I would have collected busties and barber 10c, 25c, and 50c in the 1970's. Would like to have gotten a Bust dollar and Trade dollar at that time, too. SLQ's and WLH's and Large Cents also. Yeah, that would have been cool. Hehheh.
I started collecting in the mid 1960s, and did not have much money to spend, period. Keep in mind I knew that often, what a coin graded depended to some degree on who owned it. Furthermore, the best venue to buy coins was a local auction, and you had everything there from some really nice material to all sorts of doctored, cleaned, whizzed and coins with altered dates. And the lighting was iffy, at best.
What I could have purchased then were some choice brilliant unc. RD Lincoln cents from the 30s through the 50s for very little, except for the 31S. Buffalo nickels from the 30s in choice Unc. were not expensive, except for the 31S.
They practically gave away super high end Washington quarters from the 1940s and 1950s. I did buy a roll of 56 D Lincolns in BU which were RD for $2. I sold them several years ago for roughly $500; nearly half of it going for grading fees.
I would have avoided the 50 D nickel, and virtually anything minted in 1955, because those were the 'things' to buy in the mid 1960s, and even today, you'd be upside down if you bought them at that time.
Spending $20 or $30 for a coin then was a big deal for me. I might have been able to purchase a high end late date Walker, perhaps a gem type Barber Dime, SLQ or a gem RD IHC. I did pick up a beautiful 38 D Nickel for $2 that would be worth between $50 and $300 today, depending if I held onto it and whether it graded MS 66 or MS 67.
People forget back then that there were all sorts of scams going on and it was very easy to buy an expensive coin, like an 09 S VDB Cent, or 1916 D Dime from a 'reputable' source, only to discover later that the date was altered, I saw coins all of the time that were BU when sold to you and Unc. when you wanted to sell them back to the dealer who sold you the coin in the first place.
"Vou invadir o Nordeste, "Seu cabra da peste, "Sou Mangueira......."
I would be like many, and buy more and larger gold coins when they were cheaper -- this assumes I could also go back in time, and yet have more money available to do so than I actually did way back when.
I would actually like to get clarity on Bill's tale of building a circ Indian Head set for $1200 and having to settle for $300 for it -- quite a markup that he paid, or, was the hosing on the sell side for him. Were the coins of decent quality? Did he buy XF and AU that truly were of that quality, but believe later that he'd bought VGs actually, and should consider himself lucky to get the $300? Or did he buy "XFs and AUs" that actually were cleaned and retoned VGs, and reality hit only when selling?
Lots of potential scenarios to have Bill go from that 1200 to 300 spread -- and I think it denigrates the collecting of circ common coins as an unworthwhile endeavor, when in fact, coins at any price point can be incredible bargains, or a financial nightmare. One thing is for certain, depending on how fast or slow one is interested in selling, eBay and the like have leveled the playing field to where you need not accept a 60-70% haircut as your cost of coin-collecting "tuition."
I agree with @Sonorandesertrat . Lesher dollars. Any and all I could get my hands on. I had 3 at one time, but I got bored because I had so much trouble finding the damned things and once found there was the "little issue" of paying for them.
I still would like a high grade, stand alone example for my collection. But they are PRICEY.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
My father passed in 1958 and I inherited his collection of Indian cents, all of which he had found in circulation. I am very sure that he never bought a coin from a dealer in his life. I have completed his set in an appropriate manner with nice circulated coins of high grade.
For my father's memory I decided a set of PR IHC's that I could dedicate to him would be my goal. And I have now achieved that with coins that would have made him very proud. Coins are a labor of love.
What I knew then is the same as what I know now. I am not terribily concerned about the value of my sets, i am mostly concerned that the coin quality is very high, and that my family will be proud to own them.
I really would not have changed a thing. I started with Flowing Hair and Bust dollars. Learned a lot about strike, planchets and die varieties...The only thing I would change is understanding coin doctoring better back then, I made some mistakes.
I was gonna say that buying some Certified Walkers in the early to mid 1990s certainly wouldn't have hurt my cause but I am more than satisfied with the ones that I have now.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
@Sonorandesertrat posted, "Lesher dollars. Decades ago, few collectors wanted them. Now, many more in the series are essentially uncollectable."
