When building a set, do you....

SethChandler

buy the rare dates first, common dates first, semi-keys first? Which way do you go?

Do you ever buy coins for your set with the intention of upgrading? Or, just buy the best that you feel like spending for at that moment?

Tell me your PLAN!

saintguru

You KNOW my plan of attack. Best grades...anything that come along....common OR rare.

TommyType

I've always heard the "Buy the Keys First" rule, and wish I would have followed it. When I first started my Morgan set, '93s were going for something like $800 in fine. Whoops...missed my chance there.

With my main focus now, my Type Set, I can avoid the "keys" for the most part. I was meticulous in laying out grades for each coin, and mainly sticking to it. Problem is, a set this large takes time, and I'm now a bit more financially stable than I was when I started....Some of those early buys now appear to need upgrading! Ugh.

matteproof

Hi Seth. For me, I have focused on the "key dates" first. My experience has been that this approach made the start of a Series more fun and challenging. Once the key and better dates are put away, I can be VERY selective on the common dates, choosing the most eye-appealing examples, since opportunities to purchase common date examples abound.

In addition, if I get bored with the Series, my experience has been that it is far less troublesome selling off the key dates and tougher selling the common dates. Selling Key Dates is sort of "self-explanatory" while selling common dates can be more of an uphill battle. matteproof

LeeG

My experience is very similar to yours just in a much cheaper series. My first set I started was a Kennedy Circ Set. The first coin I bought was a 1998-S "MATTE" from goose3 in MS-69. I've since purchased two other coins in MS-67, POP 108/1 and 79/3. I branched off into Kennedy Proofs and my first purchase was a 1983 PR70 DCAM. Money's tighter now so I'm buying Mint Set's and other Raw coins to send in for Grading.
Mitch at Wondercoins ran an "Awesome Deal" a couple week backs on some PR70 DCAM coins if you started a new Registry Set. I picked up a 2004 PR 70 DCAM Sac and have since purchased a 2001 Signed Sac in PR69 DCAM. Beautiful Coins All. Thanks, Lee

numobri

I buy what I can and upgrade often.It may cost more but,I get what I want.

I'm not a rich man but,I love coins and all that come with them.

I've been having a great time,with coins,as of lately.

mgoodm3

i just buy what presents itself to me.

coinbuf

Like the others I try to buy the key/semi-keys first but if an uncommonly nice common comes along I try and snag it.

Chris

numonebuyer

Have an idea of how much you really want to spend for the entire collection (i.e., define your budget). Then find out how many coins make up your "collection". Using these two numbers, you can figure out how much on average you are willing to spend per coin. This average price per coin will dictate the quality of each coin based on the rarity of each.

Good luck

ccex

"Buy the keys first" is horrible advice for those who are just learning to grade the series they are starting to build, especially if they are buying raw coins. I learned to grade my favorite series by starting out with better grade common dates until I was confident in my grading and knew the dates' peculiarities. Buy the book before an expensive coin. Hopefully the book will alert you to common scams. Then and only then should you focus your budget on the coins that might be out of your price range in five years.

I've done well uprgading several raw sets, but regret buying low grade or problem examples just for the sake of filling a hole in an album. Thankfully, there's always eBay as a dumping grounds for disposing of better date fillers, but it's tough selling off common date low grade or problem coins.

WACoinGuy

I agree -- I usually try to buy a few common coins before I buy the keys. That helps me see what I like and don't like in the series without spending too much. But I do like to buy the keys earlier in building a set as opposed to waiting until the end...