Would you buy patterns if you had the money???

Dennis88

We all know that all patterns are rare, and most of them are out of reach for most collectors. But let's say that you have the money to buy several patterns (10 or so) would you buy them then, or would you choose for regular issue coins??? It is IMHO an underrated series of US coinage. Okay, they did not circulated, but they were mostly struck as proofs and some have beautiful designs.

Dennis

majorbigtime

You betcha.

mgoodm3

Almost bought one last month. Maybe soon.

lordmarcovan

US patterns are neat. If I had the money, I might buy a few.

But a coin budget gets waaaay more bang for the buck in world coin patterns. And those are often just as beautiful.

19Lyds

If I had money, I'd buy that chain cent mentioned in an earlier post..........and then some patterns!

Link

KlectorKid

It wouldnt be the first thing I bought but it would probably be in the top 10.

BillJones

I'm one of the few "No" votes here.

I can't collect everything, and some patterns are just something that I find interesting, but not interesting enough to divert funds from regular U.S. coins. Other patterns, like some the nonsensical mules (coins made from two dies that don't belong with each other) that are in the series don't interest me in the least.

I do own two pattern coins, but there are those who say that they could or should be called regular issues: the 1792 half disme and the 1836 Gobrecht Dollar.

majorbigtime

<< <i>

I do own two pattern coins, but there are those who say that they could or should be called regular issues: the 1792 half disme and the 1836 Gobrecht Dollar. >>



I beleive the current consensus is that the "common" Gobrecht is a regular issue, albeit with a small mintage.

Shamika

Some of them are awsome. Problem is, wealthier people than me think the same thing.

F117ASR

yup. I's like to have the complete collection of Flying eagle cents. I believe it's something like 1854-1858.

F117ASR

Ooops. That last post makes me sound like a hick. I meant to say "I would like" instead of "I's"

scher

I love patterns and might buy more someday.. really like the patterns with wrong metal.. i have a nice pattern morgan dollar in copper..
bruce scher

nwcs

I only replied yes because it is likely I'd want at least one. But more than one, I'm not sure.

mercurynut

If I ever hit the lottery I would buy some!

Dennis88

The thing with patterns is that there aren't specialised magazines about them. There is one society, but that's it. There are also a few books about the subject, but as a pattern collector/researcher you have to look in a lot of auction catalogs for information.

Dennis

flaminio

"If I had the money" I would buy every freakin' coin ever made.

barberlover

I'd love to own a complete 1891 Barber pattern set.

Les

scher

me too les
bruce scher

Bobk

In a heart beat

orie

As some of you have figured out, I don't know much about the coins I collect. What are patterns? Where do you find a good book on dollar patterns?

RYK

I'm with BillJones. I cannot collect everything. One or two patterns may be neat to have, and I regret not buying a specific gold pattern (in copper) earlier in the year because it had a neat story to it. Overall, I would be happy to buy the pattern book and skip the coins.

wondercoin

Ditto Bruce S.

My pattern nickel collection is coming along nicely. I also especially enjoy the off-metal Shield and Lib nickels.

If I had a lot more money, I suspect I would own a lot more patterns.

Wondercoin

Lakesammman

I concerntrate on small cent patterns 1856-1864 and have 32 different ones so far. It's not for everyone, that's for sure, as some would find it too repetitive. The pic. is of a Cu/Al pattern from 1864. The first one I ever bought was at the Eliasberg auction - they caught my interest and never let go!

ursabear

Yes.

Some of them are truly beautiful works of art.

cosmicdebris

Yep and Ditto what LM said.

ursabear

Lakesammman, OOOOHHH! Nice. Tell us more about it. Nice photograph.

Forgot to say that I've always wondered what a circulating silver dollar with the Schoolgirl on the obverse would be like (didn't really like the reverse too much, though).

coinguy89

Well it all depends. I think they are really cool historical coins, that probably no one else will ever even see. On the other hand some of the stuff I don't trust the authenticity of, they'll look like they were never even at the mint, and if thats true I probably would not buy them.

mojorizn

Abso freakin lutely!!

mojo

oldcameoproofsguy

There are several patterns that I wouldn't mind owning.

One thing that I've noticed about patterns is that they seam to be less often conserved than regular issue coinage. There are many really great original pieces; someday I will start collecting them. For now I am just learning more about them and kind of figuring out which coins I like the best.

ColonialCoinUnion

No.

While I think a lot of them are really cool looking (and I always wondered why some of them were rejected as coin designs), I've never had an interest in collecting / owning them.

Patterns to me are like collecting prooofs (hey - I think most if not all patterns were struck as prooofs) and I don't have a lot of interest in proofs. Proofs were supposed to be beautiful and were intended to be preserved.