@DCW posted, "I agree with @Sonorandesertrat . Lesher dollars. Any and all I could get my hands on. I had 3 at one time, but I got bored because I had so much trouble finding the damned things and once found there was the "little issue" of paying for them.
I still would like a high grade, stand alone example for my collection. But they are PRICEY."
If either of you are attending the ANA Convention, me and six other collectors of Lesher Dollars will have a display of Lesher Dollars in four cases at Table 439.
We should have over 75 Lesher Dollars all together and all of the types, including the four unique specimens! You are invited to stop by, look, and enjoy - I have Table 435, and will be glad to answer any questions you might have. I'd also love to meet you two and other PCGS Forum members (in person).
For those of you not familiar with Lesher Dollars, here is an example from my collection:
Started with a bit of everything, Lincolns, Mercury's, Buffs, Walkers, Indian+Flying Eagles (had a whole set of them minus the '56) and some type stuff to boot.
The beat goes on and I'm still loosing my butt, so why would I change a thing?
PS Currently loving my 2 Cent pieces!
If I had a "do over" I would just go for high grade early copper, guess I missed the boat.
If I could go back to 1995 when I had my first meager paychecks, but with crystal ball knowledge of the future, I would have:
1) Bought monster toned Morgans in "not so old" green PCGS holders instead of buying raw BU and DMPL Morgans.
2) Stuck to my plan to assemble a set of Seated quarters, and started with the key dates, instead of quitting out of frustration.
3) Bought every pretty "slider" Bust half I could find, because Bust halves were common/overrated and people hated a slider AU58+ like you would not believe.
1913 Liberty nickels, 1804 Dollars, and specimen 1794 Dollars.
You Suck! Awarded 6/2008- 1901-O Micro O Morgan, 8/2008- 1878 VAM-123 Morgan, 9/2022 1888-O VAM-1B3 H8 Morgan | Senior Regional Representative- ANACS Coin Grading. Posted opinions on coins are my own, and are not an official ANACS opinion.
Problem is, in the 1960's just about anything was dirt cheap. I think my first $20 Liberty cost $42.
For investment I should have collected gem U.S. paper money. I knew of no error collectors so 18th and 19th century mint errors. Variety collectors were rare. I had to beg a dealer to take an XF 1916/16 5c off my hands for $32. He had one that he could not sell and I had a duplicate. Neither of us wanted two specimens.
For the fun of collecting now and back then...You cannot go wrong (if you know authentication) collecting foreign gold coins. You get more ounces of gold for your money.
Say around 1990:
USA large size currency AU - Gem CU, (NBN especially brown backs, FRN, Educ Issues, etc.) Modern World Gold acquired close to melt, USA AGE, AGB, rolls USA ASE.
Other USA coins - zero unless 80 pct at CDN bid or less.
Then sell at market peaks like when gold and silver went thru roof in 2011.
Current focus: MWG and mod US slabbed gold close to melt, US and World currency can get less than 50-60 pct market (CV) value, USA vintage coins in blue - gray range. I do not pay premium for CAC as it's merely a 2nd opinion of grade on holder. My offer bid (assuming have use for coin ) per grade on TPG holder. Some USA coins tricky bc huge range between blue and grey like 1921-S dollar in MS65, MS66. I remember guy offering MS65 Walker in 1930's where blue 275 grey 500. I offered him 300 and he tried argue w me but I would not budge he shopped it around bourse then came back pushing for 500 - I layed 3 Bens on table but he no go as that was all I was going to pay. He definitely came to show to sell it but blowing in wind w what he wanted. In following months grey came down a bit.
It would not have changed a thing because I was little kid with no money. Generally I have been very pleased with the collecting decisions I have made. The worst investment I made when I was young was in a series of Indian Cents. I lost interest in them, and only got about 33 cents on the dollar when I sold them. It was a circulated set that ranged from Fine to Mint State. The trouble was the market collapsed on them, and I bought high and sold low.
