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Why not collect old US coin?

cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
There are probably dozens of good reasons that old US coins lack something
as a collectible or as an investment.

Does anyone want to get this thread rolling? Or is it just me? image
Tempus fugit.
«1

Comments

  • DD Posts: 1,997 ✭✭✭
    They're generally more difficult to find in "untampered with" form.

    -Daniel
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

    -Aristotle

    Dum loquimur fugerit invida aetas. Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.

    -Horace
  • nwcsnwcs Posts: 13,386 ✭✭✭
    Too many of the cool ones are too frickin expensive.
  • goose3goose3 Posts: 11,471 ✭✭✭
    they're aren't worth as much as plastic!imageimage
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>they're aren't worth as much as plastic!imageimage >>




    Even the uncs have rubs.
    Tempus fugit.
  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,799 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Why not collect old US coin?

    Reasons not to collect old US coins:

    1. They are not found in pocket change. You will actually have to buy (or steal) them.
    2. They are unobtainable in MS-69 and MS-70.
    3. They are more expensive to grade.
    4. The designs are antiquated. Who the hell is Liberty, anyway?
    5. They are targets for thieves because of their precious metal value. Most thieves will not steal Lincoln Memorial cents.

    Sam, did I do you proud? image
  • mgoodm3mgoodm3 Posts: 17,497 ✭✭✭
    As my wife would say: "You paid that much for a penny, give me a few of those and I can buy a paper"
    coinimaging.com/my photography articles Check out the new macro lens testing section
  • ERER Posts: 7,345
    Define "old".
  • Folks... Old coin is good!... Colonials are good!... 1/2 cents are good!... Nova Constellatios are good!...

    But really. Colonials are expensive in MS state and sometimes in less than MS state because of the rarity. Why would anyone in their right mind collect colonials unless they really are sick and/or want to never finish a complete COLLECTION? The only way to finish a collection is to be very wealthy or happen to inherit many, many, many coins!

    CC
    Constellatio Collector sevenoften@hotmail.com
    ---------------------------------
    "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!"
    "If it don't make $"
    "It don't make cents""
  • F117ASRF117ASR Posts: 1,416 ✭✭✭
    They're not modern
    Beware of the flying monkeys!
    Aerospace Structures Engineer
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>They're not modern >>



    There's no such thing as a perfect collectible. Even moderns don't have the dealers and the hype of the older coins. image
    Tempus fugit.
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Why not collect old US coin?

    Reasons not to collect old US coins:

    1. They are not found in pocket change. You will actually have to buy (or steal) them.
    2. They are unobtainable in MS-69 and MS-70.
    3. They are more expensive to grade.
    4. The designs are antiquated. Who the hell is Liberty, anyway?
    5. They are targets for thieves because of their precious metal value. Most thieves will not steal Lincoln Memorial cents.

    Sam, did I do you proud? image >>



    Yes. Most impressive. image
    Tempus fugit.
  • smoe of us have an agenda !

    like coins that were already 100 yrs old when we were born !
    Link O Rama
    image
  • I can't put together a nice set from my change drawer and the bank.image
    morgannut2
  • All right... I'll bite...F117ASR. What is modern? I consider anything that is 1800+ modern!
    Constellatio Collector sevenoften@hotmail.com
    ---------------------------------
    "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!"
    "If it don't make $"
    "It don't make cents""
  • F117ASRF117ASR Posts: 1,416 ✭✭✭


    << <i>All right... I'll bite...F117ASR. What is modern? I consider anything that is 1800+ modern! >>



    Well, you blow us all out of the water with that definition image. I generally consider the clad generations modern. Before 1800 is pretty neat, but that's when you have to enter the Darkside (which is pretty cool anyway).
    Beware of the flying monkeys!
    Aerospace Structures Engineer
  • I must agree that all the US colonials are considered foreign born but they did circulate in the colonies and let's face it the colonies didn't have a circulating coinage and/or mint. We all had to start somewhere!!
    Constellatio Collector sevenoften@hotmail.com
    ---------------------------------
    "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!"
    "If it don't make $"
    "It don't make cents""
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
    They are heavily counterfeited so many must be bought graded.
    Tempus fugit.


  • << <i>All right... I'll bite...F117ASR. What is modern? I consider anything that is 1800+ modern! >>



    I'd say "modern" as ~1950's on.

    ~g image
    I listen to your voice like it was music, [ y o u ' r e ] the song I want to know.

    image

    I'd give you the world, just because...

    Speak to me of loved ones, favorite places and things, loves lost and gained, tears shed for joy and sorrow, of when I see the sparkle in your eye ...
    and the blackness when the dream dies, of lovers, fools, adventurers and kings while I sip my wine and contemplate the Chi.
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Many of the old coins are maxxed out in their holders because of the huge absolute price difference from one grade to another.
    Tempus fugit.
  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,799 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Additional reasons not to collect old US coins:

    6. Many are dirty. image
    7. You cannot buy them from the US Mint.
    8. Even the shiny ones are really not (naturally) very shiny.
    9. You cannot easily spend them, if you are desperate, without suspicion and question from a cashier.
    10. If you do spend them, you will not come close to getting what you paid for them (usually).