I prefer ordinary circulation strikes. They were made to be coins, not samples of the coiners art, and they were meant to be spent. Or flipped. Or bitten into. Or placed on railroad tracks. The fact that some of them have survived in pristine condition is happenstance - especially the ones that have survived that way since about 1804. Or 1787. Or 1659. Etc.

Dennis88

Beautifull coin Lakes!!!!

Dennis

MacCoin

I like to have some but not on my budget

cosmicdebris

I want one of these but 20K is out of my price range.

OKbustchaser

<< <i>No.

While I think a lot of them are really cool looking (and I always wondered why some of them were rejected as coin designs), I've never had an interest in collecting / owning them.

Patterns to me are like collecting prooofs (hey - I think most if not all patterns were struck as prooofs) and I don't have a lot of interest in proofs. Proofs were supposed to be beautiful and were intended to be preserved.

I prefer ordinary circulation strikes. They were made to be coins, not samples of the coiners art, and they were meant to be spent. Or flipped. Or bitten into. Or placed on railroad tracks. The fact that some of them have survived in pristine condition is happenstance - especially the ones that have survived that way since about 1804. Or 1787. Or 1659. Etc. >>



I agree with CCU

Jim

JrGMan2004

Yes, there are a couple out there that I'd definately like to have... Like... the Proof Morgan Dimes struck on Copper Planchets

stujoe

While patterns don't excite me a lot, there are some that I would indeed like an example of just for their beauty.

GOLDSAINT

Here is my take on this and I would love to hear from some of our other heavy weights like Laura, TDN, Coinguy, RR, etc on this issue.

Although all my dealer friends seem to warn me off of patterns, I think that our market is changing drastically, and the type of individual that is entering the market now, and for the next ten years, will be a different cat. It is my opinion that tomorrow’s collectors will be more investment oriented, better educated, and better financed, than the “hobbyist” of the past half-century. I also think that super rarities that are R4 to R7 will be the coins of choice regardless of there being MS Proof or Pattern.
Simple fact is that much of the pattern market seems to have lagged behind the high-grade proof and MS market the last few years. As many of the high R factor MS and Proof coins disappear into strong hands, it is my belief that the pattern market will really take off.
I understand from our past discussions here that some collectors don’t even consider proof coins “ real coins” but if you accept patterns as “ real coins” then patterns are the rarest issues of all, and many are priced at or below high grade proofs. Here is an example, last week I bought a pattern, a proof 64 seated half. The proof of that year is retail at $3,000 with 460 minted the pattern I bought was an R6 with 18 known the priced was $2,500.
Collecting anything means looking for the rarest, so count me into the group that loves patterns.

Catch22

If money were no object, I would specialize in Patterns and Colonial coins. I only need about 50 million or so to get started.

coinguy89

What are the cheapest patterns as of today?

aem4162

i wouldn't mind having any of these:
j1766/p1980 - 1891 barber half
j1700/p1902 - 1882 morgan half
j1645/p1845 - 1880 barber dollar
j1608/p1804 - 1879 morgan school girl dollar
j1512/p1676 - 1878 - morgan half
j1426/p1569 - 1875 trade liberty at the seashore
j1201/p1234 - 1872 amazonian half
1871 - any of the longacre-barbers
1870 - barber dime and dollar
j68/p71 - 1844 dollar
j104/p116 - 1839 gobrecht dollar
j79/p89 - 1838 gobrecht dollar


eh...all fantasies....any of them would be cool to look at

Bustman

I voted no. While I love many of the pattern designs, I can remember trying to sell one or two patterns just a few short years ago. They are really tough to sell in the wrong environment. Demand is high now due to the overall coin market and because of the much anticipated book on patterns, but I believe they will lose a bit of strength again.

smprfi

In a heartbeat.

Jackrabbit

Is there a good book out on pattern's.... Would be interesting to see all the could of been's..
Alot of them are better than what we have.....

Dennis88

There are several good books. The best is the Pollock book, but it isn't very usefull for beginners. You could better buy the Judd book, wich has more pictures.

dennis

Dennis88

<< <i>What are the cheapest patterns as of today? >>



The cheapest IMHO is J-229/P-272, the 1859 Indian cent of the type of 1860-1909. This is a R1, wich means over 1250 known. It's generally seen in Mintstate instead of Proof, but still very nice. Expect to pay somewhat near $1000 for a nice MS63-64 example.

USpatterns.com Link

A nice example sold last year March

Hope this helps,

Dennis

coinguy89

Yes it does help, thanks for the info.

mdwoods

Would you buy patterns if you had the money???

I certainly would.

ER

I would buy only one: the 1792 Birch cent.

Lakesammman

Dennis88:

You might be thinking of the J228 - the 229 is much rarer.

Gonfunko

<< <i>"If I had the money" I would buy every freakin' coin ever made. >>


I'll second that comment...

MrEureka

I would buy patterns even if I didn't have the money.