I'm losing money on some buys now, but I don't care because I enjoy the coins.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
When I started collecting in the late 50s I never bought anything. I just filled holes in blue Whitman folders from the change I collected on my paper route or coins I could pick from rolls obtained at local banks. I also managed to accumulate a lot of early S & D mint Lincolns (teens), 22-Ds, 26-Ss etc. as well as a jar full of Barbers that I didn’t have the Whitman folders for.
From the time I got my first real job in the 60s I bought a lot of uncirculated US Type including proofs and a lot of circulated Seated Dollars. If I knew then what I know now I would have kept it all. I can’t think of anything more interesting and challenging than putting together a high grade type set but most acceptable coins are a lot harder to find and a lot more expensive than they were in the 60s.
In the 70s I started my everyman’s collection of liberty $5 gold. If I knew then what I know now instead of filling holes with common dates at $30 to $75 each I would have concentrated on C, D and CC mint coins and the rarer dates. The common dates will always be common and if you have the money they will always be available, not so for the 1847-O or the 1877 P etc.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
When I first started in 2000 I should have kept with just bullion for a few more years. Would have had a much larger stack to dump at the top of the market instead of the medium stack I had. That and I could have started my ebay/online store much earlier.
Still grateful that the people I choose to trusted when I first started this were the right group of people!
I would have only collected hot chicks with good attitudes. I wasted a lot of time in my younger collecting years going after hot chicks with bad attitudes. Thankfully, the future Mrs. Hydrant came along just at the same time that I was about to make a really, really bad purchasing decision concerning a damaged and over graded specimen. She became my mentor with regards to the main focus of my collecting activities. Thank God. Mrs. Hydrant is a plus grade, gold sticker kind of girl. WHEW!!!!!!!
Funny what sticks in your memory - sometime in the late 1970s, somebody had five really really choice gold aureus of Nero @$350 each. I had nothing like those coins at the time, but I gave really really serious thought to buying them. I could have swung the money, that wasn't the issue. In moments of reverie, that's one of the few numismatic "things that got away" that I wistfully recall.
Started collecting in 1959 when first Lincoln Memorial cent was the rage. I collected the usual, pennies, nickels, & dimes. Quarters and halves would be later. Back then, you could go to any bank and get rolls of silver dollars. Nobody but Arizona wanted them (sound familiar?). I had no concept of grading (11 years old) and no one I knew collected coins. I got the idea to mow lawns to get a $40.00 “bank”. Every week I would get and search one roll of dollars for “good” coins. Then, after a few years, my interest strayed to girls. I blew the Morgan’s to impress my dates. I often wonder how many elusive VAM varieties unknowingly purchased movie tickets, sodas, and carnival rides. Truth be told, I am not sure I would give up the memory of those days and nights! However, if I could go back and had the means, with all due respect to this form, I would have collected those lightly circulated, older, beautifully engraved US bills. C'est la vie.
I don't have any collecting regrets, it was all part of the journey, starting with coins out of circulation, then going to most US and some world type, and then progressing into early US die varieties and other research on the First US Mint and the people who worked there.
Robert Scot: Engraving Liberty - biography of US Mint's first chief engraver
I would have focused on exonumia. Civil war tokens, HTT's, political medals, etc. So much history and subject matter to research, much more variety than by collecting the same coin design by date/mm year after year. There is also a lot less competition. You can own a token that has a survival estimate of only a few examples for many, many times less than a US coin with similar population. That is intriguing.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I started collecting pennies & nickels from circulation as a youngster, since they had already stopped minting silver. As I got a bit older, I expanded to dimes, quarters & halves from circulation & stores, etc,
I never collected any denomination of Barbers or SLQ's. I also got very late into the game collecting my 2 favorite series: Walkers & Morgan/Peace dollars.
I'd have expanded into them much earlier, so I wouldn't have so many holes still left to fill today.
I'd also have gotten a bit more into IHC's and 2-cent pieces for nicer examples.
I would have kept the silver coins my Dad brought back to me after cashing his check, not every week, but often.
Being a dumb kid, I spent them.
