Can a modern collector please explain somethig to me?

TheLiberator

I don't mean this as a loaded question or an insult in any way, but what is the attraction for modern coins? I would like to know where the average modern collector is comming from. Right now, I don't quite understand it so some help would be great. For me, I like the idea of absolute rarity and classic designs so that is what attracts me to older coins. (I can't afford most of them but that is another dciscussion!) With some modern's mintages being literally in the hundreds of millions, I just can get myself excited about it. Is it the idea of an affordable top pop? Is it that you can get a mint state coin right out of circulation? Is it a love for the current designs? Educate me please!

braddick

Plain and simple, some are pretty.

JrGMan2004

I think most modern specialist are more the condition rarity types, rather than the coin rarity types... I mean, look at the kind of grades they are looking for... MS70s on ultra-moderns, PR69DCAM from 60s Mint and SMS Sets, MS67FB Roosies, MS67FBL Franklins. I think it's the condition rarity thing for the most part with Modern collectors, and of course, some like the designs...

TheLiberator

<< <i>Plain and simple, some are pretty. >>



Nuff' said!

wondercoin

"For me, I like the idea of absolute rarity and classic designs so that is what attracts me to older coins. (I can't afford most of them but that is another dciscussion!) With some modern's mintages being literally in the hundreds of millions."

Don't forget the neat modern coins with mintages that are 1/10 those of the classic 1916(d) Merc or 09svbd Lincoln (REPEAT 1/10 THE SIZE), such as the:

1. 1995-1996 Atlanta Games Dollar Silver Commems

2. Many of the Platinum Eagles (MS & PR) of all denominations.

3. Most of the $5 and $10 modern Gold Commems.

4. A variety of other super low mintage Silver Dollar Commems such as the 1996(s) N.C.S. (I suspect a few here never even heard of it!), the C. Attucks (better known as Black Patriots) and even a coin such as the L. Ericson.

And, the list goes on and on of neat modern coins with mintages 1/10 that of many of the greatest classic rarities. Not hyping these moderns (heck, I own (2) svdb Lincolns in 66RD myself - THE VALUE OF THESE (2) LINCOLNS ALONE RIGHT NOW IS PROBABLY CLOSE TO THE COST OF ALL OF MY (3) MODERN COMMEM COLLECTIONS COMBINED OF HALF DOLLAR, DOLLAR AND $5 GOLD COMMEMS!!), just pointing out the FACTS of super low mintages and BEAUTIFUL "CLASSIC" DESIGNS.

Wondercoin

SPEEDracer

I think that affordability has a lot to do with it.

perfectstrike

Part of it is the cost. Okay, a lot of it is cost. You can complete a set without breaking the bank. Because it's still possible to find raw rolls and mint or proof sets, you can learn the condition rarity first hand. Mint documentation has not been destroyed and publications do a good job of describing weaknesses with specific issues. You can also find circulated varieties and don't need to purchase anything but high grades. With the grading companies now having new designations for most MS moderns that also becomes a challenge.

perfectstrike

dldallen

Collect what YOU like, and like WHAT you collect

My problem is that I like it ALL!!

Dave

TheLiberator

<< <i>

And, the list goes on and on of neat modern coins with mintages 1/10 that of many of the greatest classic rarities. Wondercoin >>



Neat! These sound like decent investment oppurtunities!

FrattLaw

Sentimental value -- I'm doing a NGC 1969 proof registry set since that was my birthyear. In the future, I'll probably do a 1971 as well for my wife's birthyear.

Michael

wondercoin

"My problem is that I like it ALL!!"

Dave: Amen brother!! Where is the weekly meeting for us?

