Rookie Collectors Only... no dealers or customers
dakra
Posts: 513 ✭
Welcome to the first addition of "Rookies Only", a place away from the dealers and other collectors.
I've been collecting here or there for about 20 years, yet it wasn't until 1998 that I decided to start collecting like a maniac. Around this time last year, I decided to join PCGS and further my knowledge on the hobby. Grading? yeah, the coin looks good....nice? I would grade it excellent! Okay, I wasn't that bad but because I was collecting everything and anything I could, I had no focus on a particular series and therefor did not focus on grading a particular series. I was trying to learn to grade everything at once.
A strange thing happened to me recently. Someone asked the grade of a Silver Washington Quarter (pre 1964) and I couldn't believe my eyes seeing some of the grades this Quarter received. I thought the coin had wear on it because Washington's hair was not "permed" when in fact the coin received a MS grade.
In approximately 1990, the Washinton Quarter was enhanced to accentuate his hair; giving him almost a "permed" look. I felt a bit foolish and I went through a few of the proof sets I picked up (pre 1964) and compared them to the other silver quarters I had. Indeed I had a pretty decent set but originally I casted some of my Washington Quarters aside because I viewed them as "circulated"... quite embarrassing!
I found myself buying a coin that I thought was a beautiful coin, until I brought it home and compared it with my other coins in the series... Now I could see that the coin had some wear that I didn't pick up when I first viewed the coin. Maybe it was the excitement of purchasing a coin or perhaps I really didn't educate myself enough on how to grade that particular coin.
Grading:
In recent times I have started to collect Peace Dollars. I have seen thousands of them from board members, ebay auctions and local dealers and after viewing hundreds of the same type coins, I became familiar with the areas of the coin that would show wear, I became familiar with the pricing range of these coins and I honestly feel I can see a Peace Dollar tomorrow and tell you the approximate grade and value of it. In collecting my series of Peace Dollars, grade was not of the utmost importance to me. After looking at so many, I started going with the "look" of the coin. Some people love Toned coins and that's what they collect, I wanted a set that was similar in "color" and at the same time, I was avoiding coins that had facial dings. I didn't aim for a perfectly graded set knowing full well that when the I have collected the very last coin, I could always upgrade coins that I felt were of lesser grade or look.
In short: If you really want an education, concentrate on one coin series and get to know that series. Once you have finished with that series, take the wisdom you learned and start collecting another series and getting to know that series the best you can. One of the best feelings is the feeling that you have completed something... the other best feeling is...
Key Dates:
In collecting a series, there is no better feeling than getting your first "Key Date". I have heard different opinions on collecting the "Key Date" first and collecting the "Key Date" last. For us rookies, we could easily purchase an inferior coin if we buy the key date first because we are unfamilar with the coin. As rookies, we have no money
and by the time we put together all of the other coins, we may not have the funds for the key date. In my Peace Dollar collection, I waited until I was educated enough in the series to pick out a winner (well, as close to a winner that I could afford) By buying the key date in the middle, I can now finish the rest of the set and need not worry about dumping a huge amount down on one single coin. If you cannot find a decent coin on a certain date, you could always buy a cheap "filler", perhaps a coin you find inferior but it helps finish your set. Why would you do this?....
Trading Up: You have completed your first set. You look at the "1923 D" and say to yourself... that coin is the oddball in my collection. Every other coin looks immaculate but this one is the black sheep of the collection. Perhaps you also have a few extra dates that you collected in the process of creating this set that are also black sheep. You could sell those blacksheep in order to assist you financially in purchasing that "1923D" that will complete your set.
Dealers and Other Collectors: Yeah, they have been going at it this past week. Not all dealers and customers are bad but in the course of life you will probably come across some bad apples. As a Rookies, listen to what everyone has to say and take it to heart. If you find yourself guilty of things they have mentioned, try to change your ways. Work with dealers, work with other collectors and you may find yourself learning a great deal of information in a short period of time.
In conclusion, You don't need to start with Peace Dollars. In fact, I recommend you not collect these. They should be destoryed and if you send your peace dollars to me, I will make sure they are destroyed... On the other hand, Ike's are really easy to collect and you could finish the collection in no time at all.
If you find yourself overwhelmed with your collection, do what I did and KEEP IT SIMPLE.
-Dave
I've been collecting here or there for about 20 years, yet it wasn't until 1998 that I decided to start collecting like a maniac. Around this time last year, I decided to join PCGS and further my knowledge on the hobby. Grading? yeah, the coin looks good....nice? I would grade it excellent! Okay, I wasn't that bad but because I was collecting everything and anything I could, I had no focus on a particular series and therefor did not focus on grading a particular series. I was trying to learn to grade everything at once.