    Sam, how do you like these?
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Additional reasons not to collect old US coins:

    6. Many are dirty. image
    7. You cannot buy them from the US Mint.
    8. Even the shiny ones are really not (naturally) very shiny.
    9. You cannot easily spend them, if you are desperate, without suspicion and question from a cashier.
    10. If you do spend them, you will not come close to getting what you paid for them (usually).

    Sam, how do you like these? >>



    Another very nice batch!

    To expand on #9 a little; none of them will work in vending machines except the liberty nickels and later nickels. image
    Tempus fugit.
  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,799 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Another very nice batch!

    Please do not revive this again. I do not think I have another five reasons in me!
  • BarryBarry Posts: 10,100 ✭✭✭
    Why not collect old US coin?

    Beacuse people make fun of me for collecting old crap.
  • Who wants an old, used coin when you could have a nice new one?

    The freshest are being made today for your collection.

    You are the first on the block with new coins.

    All manner of old farts have old coins, and the coins take on the smell of previous owners... like used cars.

    Old coins are stale.

    New coins are "mint" and that is where the expression comes from.
  • 291fifth291fifth Posts: 24,525 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Most of the nice coins are now tucked away and probably won't be seen again until the next market run-up. That could be a long time. Current dealer stock is unimpressive with many overgraded, problem and ugly coins in evidence.
    All glory is fleeting.
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Another very nice batch!

    Please do not revive this again. I do not think I have another five reasons in me! >>



    Don't worry, I got enough to make it one of the longest on the coin forum. image

    ...But, of course, I really like old coins (especially US) and would prefer to see this thread drop.
    Tempus fugit.
  • relayerrelayer Posts: 10,570

    You can't get any PR70DCAM's image
    image
    My posts viewed image times
    since 8/1/6
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Sets of old US coins can't even be completed in high grade in some cases.

    Even in high circulated grades they can be far beyond the reach of even well-heeled collectors.

    Why start a set of coins that can't be finished or can be finished only by buying some very unattractive coins?





    It's curious that there may be hundreds of ways in which old coins just don't measure up as a collectible
    but some people want to make up things about moderns that simply aren't true and then plaster it every-
    where. Answering their silly statements does no good so it seems this thread may grow.
    Tempus fugit.
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Old coins are frequently counterfeited so are risky to buy raw.
    Tempus fugit.
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,673 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Why not collect old US coin? >>

    Because then you'd be limited to only one. That's hardly collecting.

    Coins (plural), on the other hand... image

    Explore collections of lordmarcovan on CollecOnline, management, safe-keeping, sharing and valuation solution for art piece and collectibles.
  • leothelyonleothelyon Posts: 8,475 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Even tho I have specialized in Jefferson nickels over the last 14+ years, I have bought an old coin or two over the years.
    image

    Leo

    The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!

    My Jefferson Nickel Collection

  • MyqqyMyqqy Posts: 9,777
    The continual classic bashing around here is getting intolerable!! image
    My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable !
  • ShamikaShamika Posts: 18,785 ✭✭✭✭
    Way too grade sensitive.

    Oh wait, what am I saying? image

    Buyer and seller of vintage coin boards!
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You have no reasonable expectation of being able to complete a set from circulation.
    Tempus fugit.
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
    To build a great collection you are more likely to need dealers who will help you and steer
    you away from mistakes. While this may be great to establish a quick way out of a position
    this is of little benefit to a real collector and adds 20% or more to the cost of making a collection.
    Tempus fugit.
  • carlcarl Posts: 2,054
    Many of what has been said is kind of true but as with everything, opinions, opinions, etc. Not sure of what you may consider OLD. To many kids a 1982 Lincoln Cent is OLD. To older people a 1909 Lincoln Cent is OLD. To me Those are still on the newish side because I'm old. Then as for accesibility that too depends on your sources. If you know criminals those old coins are not so rare. Just joking but it does happen. One person I know has a vending machine buisness in a not so great neighborhood of a large city. He gets coins in the machines that people think they are ripping him off.
    He gets 20cent coins, Flying Eagle Cents, two-cent pieces, very old silver quarters, etc. So if you know someone in that kind of buisness, HMMMM.
    By the way I've been looking for any old US coins with a BC after the date.
    Carl
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
    For Goose3:

    Collecting old coins is an ego game to see who can get the rarest date listed on the holder.
    Tempus fugit.
  • LincolnCentManLincolnCentMan Posts: 5,347 ✭✭✭✭
    Why not collect old US coin?

    Because young US coins are so much easier to find. Just go to the bank. Because young US coins will retain their investment value better; it's hard to imagin them dropping below the investment of face value. Because you can finger print young US coins and not care. Because you can spend young US coins and not care.