Wondercoin

P.S. The thought just occured to me - Who in their right mind would want a TENNIS SILVER DOLLAR COMMEM in PCGS-MS69 with a mintage of around 16,000 coins and a cost of around $300 when they can own a PCGS-MS66RD 1909(svdb) Lincoln with a mintage of close to 300,000 coins, a price tag of close to $15,000 for a nice specimen and a PCGS pop well over 100! And, to be sure, I am not selling my (2) svdb's right now!! But, I'll buy every PCGS-MS70 Tennis offered to me today at a fair price also - I am just a PM away

Nysoto

State quarters are great. I collect them out of circulation with my kids. They learn about geography and some history, and gain an appreciation for coin collecting.

FC57Coins

Some are rather cool looking

stujoe

For me, they kind of come along for the ride with my 1900 to present collection. I think as a collectible coin, they get a bad rap from all of the high priced pop-top talk and focus.

I saw someone else say that getting a $2000 coin out of a $2 bankroll was the hobby at its best. I don't totally agree but I do figure that plays a part in some of the appeal of moderns for some.

Russ

Moderns are pocket change, a waste of money and no real collector would touch them.

Russ, NCNE

TheLiberator

TheLiberator

By the way Russ, how much does a decent proof Kennedy cost? (A cheaper one I mean! Not one of the super duper pop tops.)

dorkkarl

i collect moderns merely to keep my ongoing sets up to date. ie. i've already added 2004 coins to my cent, nickel, dime & quarter sets. haven't got the half yet though - haven't found 1 good enough.

btw, i collect all my moderns from circ'n if possible.

K S

lava

<< <i>

<< <i>Plain and simple, some are pretty. >>



Nuff' said! >>



I disagree; for me, that is not enough said. A pretty coin may exist just as easily in ms67 or 68 as it does in 69 or 70, and yet some modern collectors opt to pay huge premiums for a coin that to others, like myself, well, I'd be mentally changed I suspect to even pick which coin was the 67 versus the 68, or the 68 versus the 69.

Collecting moderns is fine, but I "read into the question" the additional question of why the huge premiums paid for higher grades, since out of millions and millions of coins, many coins just as nice as the present day 68s and 69s have yet to be submitted. That is the part I don't understand. Anyone care to focus on that one?

Russ

<< <i>the additional question of why the huge premiums paid for higher grades >>



It's because modern collectors are fools with more money than brains.

Russ, NCNE

cladking

There may be as many reasons to collect moderns as there are modern collectors. I started
collecting them in the early '70's because no one else was and it was a contrarian investment.
Over the years I've come to value these coins for many other reasons also. They are affordable
in even the highest grades and they do look very beautiful when they are well made and well pre-
served.

Perhaps an even greater reason that I started though is a fascination I've had with circulating
coinage since I first noticed them in the mid-'50's. It just seems incredible that anything can pass
from one person to another indiscriminately with no real record of where it's been or where it's
going. Much of my collecting is simply trying to piece together where coins are likely to have been
and where they're likely to go. This is much more easily done while studying circulating coins and
modern collectors are blessed to have been around during a time that circulating coinage has not
been heavily impacted by the actions of collectors.

Affordability of the rarities is also a major consideration for many collectors.

RBinTex

It's amazing how fast a modern top pop can go from a pop 1 to a pop 8 (like the 1971-S Lincoln e.g)

cladking

<< <i>



Collecting moderns is fine, but I "read into the question" the additional question of why the huge premiums paid for higher grades, since out of millions and millions of coins, many coins just as nice as the present day 68s and 69s have yet to be submitted. That is the part I don't understand. Anyone care to focus on that one? >>



This is a real concern and does have some basis in reality but it is much overblown. There
are not endless supplies of all modern coins to be checked for high grade coins because many
of them were never saved in the first place. While mint sets provide a handy supply of most
regular issue coins there are many coins which were never issued in these sets. Even those
which are in the sets exist in far lower numbers than the mintages would suggest. These sets
have been abused and dismantled for decades (next year I can say "generations"), and the
numbers remaining are fractions of the mintages.

