really enjoying the fresh appreciation of US coins that this has brought.

So I guess that any set can be fun when viewed from the right vantage point. I must admit that the silver Roosies and the Peace dollars and then Jefferson nickels were the first that I ever completed (barring varities). These were never a focus point of mine but it was fun to have finished them and to know that I have completed sets of something.

Gave my neices each a 20th Century Type Set for Christmas. They were fun to complete in VF or better grades but were not a challenge since all I had to do was find most of my boxes of misc coins that were shoved in various corners of the house.

mrcommem

Classic Silver Commemoratives. Very historic, very artistic, and very much fun.

FatMan

The most fun is a type set or set of commemoratives. Reason is the diversity. Each design different and lots of history to learn as each type/commem has its own story.

Collecting a specific series by date is more specialized and allows you to hone your expertise. Less "fun" but much more intense.

cladking

For pure fun I'd recommend the obsolete eagle reverse clad quarter in high grade from circulation.

mr1931S

i've given some serious thought lately as to how much fun it would be for me to assemble a set of circulated lincolns,all unslabbed,1909-1933...keep the cost down...say, under $1000 without getting stuck with too much junk from "unsearched" wheatie lots,or full date/mintmark rolls that i might buy...

been looking at '14-D's lately and found that genuine 14-D has at least three different positions or
spacings for the numerals in the date!

i've decided i need to know things like this because,after all,no coin in my Lincoln set would be in a slab and i definitely wouldn't want to get stuck with a fake key...

'14-D my first key...SVDB later...under $1000 total...

mr1874's fine Lincolns,1909-1933...i think i'm going to do it...for fun...

Outhaul

Gotta be "Classic Commems" all the way. Lots of history there, truly low mintages, and, for the most part, beautiful designs.

Cheers,

Bob

BillJones

One of the most fun sets for me was the $2.50 Indian Gold piece set. At the time I did it, all but the 1911-D could be purchased in choice AU (now some of the these coins are graded MS-61 and 62) for around $200 each. Each coin was an attractive gold piece, and for that kind of money it was the sort of set that one did not have to take several years to complete.

Flash

I'll tell you, though, as a Type collector it takes me four times longer than a series collector to make it all the way through the Long Beach bourse! I have to look at every single coin, not just particular types of coins. It makes for a long day, but a very enjoyable one.