Funny I was thinking of this at work today...
~HABE FIDUCIAM IN DOMINO III V VI / III XVI~ POST NUBILA PHOEBUS / AFTER CLOUDS, SUN Love for Music / Collector of Dreck
This is a very stupid question now that I think about it Keets, but it's fun to imagine about the "stuff" that I use to own that I had to dispose of and now worth a small fortune.
I would of kept EVERYTHING but as we all know it's not possible for the most of us.
With very rare exceptions, I would not have purchased anything made after 1839 and would have focused on Flowing Hair/Bust coins and early gold as income increased.
Comments
I'd collect chopmarked Trade Dollars
I would have collected busties and barber 10c, 25c, and 50c in the 1970's. Would like to have gotten a Bust dollar and Trade dollar at that time, too. SLQ's and WLH's and Large Cents also. Yeah, that would have been cool. Hehheh.
Type 1 $20 Gold
INYNWHWeTrust-TexasNationals,ajaan,blu62vette
coinJP, Outhaul ,illini420,MICHAELDIXON, Fade to Black,epcjimi1,19Lyds,SNMAN,JerseyJoe, bigjpst, DMWJR , lordmarcovan, Weiss,Mfriday4962,UtahCoin,Downtown1974,pitboss,RichieURich,Bullsitter,JDsCoins,toyz4geo,jshaulis, mustanggt, SNMAN, MWallace, ms71, lordmarcovan
Early bust coinage, especially half-dimes and dimes. These were very reasonably priced in the 1970's in g-vf grades.
I started collecting in the mid-1970s, so I will relate to that year, I am not going to pull the obvious and look at what increased most in price.....
I should have:
1) Hoarded silver, searching bank rolls. While not common, I frequently got some when checking the change my parents brought home from work.
2) Avoided bulk purchases like rolls of wheat cents by decade.
3) Avoided damaged coins, even if they were seated and bust.
AU and MS bust halfs.
I would have collected choice ancient Roman coins and would have skipped collecting US coins completely.
I started collecting in the mid 1960s, and did not have much money to spend, period. Keep in mind I knew that often, what a coin graded depended to some degree on who owned it. Furthermore, the best venue to buy coins was a local auction, and you had everything there from some really nice material to all sorts of doctored, cleaned, whizzed and coins with altered dates. And the lighting was iffy, at best.
What I could have purchased then were some choice brilliant unc. RD Lincoln cents from the 30s through the 50s for very little, except for the 31S. Buffalo nickels from the 30s in choice Unc. were not expensive, except for the 31S.
They practically gave away super high end Washington quarters from the 1940s and 1950s. I did buy a roll of 56 D Lincolns in BU which were RD for $2. I sold them several years ago for roughly $500; nearly half of it going for grading fees.
I would have avoided the 50 D nickel, and virtually anything minted in 1955, because those were the 'things' to buy in the mid 1960s, and even today, you'd be upside down if you bought them at that time.
Spending $20 or $30 for a coin then was a big deal for me. I might have been able to purchase a high end late date Walker, perhaps a gem type Barber Dime, SLQ or a gem RD IHC. I did pick up a beautiful 38 D Nickel for $2 that would be worth between $50 and $300 today, depending if I held onto it and whether it graded MS 66 or MS 67.
People forget back then that there were all sorts of scams going on and it was very easy to buy an expensive coin, like an 09 S VDB Cent, or 1916 D Dime from a 'reputable' source, only to discover later that the date was altered, I saw coins all of the time that were BU when sold to you and Unc. when you wanted to sell them back to the dealer who sold you the coin in the first place.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
Lesher dollars. Decades ago, few collectors wanted them. Now, many more in the series are essentially uncollectable.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Bust and FH Dollars earlier than I started.
Chinese porcelain and certified pre 1900 Chinese gold coins.
I would be like many, and buy more and larger gold coins when they were cheaper -- this assumes I could also go back in time, and yet have more money available to do so than I actually did way back when.
