The constant debate...Quality or Quantity?

saintguru

I'm sure this has been gone over many time on this board, but I just started and I'd like to toss it up. This is the description I used for my registry set of $20 Saint Gaudens...I'd welcome any comments and opinions.

Owner's Comments:
My goal has been based on finding the finest graded coins available in every date possible (affordable at any given time) rather than just filling in slots. Clearly this means making a "sacrifice" since upgrades barely budge SET points, but the effort speaks for itself. For my purpose SET ponts are only valuable in conjunction with GPA points. There may be sets with more coins than this one, but I defer to GPA as the true measure of "Finest" once 80% completed. Finding many of these coins has been extremely challenging. There have been times I have found very rare coins that I needed but they were sub-par for the grade. All the ms64's are high-end. To have a set of MS65 GPA coins in this very low POP series is a task that is quite formidable. I envy those who undertook this set years ago when nobody was interested and the great pedigreed sets were for sale. We will never see coins like those again.

ziggy29

Quantity *and* quality.

Seriously, though, to me there's a tradeoff. I could have a huge amount of problem-laden junk, I can have a small number of "pop top" quality coins in the more classic series, or I can try to find a happy medium with coins that are in some sense, almost as nice as the condition census pieces but at a fraction of the cost.

The neat thing about the coin market is that there are buyers at all these levels, and there will be some interest whether you're selling a cleaned AG or an MS-67 Full Everything. When you collect for personal pleasure, there is no right or wrong answer. I would encourage everyone to look for the top quality in their target grade and/or price range, but since most of us can't build a registry set of PQ MS-64/65 Saints, we have to ratchet down expectations...yet still look for nice quality for the grade and price.

Jamericon

When I was young I accumulated coins and paper money with more emphasis on quantity. Sold all that a few years back and put the efforts into quality while trying to the attain the goals I have set.

Truth is, quality sells.

saintguru

I believe that the high-end coins with low pops will generally command premiums much easier than lower grades. Even in soft markets a pop 5 is still as rare as it was in a strong market and the integrity of the 'right-to-own' is still a strong driving force. After all, only 5...with hundreds of collectors?? I'm not talking about pop 1's or even pop 20's as my subject...merely grades that are a notch or two above commonality. In a perfect world I would say GEMS in all cases where they are available.

dorkkarl

are you collecting coins because of "premiums" on low-pops? or becuase you enjoy coins?

K S

saintguru

I collect because I love the coins, I love the collecting aspect and I love the challenge. The pops are just part of the "quality" aspect and the "premiums" remark is merely an observation. Couldn't trip me up with that question. I started collecting coins 44 years ago...and laid off for 30 years only to rekindle the passion. Beautiful coins are ART!