Half Collection... Feedback please

waterzooey

Does anyone have or know of someone that has a half dollar collection from inception to present? No varieties or not by overton numbers or breen numbers- just one half dollar from every mint from start to finish-

Now the discussion portion: what are the stoppers in this set- I know the CC coins are tough- The 1838-o I would treat like the 1894-s- it is a specimen coin and not meant for circulation... would love feedback on this as it appears this is the direction my collecting habits are taking me.

doh

1796 and 1797 would be awfully tough...1794 too.

LindeDad

$10,000.00 for a Fair 3 coin is a stopper and there are a couple in that range. But I would say you could put them off for a very long time.
260 to go on it as of today.

waterzooey

I guess my bigger issue is getting these puppies slabbed...

Kennedy, Franklin, Walker sets are done

Barber half way done
Seated Liberty barely started
Capped Bust Half way but just with a year set- No varieties
Draped bust Just have one....

A large portion are raw- I would have to pay a mint to grade these things... damn

LindeDad

I actually just use that set to find prices most of the time. Really more interested in just trying to complete the date set of circulation halves but a couple of the Small Eagle dates might never be filled.
1815 in the Capped is looking like it might be a problem filling in the grade I want.
And I have found that too many collectors have developed an interest in the Seated coins lately. Continue searching for VF to XF Barbers that Bear doesn’t want but seems like he has lit a fire in that area and I keep getting out bid.
Walkers are down to just a couple of coins but room for a lot of upgrades there as it is one of my favorite series of US coins. Working on this as an Everyman set and have sold some of the Gem graded coins that I had.
Franklin and Kennedy sets I have actually been looking at selling off some of the higher grade coins to buy some more of the older ones and just keep one high grade per date.

Nysoto

The 1796 and 1797 are the stoppers, more than $50,000 for a decent F12 coin. The 1794 is expensive but much less than the 96 and 97. I collect the FH and DBHE half dollars by die variety and have never had the small eagles on my radar, I would much rather have 50 varieties of DBHE halves than one 1796 half dollar.

TomB

The 1794 half costs some money but is always found somewhere. However, the 1796 and 1797 issues (Draped Bust-Small Eagle) are tough to find in attractive VF or so and each will set you back multiples of what a 1794 might cost. The 1815/2 CBH is a nice coin for the CBH series, but is another well known piece that can be found nearly anytime.

DrPete

No longer together, there have been several collectors that have put together such a set (I think you mean from 1794 to present or nearly so). I have all of the catalogs of these sales listed below, but they are at home, and I'm currently at work.

James Bennet Pryor, auctioned by Bowers and Merena about 14 years ago or so is the first name that comes to mind and his set included the tough coins in high grade, including an example of the 1838-O. His set may have ended with Franklins, but it's the early coins up through the Walkers that I find the more interesting. I know that there may be a few tougher issues in the Kennedy's but they don't interest me much (too modern and common for my liking), and some of these collections I mention were completed before Kennedys were minted. Let's face it, at almost any given time one can easily buy a complete Franlkin or Kennedy set, and these sets are not extremely expensive. It really is NO challenge to get either from my experience.

The Queller Family collection of half dollars was another comprehensive set sold at auction by Stacks about 6-8 years ago IIRC.

The Buddy Byers collection of half dollars was yet another comprehensive set sold at auction about the same time frame as the Queller set.

The Richmond collection also had a strong showing of half dollars and was auctioned by DLRC a few years ago.

The big name collections like Eliasberg, Norweb, Emery-Nichols, etc. all had complete or nearly complete runs of half dollars, although many used proofs for the Philly coins.

There have been others with great sets of specific issues, such as Overton for bust halves, Duckor for Barber halves and previously for Walkers, Friend for Barber halves and now bust halves, and others I am sure I am missing.

shorecoll

My first serious collection I had all but about 10. Not in the grades that are usually discussed on here and it broke my heart to sell it. I was too inexperienced and I got taken to the cleaners when I sold it. I get sick thinking about the cost to replace it.