Has collecting by die marriage changed for you?

1Bustcollector · October 2, 2013 2:25PM

I'm curious, of those who collect coins by die marriage:

Have you changed the way you collect with respect to your earlist days? (Maybe you collected everything interesting but now focus on less).

Do you collect just certain areas in your series? Example: Draped bust or capped bust.

Do you shy away from collecting by die states/stages?

Does competition keep you in the game?

Do you feel.....if xxx is bidding or wants a certain coin then it must be a good coin? In other words, do others influence your decisions?

lava · October 2, 2013 4:16PM

I'd be curious about that too, especially because of some recent experiences.

A lot of people don't care for dipped halves and prefer color, but color and crust sometimes hide details, details that make for interesting study.

A lot of people just passed up a rare CBH because of an old time "x" scratch in the field that didn't bother me at all.

A lot of people are thinking pure registry, PCGS and strictly higher grades (55 or 58 and up), and those are great, but there are not enough varieties on the market to satisfy me.

At this point I'm focusing on CBHs, not only by die marriage but die state, but I only collect those marriages that interest me. I have hundreds of CBHs, but probably only about 200 different. I am probably more likely to buy different die states of marriages I already have than marriages I don't have.

Based on all of that, I'd say at this point I'm collecting based purely on what interests me, regardless of what everyone else is doing.

I probably should be more concerned about what others are doing only from the standpoint of making sure I don't overpay. I'm not competing with anyone, but I do enjoy everyone sharing their knowledge and photos and thoughts on CBHs.

What guides me is my memory. If I see something become available that I haven't seen for a long time, I am more tempted to pop.

"Buy what makes you happy" seems to work for me.

rxer · October 2, 2013 10:10PM

When I first started collecting half cents, I was content with dates, but soon it progressed
to varieties, then to die marriage, then to die states - it has resulted in my purchases these days
to be a little more spaced out and generally much more expensive, but I still get a thrill out of the hunt

STONE · October 2, 2013 10:33PM

Yes!

crypto79 · October 2, 2013 10:38PM

I started by doing a hub set which a level wider then dies as there was a shift in how dies were made at the half way point in my series. After that I also wanted to include the significant naked eye specific die pairs that interested me for one reason or another. One of the draw to me of the series is the crude hand made and utilitarian nature of the series anthough they were made in way to many numbers to collect all of the die pairs. Soon after into the 1880-1890s the Mint became much more uniform in the production techniques and IMO some of the artisan aspect of coin production went away.

BillJones · October 3, 2013 12:38AM

When I collected half cents by die varieties, I had to dial back my grade expectations. Some things just don't exist in high grade, and if they do, they are often too expensive or more often (When I was collecting in early 1990s.) unavailable. The "unavailable" part is what ended my half cent collecting days. I just hit a wall and could go no further. That is one of the reasons why I dislike die state collecting. When one guy owned several examples of a very rare variety for die purposes, I kind of killed it for me. I refused to collect die states for exactly that reason.

Baley · October 3, 2013 1:36AM

<< <i>I'd be curious about that too, especially because of some recent experiences.

A lot of people don't care for worn halves and prefer details, but wear and marks sometimes tell stories, stories that make for interesting study.

A lot of people just pass up a rare half because of an old time "x" scratch in the field that didn't bother me at all.

A lot of people are thinking pure registry, PCGS and strictly higher grades (55 or 58 and up), and those are great, but there are not enough varieties that I can afford on the market to satisfy me in those grades; even VF is cost-prohibitive.

At this point I'm focusing on draped bust halves and the first few years of capped bust, not only by die marriage but die state, and I collect all marriages because they all interest me. I have dozens of halves, probably about 60 different. I am probably equally likely to buy different die states of marriages I already have as marriages I don't have.

Based on all of that, I'd say at this point I'm collecting based purely on what interests me, regardless of what everyone else is doing.

I probably should be more concerned about what others are doing only from the standpoint of making sure I don't overpay. I'm not competing with anyone, but I do enjoy everyone sharing their knowledge and photos and thoughts on these coins

What guides me is my memory. If I see something become available that I haven't seen for a long time, I am more tempted to pop.

"Buy what makes you happy" seems to work for me. >>

Thanks Lava, you did all the work expressing my thoughts, I just changed it to bust halves 1801-1814 and grades Good-Fine, and added a few other words and comments.

Jinx86 · October 3, 2013 2:04AM

Bust Halves by die state does sound challenging. Mostly just to pick a year and go for it. I think 1827 or 1817 would be fun with the varieties already in each date.

291fifth · October 3, 2013 2:14AM

Like so many things in coin collecting, the collecting of what are essentially common coins by die marriage is an attempt to create rarity (and value).

I have never bought into collecting by die marriage. I find it boring.

mozin · October 3, 2013 6:36AM

I collect Capped Bust Half Dollars by Overton marriage. When I find an interesting die state, I may buy it, common looking die states do not much interest me. Take a look at the 1823 Broken 3, it becomes the Patched 3. The 1823 Perfect 3 becomes the Ugly 3. The 1823 Well-formed 3 becomes the Tampered 3. Certainly, I want all of these 1823 die states.

lava · October 3, 2013 1:26PM

I would agree that some CBH die marriages are boring, and I suspect there are several hundred I have no desire to collect. I do appreciate, however, those collectors who want and pursued them all.

By the same token, there are some marriages that, because of die clashes or breaks or for other reasons, the same marriage may have very interesting and highly collectible die states, only some of which are separately recognized as "a" or "b" varieties. This is particularly true of earlier years through 1819.

LogPotato · October 3, 2013 1:32PM

What I collected for the past three years is not collected by die marriage. If it was, I would probably be bankrupt by now.

OKbustchaser · October 4, 2013 12:35AM

Die stages don't really turn me on, but if I happen to run across a much scarcer die stage of a die marriage then I will often pick it up rather than the more common die state.

What irks me most about collecting die stages are people who insist that they are separate varieties simply because they have cute nicknames...and, as such belong in a "complete" collection. Things like the 1807 "Bearded Goddess", or 1823 "Broken 3" halves, or even the 1937-D "3-legged Buffalo" nickel.

End of rant.

Has collecting by die marriage changed for you?

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