    David
  • I have seen many old coins that were extremely damaged by wear. Enough so that detail is actually missing from them!

    image

    Total Junk!
    Time sure flies when you don't know what you're doing...
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  • LindeDadLindeDad Posts: 18,766 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>By the way I've been looking for any old US coins with a BC after the date. >>

    image
    At least this one is not in all caps, been one of those days.
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I have seen many old coins that were extremely damaged by wear. Enough so that detail is actually missing from them!

    ! >>




    Wear!!! Is that a kind of damage? What's left after the detail is gone?
    Tempus fugit.
  • michaelmichael Posts: 9,524 ✭✭
    we are not talking about old usa coin or last years usa coin

    we are talking aboujt someone putting a few dollar common coin available brand new by the hundred or thousands and putting it in a piece of plastic with a tag that makes it worth hundreds if not thousands of dollars

    break the coin out of its holder and it is worth a few dollars again with little demand

    this is creating something for nothing just because people buy it does not make you whole

    it makes you a leech
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
    One of the best reasons for not collecting old coins is that these coins may not be saleable at all before long.
    Many old coin collectors are doing everything they can to damage the modern markets in the mistaken belief
    that these coins siphon money from their favorite coins. Ironically moderns are the sole breeding ground for
    the newbies they'll need to buy their collections in the next twenty years. It's hard to say if they're driving
    people away or not but there's little doubt that honey attracts more flies than vinegar.

    Speaking of vinegar it was sometimes used to clean old coins.
    Tempus fugit.
  • coinkatcoinkat Posts: 23,620 ✭✭✭✭✭
    at least the question is limited to collecting old US Coin...image

    Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.

  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>at least the question is limited to collecting old US Coin...image >>



    These things don't apply to moderns. Even if the bashers could successfully drive away
    every single newbie there would still be enough of a market to support many of the mod-
    erns. This isn't true for the classics. Without some younger blood there will be a critical
    mass of collections coming on the market that can't be absorbed by a continually aging
    base.

    This won't happen. The bashers won't win and this thread will sink.

    ...And posts can still be edited until they are archived. image
    Tempus fugit.
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You're lost Michael. This is the classic bashing thread not the modern bashing thread.
    Tempus fugit.
  • JRoccoJRocco Posts: 14,277 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>For Goose3:

    Collecting old coins is an ego game to see who can get the rarest date listed on the holder. >>



    Except for those few who throw the holder away so they can read what some old guys imprinted on the edge--- just like they do now with PR 69 2003 quarters. image
    Some coins are just plain "Interesting"
  • morganbarbermorganbarber Posts: 1,821 ✭✭✭
    Expense is the only reason I don't. If I finish off my silver and end up rich somehow, I would love to learn more about, and collect old gold.
    I collect circulated U.S. silver
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,702 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Teletrade, et al, is the secondary market with the help of the TPGs, with the US Mint being the primary market.

    I won't bash modern collectors but worry for them. I believe some mint state issues, as in the past, might turn to be tomorrow's classics. I cannot believe that the Mint medallions marketed as silver and gold eagles, modern commemoratives and proof sets, anything that was never practical as legal tender in commerce, will prove to have a longterm significant market to support prices. Further, if you have to split hairs among grades 68 through 70, things have gotten to a ridiculous level in discriminating perfection.

    I hope folks who collect state quarters and all of these things truly enjoy that aspect of the hobby. Please don't expect there to be a big profit from doing so down the line.

    That said, one could easily charge the same for Morgan and Peace dollars, produced through pork barrel politics with no intention of serious entrance into channels of commerce. Today they are arguably the most avidly collected of US coins. Some were used in the west primarily. But overwhelmingly they sat around in bags waiting for the next major melt. Until the 1970s, the market for them was pretty darn fickle too except for some outstanding dates. So you never really know for sure. >>




    I'll not bash classic collectors but worry for them. I believe some old coins, like the current ones, might remain collectible. I can't believe that clandestine mint medallions like 1804 dollars or '13 nickels, And the other contrived classic rarities like cal gold and D mint coins that weren't made in Denver and such things which were never or rarely used in commerce will prove to have a long term significant market to support prices. Further, if you want to split hair to tell different dates, mint marks, or varieties things have gotten to a ridiculous level in splitting hairs.

    I hope folks who collect crusty bustys and all of these things truly enjoy that aspect of the hobby. Please don't expect profits down the road as aging collectors are not replaced by newbies.

    That said, one could easily charge the same for Morgan and Peace dollars, produced through pork barrel politics with no intention of serious entrance into channels of commerce. Today they are arguably the most avidly collected of US coins. Curiously they sat so long in warehouses that they are effectively newer than many of the moderns. This might increase their popularity. Until the '70's the market for them was quiet and many of them crashed spectacularly when the roll and bag market collapsed. So you never really know.
    Tempus fugit.
  • GeminiGemini Posts: 3,085
    image

    Yeah why do I collect this old crap anyway... new Eisenhowers and Kennedys are much prettier, have lower mintages, have more history, have a better collector base, no two are exactly alike, very hard to find in uncirculated and proof condition, are made on the most modern equipment, and come from the Mint fully protected in plastic untouched by human hands. image
    A thing of beauty is a joy for ever

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