A strange thing happened to me recently. Someone asked the grade of a Silver Washington Quarter (pre 1964) and I couldn't believe my eyes seeing some of the grades this Quarter received. I thought the coin had wear on it because Washington's hair was not "permed" when in fact the coin received a MS grade.
In approximately 1990, the Washinton Quarter was enhanced to accentuate his hair; giving him almost a "permed" look. I felt a bit foolish and I went through a few of the proof sets I picked up (pre 1964) and compared them to the other silver quarters I had. Indeed I had a pretty decent set but originally I casted some of my Washington Quarters aside because I viewed them as "circulated"... quite embarrassing!
I found myself buying a coin that I thought was a beautiful coin, until I brought it home and compared it with my other coins in the series... Now I could see that the coin had some wear that I didn't pick up when I first viewed the coin. Maybe it was the excitement of purchasing a coin or perhaps I really didn't educate myself enough on how to grade that particular coin.
Grading:
In recent times I have started to collect Peace Dollars. I have seen thousands of them from board members, ebay auctions and local dealers and after viewing hundreds of the same type coins, I became familiar with the areas of the coin that would show wear, I became familiar with the pricing range of these coins and I honestly feel I can see a Peace Dollar tomorrow and tell you the approximate grade and value of it. In collecting my series of Peace Dollars, grade was not of the utmost importance to me. After looking at so many, I started going with the "look" of the coin. Some people love Toned coins and that's what they collect, I wanted a set that was similar in "color" and at the same time, I was avoiding coins that had facial dings. I didn't aim for a perfectly graded set knowing full well that when the I have collected the very last coin, I could always upgrade coins that I felt were of lesser grade or look.
In short: If you really want an education, concentrate on one coin series and get to know that series. Once you have finished with that series, take the wisdom you learned and start collecting another series and getting to know that series the best you can. One of the best feelings is the feeling that you have completed something... the other best feeling is...
Key Dates:
In collecting a series, there is no better feeling than getting your first "Key Date". I have heard different opinions on collecting the "Key Date" first and collecting the "Key Date" last. For us rookies, we could easily purchase an inferior coin if we buy the key date first because we are unfamilar with the coin. As rookies, we have no money
and by the time we put together all of the other coins, we may not have the funds for the key date. In my Peace Dollar collection, I waited until I was educated enough in the series to pick out a winner (well, as close to a winner that I could afford) By buying the key date in the middle, I can now finish the rest of the set and need not worry about dumping a huge amount down on one single coin. If you cannot find a decent coin on a certain date, you could always buy a cheap "filler", perhaps a coin you find inferior but it helps finish your set. Why would you do this?....Trading Up: You have completed your first set. You look at the "1923 D" and say to yourself... that coin is the oddball in my collection. Every other coin looks immaculate but this one is the black sheep of the collection. Perhaps you also have a few extra dates that you collected in the process of creating this set that are also black sheep. You could sell those blacksheep in order to assist you financially in purchasing that "1923D" that will complete your set.
Dealers and Other Collectors: Yeah, they have been going at it this past week. Not all dealers and customers are bad but in the course of life you will probably come across some bad apples. As a Rookies, listen to what everyone has to say and take it to heart. If you find yourself guilty of things they have mentioned, try to change your ways. Work with dealers, work with other collectors and you may find yourself learning a great deal of information in a short period of time.
In conclusion, You don't need to start with Peace Dollars. In fact, I recommend you not collect these. They should be destoryed and if you send your peace dollars to me, I will make sure they are destroyed... On the other hand, Ike's are really easy to collect and you could finish the collection in no time at all.
If you find yourself overwhelmed with your collection, do what I did and KEEP IT SIMPLE.
-Dave
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Comments
<< <i>Rookie Collectors Only... >>
Cool, a thread for me.
<< <i>In short: If you really want an education, concentrate on one coin series and get to know that series. >>
Absopositutely!
Russ, NCNE
I wanted to say that you are correct, there is nothing like the feeling of buying your first "key" in a series. I recently bought my first key date, and 1932-D Washington Quarter. Okay, it wasn't nothing special, as it only graded a AG-3, but hey, on my budget, it was all I could afford. But I went around parading that coin to my wife (who just said "Oh") and to my Dad who collects coins. It was a good feeling to finally have that one. And someday, I do hope to have the means to upgrade it, as others in the folder are a little better quality. But it is all for the fun of collecting, and I am having a lot of fun right now!!!