Even if there actually were huge numbers of gems of all of these just waiting to be submitted,
why should this influence whether they are collected or not. There were very few Morgan dollars
graded in 1987 and no one suggested that they shouldn't be collected because there were going
to be more graded and prices might crash. It really is the same thing since the moderns have only
recently been getting submitted.

Those who have studied and collected these coins know that many of them are scarce not merely
in the high grades that get all the attention but also in the mid grades that most collectors desire.
There are also varieties and other special issues which are rare even in unc but can be found in
circulation.

The modern market and collections are much bigger than just the high grade coins which are so
frequently talked about. The modern realm of the hobby is experiencing explosive gains from peo-
ple who never before collected coins. While few of these are out purchasing $100 moderns, they
are out seeking less expensive coins which are frequently dramatically under-appreciated. What-
ever happens in the future there are a lot of people having a blast with these coins today.

haletj

As someone said... one word... completeness. A set of all nickels 1913 to 2004 is neater in my opinion than just a set of Buffalo Nickels, or say a set of all Washington Quarters 1932-2004 is neater than just a set of silver ones.

Myqqy

I love many classic coins, but I also have a huge interest in proof coins. So, since classic proof coins are a wee bit expensive, it makes a lot of sense for me to collect modern (1950-present) proof sets. Once you begin to spend some time with proof coins from 1950-1980 especially, there arises a new challange of finding coins with nice cameo contrast, free from spots, mint mishandling or haze, etc. Newer proof sets are awesome, because we have recent silver proof sets, state quarter proofs, and the quality (and therefore beauty) is outstanding.

Myqqy

Sorry....

dorkkarl

i'm seeing double!

K S

richbeat

dork:

It's too early in the day to be hitting the bottle!

Cladiator

I'm not a collector of modern coins but I can not argue that some of them aren't absolutely stunningly gorgeous. See below photos for an example of what I'm talking about.

TheLiberator

I have tht same constitution coin too! I love it! I keep wondering when people are going to wake up and realize what a cool coin that is!

BowTieCoins

There are many coins I collect, I have a few gem Morgan's. You don't even need to be a collector to find these attractive. Modern Lincolns take more of an understanding about the rarity of 6 and 7 in the sixties or better in the 70's. To truly appreciate the pristine nature of these coins an eye for what you are looking at and a 5 power helps. But without looking at thousands of common BU coins, I could see why someone may just see another penny. But dose the new collector with some means; understand his new puchase of a well struck Buffalo. I doubt it. Yet the treasure hunt threw rolls to put your collection together. And recognition from the others that understand the difficulties in your pursuit is also a draw. I can have the best of today's coinage today and the best yesterdays tomorrow on a limited budget, if I am willing to put in the time. For coins of the 1800's a few gems are the most I will ever be able to own. The 1700's are only a museum piece to me.

Chris

DCAM

This same question could have been asked and answered in 1904. I see it as: You want to drive a 1963 split window Corvette, I want to drive a 2004 with a CD player and good air conditioning. When my great grandchildren look at my "moderns" in 2104 I hope they are impressed with all those "old" coins.

Wondo

<< <i>Whatever happens in the future there are a lot of people having a blast with these coins today. >>



Cladking,

Well said!

OnlyBuffalos

Many of the collectors who got their feet wet with state quarters, prefer coins that have not been "ruined" in circulation. Most of these folks are also not date collectors who desire coins simply because the date is different. They have gravitated in many instances to modern commemorative coinage. These coins offer a wide variety of design, are attractive with sharp details and the majority are MS69/PR69 coins. To them, they have the eye-appeal that only an MS/PR69 coin can provide. These modern commemoratives are generally coins they can afford especially the dollar and half dollar coins. In my opinion the variety of design is the main attraction.

puff

<< <i>Sentimental value -- I'm doing a NGC 1969 proof registry set since that was my birthyear. In the future, I'll probably do a 1971 as well for my wife's birthyear.

Michael >>



Damn that really smarts knowing I have a son older than you.