Anyone else building a set of Kennedy's??

evilclay

Completely from circulation?? I am trying to do this now since I get so many rolls of them. Trying to put together a MS set. It's pretty challenging. Also proofs, only have 2 a bicentennial and a '98. I figure this can be my lifes work! HAHAHA. It will probably never get finished. But I have rules I have put on myself, I can only put a coin in the album that I find in bankrolls or in change. Nothing that was bought or traded or bartered. Do you think it's possible??? Also a quick question for you Kennedy buffs, Is there any reason to save '95's?? I saw they were a tad more expensive if you wanted to buy them. Also, what year did they start only being avaliable in mint sets. What are the key(s) to the set? I know that's alot, but thanks for any help!- Clay

WinPitcher

How will you get the proofs?

Steve

halfnut

The keys are the 3 only issued in mint sets 1970 D, 1987 D and P. You will not find them in circulation. Good luck on your quest it can be done but will take time and a lot of searching.




Dan

19Lyds

Close grasshopper, but no banana.

Occasionally you can find the 87 P and/or D in bank rolls. I found an 87D while a counterpart back east found an 87P so it is possible. The 70D, on the other hand, is just as possible as the other two but given the silver content, maybe a little less likely.

TwoSides2aCoin

It will be virtually IMPOSSIBLE to complete a set of MS Kennedy's out of CIRCULATION. You might get some MS but most will already have enough traffic to drop it into the XF to AU status.
That's what I think, Clay.

Joe

gamer1958

Not sure how many of the 1964 date would be floating around out there, much less a MS example; 1965-69 would be tough also. But who knows, if you search through enough rolls, what might turn up. I built a circ Jefferson set back in the late 70s; went thru the cash register every night looking for the dates I needed (I was workin at a pharmacy back then). Found quite a few silver war nickels; not even close to XF, though, mostly F and VF. One 1950-D; early S-mints were tough; 38-D and S, 39-D and S were toughest. I do not see any Jeffs from 30s and 40s in change anymore. I don't get any Kennedys unless I ask for em at a bank. Good luck.

halfnut

Yes a few 87's are floating around but as a mint set only coin they are rare to find circulating. Any of the silver issues are going to be hard but there again they are out there. As far as making them all in MS forget about it, few coins if any will be found in bank rolls in MS condition. Good Luck





Dan

mhammerman

"Do you think it's possible???"

I'm doing the same thing...it's fun, a bit of a challenge, and it can be done for face value (no buyer's fees, no waiting for the coin to arrive, no dealer boogiewoogie, no plastic, just fun. About 1/3 done but there are some long spaces in the album. I give the strays and replaced by upgrades to my grandchildren...we call them "big money"!

Pentimento

I completed the set rather easily from circulation, minus the 3 keys as previously noted by others. I have also found 2 proofs (1 was modern commem), so I can't toss out the idea of a full circ set as easily as some. You can do it!

19Lyds

Yep. You CAN do it. You'll be going through a lot of half dollar boxes though and your Bank will probably hate you.....................but it can be done.

MS Denver coins are much easier west of the Mississippi and MS Philly coins are easier East of the Mississippi so you might want to set up a trade with someone. On the western side, the OPhilly coins I saw were just terrible but some of the Denver coins were actually gradeable! Nothin in the 66-67 range but 64's easily.

As far as getting MS silver coins, they are probably easier to locate than their clad counterparts.

Edited to add: I did pull together a set with the exception of the 70D and 87P.



I stopped because my bank got mad at me!

pcpro

Please forgive me for what I'm about to say. I really do understand the "fun" of collecting.

But collecting circulated Kennedys by searching bank rolls far surpasses the point of diminishing returns.

Unless you value your time at a penny per hour, the "set" you'll end up with will have no market appeal other than putting them back into rolls and spending them. So what's the point? In addition, this pursuit will not make you a better collector. Five years from now, this "set" will not have prepared you to assemble some other more important set. Instead it will prepare you to collect circulated Washington quarters from bank rolls.

There are two better uses of your time and collecting energy. Learn the Kennedy errors and find nice examples of those. Or look for nice uncirculated examples and occasionally find one that's really valuable. In the first case, you'll learn all about errors and can transfer this knowledge to other denominations plus cherrypick dealers. In the second case, you'll learn how to grade nice uncirculated coins, and you'll end up with a nice set that someone other than the bank will want to buy from you.

Choose your challenges wisely!

JMHO, PC

cladking

Unc sets are great but until you've worked a circ set you may not realize how much
enjoyment you can get from them. They aren't worth anything now but some of the coins
can be very nice examples from new dies. This is less important with half dollars since
many are high grade and nicely made but is still a consideration. While assembling the
set you will find a few varieties which are instructive. You'll learn something about the
nuts and bolts of coin distribution and the set still makes a great reference set. Unlike
a gem Kennedy set you can keep it right in the house rather than having to view it at
the bank.