I lovingly call my past collection the "pile of crap" Lots of tidbits of various denominations, nothing of value, but lots of it. 2 years ago, I did an inventory and found that I had a amassed a huge hoard of 3600+ coins, mostly BU Morgans and Moderns, since then I have unloaded 75% of the collection and became a lot more serious.
I took the funds from the sales and reinvested in as many high end key date morgans as I could possibly find, I first started with the CC series, amassed all MS65 and a MS64 90 CC except for the 79,89, they are next. After a while I learned that I had made some equity in my MS65's and unloaded them and upgraded to MS 66's for the 80,81,82,83,84,85 CC's. I was only able to do this because I LEARNED a lesson and took some great advice, BUY the key dates If you can, the common dates will still be there and usually at the same price as they were when you bought the key dates.
I'm still unloading the common date coins and upgrading whenever I can, nice thign is I have reduced a pile of nothing into something I am very proud of, plus it has been a very profitable experience.
Good Luck.
Max
What I found in reconfiguring this collection was that I started to understand the series and what to look for and not look for.
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Geoman... I have to admit to doing a similar thing. I was spending a few nights staying up until 3am in the morning just going through every peace dollar I could find. I came to my decision on the key date around 2am and when I went to bed at 3am, I woke up my wife to tell her that I finally made the deal for the coin... I felt giddy.
Don't feel bad about condition. I actually picked up a Key Date morgan recently and of course I had to have it because it was a key date... it probably graded G4
-Dave
I still have a great deal of "crap" that I'm trying to organize to see what exactly I have. Organization should be the next topic!
Speaking of round coins...I came across a "flattened" coin from Batavia (1821) and researched it for a few days because I thought I had something special. I finally found 1 site with a picture of the coin... it's not suppose to be flat, it's suppose to be round! I believe the coin is basically worth $20 but I'm pretty sure there is no premium for my flat and oblong variety
-Dave
<< <i>JFK's... I have 10 1964's with one Accent hair. I will catch up to you one of these days... >>
Well, you do have a little ways to go.
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>I had no focus on a particular series >>
sounds like you should have been a type collector we have no focus just one of everything as good of a grade as we can afford and we don't have to worry about any keys but there are a lot of varieties
I hate it when you see my post before I can edit the spelling.
Always looking for nice type coins
my local dealer
I've been collecting Peace Dollars building to e registry set. Finally I completed "A Set" and when I prepared to submit them I realized that I have a collection of J-U-N-k'
I was in such a rush to finish I neglected quality completely.
I straightened out my disaster and started a "good " NGC Registry I expect it'll take me years but I know what I'm doing now.
PS...Good advice about avoiding Peace $$$. Very tough to grade. Morgans would have been easier!
Twowood
I actually meant to avoid collecting Peace Dollars in jest. Although I am going to agree that grading Morgan's is easier (on paper) because in my opinion, there are more aspects to grading it. I say on paper because I have found myself getting more familiar with the Peace Dollar than I have with the Morgan and as a result of that, I am finding it easier for me to grade the peace dollars over the Morgans. Eventually I will tackle a Morgan collection, at which point I will most likely be able to compare the coins better and be able to admit the morgans are easier to grade.
... I'm not even sure I understand what I wrote above...
Mac, as for being a Type collector. Yes, I was collecting any old thing. For me, it became overwhelming because as I'm collecting, I'm looking up information on the coin, plus I had no sense of organization. I started saying "now, which year was the lowest mintage for the barber/Seated Liberty/(enter coin here)??". I'm sure there are people who can pick this stuff up and it sticks but I generally have to keep going back to the reference.
I have actually picked up quite a few Dansco albums. Over the course of the next few weeks, I'm going to organize everything and decide what direction I'm taking my collection. For me, I have learned a great deal just putting my efforts into one collection at a time. Knowing what I have and knowing exactly what "spots" I need to fill.
Take a look at Russ, he can spot an Accent haired JFK, sitting on a hickory stump, 2 miles away with visability being under 1000 Feet... and that's because he has focused on that series. I respect that... and I have to admit, I'm a bit envious! So much, I had to see what all the excitement is about... I got my first Accent JFK last week!
I'm probably babbling now and that's because I'm thinking about the a Part II of this series...
