How did you find your niche?

clw54

Many of the members here have found their niche. Or maybe their niche found them. Whether it be GSAs, Accented Hair Kennedys, patterns, seated quarters, Lincolns, Mercuries, sample slabs, Indian cents, branch mint gold, many have found their spot in collecting. For those of you who have found your specialty, how did it happen? What was it about your specialty that inspired you?

nederveit

I must have inherited it! Ol' Dad loves the half dollars....

tradedollarnut

My grandmother gave me a circulated trade dollar she'd saved for many years in a teapot when I was just starting collecting as a kid. I remembered it fondly and when I got back into coins a trade dollar was my first purchase. As it turns out, nobody had ever really done the set right before, so it was an opportunity to break some new ground.

cosmicdebris

I stumbled onto it.

mgoodm3

I started collecting type and stumbled onto the early proofs and IHC proofs.

OKbustchaser

Bust half was the only thing I could find at local show besides Lincolns--which I refuse to have anything to do with on general principles, or Morgans--which I consider the most overrated U.S. coin ever minted.

Jim

longtimecollector

I wanted to collect a series (classic) that wasn't experiencing HUGE collector demand, but had enough twists and turns to make it interesting..... I was about to start on bust halves despite the demand when I stumbled upon the Wiley-Buggert book on seated halves....... That was the answer.......... lots of raw coins ripe for cherrypicking varieties, reasonably little collector hype, values that seem on a par with availability/rarity, and enough varieties to keep me collecting the same series for YEARS......... It's been about 8-10 years now, and although I have completed the date/mintmark half dollar set, I am still searching for nearly 100 varieties, many of which I hope to cherrypick before long !!!! I'm happy with my set which averages f-vf......... nearly all coins are easily affordable, yet not so common you can complete the set in just a few shows....... The Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) is continuously seeking out new info and listing previously unknown varieties which to me would indicate relatively few collectors do this series by variety (as opposed to the Bust Collectors)


Kiefer.... If you're a snivelling virgin dork, please post next....

kieferscoins

I got a free sample slab from PCGS at a seminar I attended in 2000.

Cameron Kiefer

roadrunner

Somewhere around 1973 I saw an ad in Coin World listing an
1843-0 quarter in low grade, but calling it rare. I was intrigued, especially considering that the price was low. It seemed like a way to get "a bang for a little buck." I started doing my own surveys by going through every issue of Coin World and every auction catalog/price list that came out. Within a few months it was quite obvious how many underrated coins there were across the seated series. I was hooked....and joined the Seated Club in 1974 as I recall. I didn't get all that involved with the UNCs until the early 1980's. One of my fond memories was when World Wide Coin purchased a multiple date set of better date seated quarters and listed the darn things in Coin World. Many "S" mints were listed, but all the key dates were sold except the 1867-s's. Right! I bought all 7 pieces they had listed at from $65-95 each (F-VF's).

roadrunner

cladking

There was a huge vacuum.

Russ

When you hold a classic coin it brings thoughts of history that you've read about or learned. When I hold my early date Kennedys it brings memories of history I lived.

Russ, NCNE

nwcs

My niche, I believe, has finally been found. And basically it is a one-of type. I fell into this mostly by experimenting with different ways of collecting. Tried series and shorter types and never was happy. But casting a wide net with a one-of-each approach has been good. But I'll break the rules of one-of when I find a really special coin. As long as it is not the same date/mint of one I have. I think I like this way the best because it allows me to have a broad reach but not become an expert in everything.

anablep

Always loved morgans when I was younger. My dad gave me 2 and a Peace dollar as a gift. Years later, I now collect Morgans.

Fairlaneman

Mom gave me her circulated Mercury Set that was in a blue Whitman holder around 1982. Many coins were present but many were missing. Completion of the set started me out and then it was upgrade time. Well its been going on for twenty plus years.

Maybe one day a whole set will be owned at the same time.... Probably not though. For some reason I am as dumb as a pitching wedge and sell coins like my icon coin when I should not.

Ken

ER

<< <i>I wanted to collect something I could complete and not compete with my customers. Yes, I am a Bust Half Nut! I always thought the coins were really pretty. And when I was a teen, I only had the money for AU's. Now I'm building an AU58 set!!!!!........ >>


What if you have a new customer who wants to build the same thing, Laura?

ss350camaro

I collects what i likes and i likes what i collects

MFH

My grandfather gave me my first Barber coin, a beautiful 1892 half dollar, in AU 58 and I was hooked. He also started me on Liberty Head Nickels.

I fell in love with the design of the Standing Liberty Quarters and have been upgrading this set over a very long period of time.

There are quite a few other series that I really like, and that I'm quite proud of, but my Barber and SLQ collections are my favorites.

sliderider

I have no niche. I collect everything. I haven't finished a full set of anything, yet, though. I'm very disorganized that way. Maybe now that I've decided to do registries, I'll finally finish something I start.