It's a pretty poor bet for coming out ahead financially. The quarters make a better bet
for this probably.

JoeLewis

<< <i>Please forgive me for what I'm about to say. I really do understand the "fun" of collecting.

But collecting circulated Kennedys by searching bank rolls far surpasses the point of diminishing returns.

Unless you value your time at a penny per hour, the "set" you'll end up with will have no market appeal other than putting them back into rolls and spending them. So what's the point? In addition, this pursuit will not make you a better collector. Five years from now, this "set" will not have prepared you to assemble some other more important set. Instead it will prepare you to collect circulated Washington quarters from bank rolls.

There are two better uses of your time and collecting energy. Learn the Kennedy errors and find nice examples of those. Or look for nice uncirculated examples and occasionally find one that's really valuable. In the first case, you'll learn all about errors and can transfer this knowledge to other denominations plus cherrypick dealers. In the second case, you'll learn how to grade nice uncirculated coins, and you'll end up with a nice set that someone other than the bank will want to buy from you.

Choose your challenges wisely!

JMHO, PC >>



As long as he is not intending for this set to be an investment, I think it's a great idea. I think you are coming from the prospective that the set must have some sort of monetary value (over face value!) to be worth anything.

For a lot of people (me included) coin collecting is all about the experience, the search, and the fun. It has very little to do with selling the thing when the set is complete.

Have you ever worked on a puzzle? What value does it have when it's completed?

How about watching a movie? What do you have of value when it's over?

To me, his idea makes perfect sense. And it seems like it would provide maximum amount of enjoyment without spending hardly any money.

evilclay

Heres the deal, This idea came to me because I search ALOT of half dollar rolls looking for silver. I have only found like 2 90% silver coins, A 1943 Walker and a 1952 Franklin in all of the rolls I have searched. Around 7-8 40% Kennedys is all I have found on that front. While searching the rolls I come across quite a few very nice Kennedy's and decided that instead of just saving them in 2x2's I would buy some albums and just put them in there and see what I can come up with for a set. I don't care about the value, it's the challenge that interests me. I live in a town where there are NO coin shops. There is a jewelry store that sells some Morgans and Peace dollars and that's about it. So my main source of coins is bank rolls. I got into this hobby for the pure enjoyment of seeing what I could find from my bank without spending a crapload of cash. I enjoy what I do and that's all that matters. 100 years from now maybe the set will be worth something, but now it's just a side project to keep me interested in coins.- Clay

DNADave

I did it. But had to buy the coins from 2002 to current, no proofs even thought I have found about a dozen of them.

Here's my next challenge.....

A holded set ONLY from holed coins found in rolls...

evilclay

WOW! now that is hardcore, I have never found a holed coin.

cladking

Everyone may be underestimating the "investment potential" of these coins.

Half dollars used to circulate lightly until the mid-'80's. There was little interest in these
"worthless" coins so there were not large numbers being set aside. Yes, they are Kennedys
and half dollars so they got far more interest than quarters, dimes, or nickels, but there were
hardly many people running to the bank each year stocking up on half dollar bags. Many of
those who did set them aside in rolls were very casual collectors or hoarders. They'd have
tended to sell the coins if there was a profit and take them to the bank where there wasn't.
It's this latter that accounts for most of the nice AU coins that are seen in rolls. The coins that
mostly escapesd circulation from being in sock drawers are worn down to XF now days and the
coins that are AU are coins that had been set aside and were released after the mid-'80's.

There are several dates that are a little tougher especially in nice attractive condition with
solid strikes. The '78-P, for instance, had a mintage of "only" 14,000,000. Most of these did
go into circulation immediately or straggled in while the coins were still circulating. These typ-
ically have weak and oblique strikes and worn dies are fairly common. Of course this applies
to the coins that are still unc as well so many of the most attractive for the date are in circulation.

After 1980 mintages dropped many of the halfs were used (and abused) in the casinos. These
coins tend to be ugly. There are more poorly made dates as well such as the '82-P.

These are hardly a good way to get rich but meticulous collectors are likely to find that while their
collections won't highlight any auctions some of their coins will enjoy tremendous percentage gains.

19Lyds

It may not have any resale value but to me it represents a good collection pulled from circulation which is the way we used to do it in the good old days! As noted earlier, the 1987-P and 1970-D were purchased because I just did not want to bust up a mint set. The 2001-P, 2002-P, 2002-D, 2003-P, and 2003-D coins were pulled from my mint purchased bags.

There is absolutely no reason on earth why someone cannot decide to collect coins from circulation IMO. Especially if they are purchasing boxes of Kennedy's from the bank to search for silver. When I was doing this, I saw some fairly nice coins which I just hated to return to the bank. So, I just started setting them aside and replacing them as I found better examples.