-Dave
TT... I mean... Yes, I agree. All newbies like myself come across coins that they just have to have. Whether they feel that way themselves, a dealer makes them feel that way or a fellow collector makes them feel that way. It's hard sometimes for a new collector to fully understand where their new found interest is going. (Which direction it is taking)
Personally...me... I figured if I had a little bit of everything, i coud discover an expertise in a wide variety of coins and that was just not the fact. It wasn't until I kept a focus in one particular coin, that I became an "Expert" in that particular subject. (okay...far from expert but atleast knowledgeable)
Again, people pick up things differently. You could easy collect several coins at once and find your expertise. I applaud you for that.... otherwise there are collectors like me who get overwhelmed with all the information.... and as such, need to concentrate on one series at a time. There is no right or wrong way to collect, per say.... Do what you feel is comfortable.
I'm ready for "Part II"... but I wouldn't mind this thread continuing to see how other people started out and what helped them out the most.
-Dave
I knew it was pre-1933 gold that I wanted to collect. I launched into it in a typical half-a$$ed fashion. I bought 5 coins from Heritage on ebay the first night out, $1400+. About two weeks later, I knew they wouldn't be long-term keepers. Luckily, I stumbled onto some good advice in an article. It said that a good approach early on was to limit yourself to one PCGS/NGC plastic slab box - they hold 20 coins. I have followed it ever since, and after 2+ years I have a total collection of just 18 coins. But I have gravitated finally into MS63/MS64 gold type and gold dollars, and every coin I have is a keeper (unless, of course, the need arises to trade in & improve). The best advice I ever managed to follow.
Another yearor two and I will have to expand into a 2nd box and another 20 slots, but this sure has worked well and kept me focused on adding only coins that will make me happy for years. The only real drawback is that you don't add items often, and if you get to the "limit" something has to go. It's not as big a drawback as it may sound, though, it has provided a lot more time for cash accumulation instead of blowing it on lower-priced coins that become "extras" almost before you get them home. And I seem to spend a lot more time studying & learning than just "chasing" new stuff.
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 no optical illusion, it only looks like an optical illusion.
My mind reader refuses to charge me....
I hate it when you see my post before I can edit the spelling.
Always looking for nice type coins
my local dealer
I don't want anyone to think my way is the *right* way to start collecting coins, rather, collect the way you feel most comfortable collecting, the bottom like, I think we are all collecting based on the same principals.
Tonight is going to be one of those nights I'm finally getting to bed at a decent hour. This week is going to be the week that I get all my coins organized!..so if you don't hear from me the rest of the night, you know why
-Dave
No focus maybe but atleast you have the skills to be organized. For some reason, I have been lacking that skill but I'm going to start putting together those Dansco albums in hope I can get that organization going. I like them loose and I like them all over the place
On the other hand, I have to listen to my wife when she says "coins in the kitchen, coins in the dining room, coins in the computer room and coins in the bedroom"... Time to get organized!
-Dave
Right, it's the strict limit of 20 coins total that helps maintain the focus. Each coin you buy has to be a real improvement, and when you get up against the limit you really do get focused. No more "impulse" purchases of something totally off-the-wall, no more buying a coin two grades under what you really want just to "fill the hole". It has worked really well, and every coin is one I'm more than happy to keep (well, OK, there is one MS63 I'm going to trade in on an MS65 when I find one).
As I go for more gold dollars by date, I am at a point where I will expand into a 2nd box, 40 coins total. I figure that will be good for another 2 or 3 years at least. The process seems to have cured me of "See it - Want it" that used to be so distracting at shows (and so often led to the "what the &#@! was I thinking when I bought THAT? a few days later).
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 no optical illusion, it only looks like an optical illusion.
My mind reader refuses to charge me....
Casey
Casey... It is quite addicting and I often find myself seeing a really awesome coin and the impulse kicks in to pull the cash from the wallet and make the purchase. I've always been that way. I went to a coin dealer over the weekend just to pick up supplies. I found myself... Supplies? What Supplies?!?! Let's take a look at the coins! It was also nice to see a few of the coins I sold to him on display for outrageous prices!
I know it's probably not the most sought after or glamorous series but I'm really considering collecting Ike's next. Ike's are relatively inexpensive and a decent set can be completed in no time at all.
I might as well let you guys know what I'm in the process of:
Lincoln Wheat/Memorials 1909 to Present (anyone have a 1909-S VDB they don't need?)
Jefferson Nickles 1938 to Present (Near Completion)
Peace Dollars 1921- 1935 (Focus is on this now, a few more to go)
After that, I have a little bit of everything from Barber/Seated/Mercury- Silver Washington Quarters, Morgans, JFK's, Ike's, V Nickles, Large Cent, 2 Cent and I believe a 3 cent piece. Foreign coins and Yuan (Paper Money) from the 1920's on. Some of the stuff I am going to try to sell or at the very least exchange for items I do need... but again, it is totally unorganized and I will be using the next few days to try to organize it.
-Dave