Its all in what you want to do and how you want to pass your time. EvilClay is already spending a great deal of time just going through these rolls and there is no reason why he should just continue to toss these back to the bank! Do your collection!

Good Luck in your quest and if you find a good looking 2000-P, I would be interested since the only one I found was really yucked out!

P.S. Keep your eyes out for the 74-D DDO!

thezookrew

When I worked for a local credit union, I requested a box of half dollars every few months to look for silver and I, too, pulled out the really nice coins to try to put together a full set. I am probably about 9/10 ths of the way through and it has been one of the funner endeavers I have taken in numismatics!!! My kids even enjoy looking through them and noting all the problem coins!

cladking

<< <i>

There is absolutely no reason on earth why someone cannot decide to collect coins from circulation IMO. Especially if they are purchasing boxes of Kennedy's from the bank to search for silver. When I was doing this, I saw some fairly nice coins which I just hated to return to the bank. So, I just started setting them aside and replacing them as I found better examples.

Its all in what you want to do and how you want to pass your time. EvilClay is already spending a great deal of time just going through these rolls and there is no reason why he should just continue to toss these back to the bank! Do your collection!

Good Luck in your quest and if you find a good looking 2000-P, I would be interested since the only one I found was really yucked out!

P.S. Keep your eyes out for the 74-D DDO! >>



Keeping these as a reference set is one of the best reasons for putting them
together. There are little design changes each year and sometimes you'll see
a coin that appears to be mismatched; one date obverse with another date re-
verse. Or you'll see something that appears wrong for another reason such as
a variety or perhaps the usage of a proof die. It's really convenient to have a
typical example of each date at hand to compare the suspect coin with.

A set like this also makes a great time capsule of sorts as well. You can usually
tell when a collection was assembled by the date at which the uncs start and
the date at which it leaves off. This will be of extreme interest to future collect-
ors as well as current collectors.

Of course it's a hoot to put collections together in any case.

pcpro

<< <i>As long as he is not intending for this set to be an investment, I think it's a great idea. I think you are coming from the prospective that the set must have some sort of monetary value (over face value!) to be worth anything.

For a lot of people (me included) coin collecting is all about the experience, the search, and the fun. It has very little to do with selling the thing when the set is complete.

Have you ever worked on a puzzle? What value does it have when it's completed?

How about watching a movie? What do you have of value when it's over?

To me, his idea makes perfect sense. And it seems like it would provide maximum amount of enjoyment without spending hardly any money. >>




I definately am NOT coming from the perspective sets must have some value over face value to be worth anything.
My perspective is that one can invest things that aren't monetary, and can receive returns that aren't monetary as well.

I have worked on puzzles. I invested time and mental energy (focus), and I received experience & knowledge, a good conversation topic, and the ability to teach someone else how to solve these type of puzzles.

I have watched movies. I invested time and the opportunity to do something else, and received an enjoyable experience and a good conversation topic.

We invest all kinds of things besides money when we collect coins. Time (usually away from family), energy, gasoline, wear & tear on the car, the chance to do something else, etc. My real point is that today's collecting efforts should make you a better collector tomorrow. You get to decide what it means to be a "better collector", but I would hope that means more knowledgeable, more informed, and more able to contribute in this forum.

To me, grabbing a coin from a roll, reading its date, seeing if the hole in the album for that one is empty (or checking to see if this one is shinier than that one) and then placing the extra coin back in the roll is a futile activity. I did that many years ago and I learned NOTHING.

It wasn't until I spent some time around some real collectors and read a bunch of books and looked at a lot of coins, that I got to where I wanted to be.
I'm still learning, but that's the fun of it.

So here's a wish I would grant to all of you even if you never desire to turn a profit. How about gaining enough knowledge and experience so that you never make a mistake buying coins. That you always got good value in each coin purchase. This would never happen while searching Kennedy rolls for dates. But it might happen if you read a few books on Kennedys, and then slowed down and looked at each Kennedy for errors & die characteristics. And then gain enough knowledge to check the other denominations your pocket change. And then some day a board member posts an image and you can say you found one too and tell us what you think it is?

Now that's a collector!

PC

Boom

I have a super set of Kennedy halves. They do tend to grow on you and are highly addictive.

evilclay

I got me one of them new fandangeled "digital cameras" for christmas. I may test it out and let yall see what I have so far. I have an 87 mint set and a 70 mint set. I just hate to bust it up to get 3 coins for the collection. Maybe I can change the rules a little to complete the set. Fun is what I am after and this is doing the job.- Clay

leothelyon

<< <i>I did it. But had to buy the coins from 2002 to current, no proofs even thought I have found about a dozen of them.

Here's my next challenge.....

A holded set ONLY from holed coins found in rolls...
>>



Nice set of baby teethers you have there.

Can someone say, Craftman's Varible speed Drill"?

Interesting set!

Leo