I would actually like to get clarity on Bill's tale of building a circ Indian Head set for $1200 and having to settle for $300 for it -- quite a markup that he paid, or, was the hosing on the sell side for him. Were the coins of decent quality? Did he buy XF and AU that truly were of that quality, but believe later that he'd bought VGs actually, and should consider himself lucky to get the $300? Or did he buy "XFs and AUs" that actually were cleaned and retoned VGs, and reality hit only when selling?
Lots of potential scenarios to have Bill go from that 1200 to 300 spread -- and I think it denigrates the collecting of circ common coins as an unworthwhile endeavor, when in fact, coins at any price point can be incredible bargains, or a financial nightmare. One thing is for certain, depending on how fast or slow one is interested in selling, eBay and the like have leveled the playing field to where you need not accept a 60-70% haircut as your cost of coin-collecting "tuition."
I agree with @Sonorandesertrat . Lesher dollars. Any and all I could get my hands on. I had 3 at one time, but I got bored because I had so much trouble finding the damned things and once found there was the "little issue" of paying for them.
I still would like a high grade, stand alone example for my collection. But they are PRICEY.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I would have assembled an AU set of walkers when silver was $6 an oz.
My father passed in 1958 and I inherited his collection of Indian cents, all of which he had found in circulation. I am very sure that he never bought a coin from a dealer in his life. I have completed his set in an appropriate manner with nice circulated coins of high grade.
For my father's memory I decided a set of PR IHC's that I could dedicate to him would be my goal. And I have now achieved that with coins that would have made him very proud. Coins are a labor of love.
What I knew then is the same as what I know now. I am not terribily concerned about the value of my sets, i am mostly concerned that the coin quality is very high, and that my family will be proud to own them.
OINK
18th century copper.... maybe.
Gold.
Mid-range PCGS certified 19th and early 20th century gold.
I got back into the hobby around 2000 after the kids had graduated from college, and chased after some stuff I wish I hadn't.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
I really would not have changed a thing. I started with Flowing Hair and Bust dollars. Learned a lot about strike, planchets and die varieties...The only thing I would change is understanding coin doctoring better back then, I made some mistakes.
I would have grabbed a 1794 Early Dollar when it was still affordable rather than saving it for last in putting together my early dollar collection.
I was gonna say that buying some Certified Walkers in the early to mid 1990s certainly wouldn't have hurt my cause but I am more than satisfied with the ones that I have now.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
@Sonorandesertrat posted, "Lesher dollars. Decades ago, few collectors wanted them. Now, many more in the series are essentially uncollectable."
@DCW posted, "I agree with @Sonorandesertrat . Lesher dollars. Any and all I could get my hands on. I had 3 at one time, but I got bored because I had so much trouble finding the damned things and once found there was the "little issue" of paying for them.
I still would like a high grade, stand alone example for my collection. But they are PRICEY."
If either of you are attending the ANA Convention, me and six other collectors of Lesher Dollars will have a display of Lesher Dollars in four cases at Table 439.
We should have over 75 Lesher Dollars all together and all of the types, including the four unique specimens! You are invited to stop by, look, and enjoy - I have Table 435, and will be glad to answer any questions you might have. I'd also love to meet you two and other PCGS Forum members (in person).
For those of you not familiar with Lesher Dollars, here is an example from my collection:
.....
....
.....
Photo courtesy of W. David Perkins and Rory Rea.
W. David Perkins Numismatics - http://www.davidperkinsrarecoins.com/ - 25+ Years ANA, ANS, NLG, NBS, LM JRCS, LSCC, EAC, TAMS, LM CWTS, CSNS, FUN
Bitcoins.
all around collector of many fine things
Yes, but I'd also need the money I have now as opposed to when I was 8
Hit the nail on the head, me too.
POST NUBILA PHOEBUS / AFTER CLOUDS, SUN
Love for Music / Collector of Dreck
CC gold.
bob
I also started "collecting" when I was eight but got really serious many years later in 2001.
Literally exactly what I was going to say. Weird
Started with a bit of everything, Lincolns, Mercury's, Buffs, Walkers, Indian+Flying Eagles (had a whole set of them minus the '56) and some type stuff to boot.
The beat goes on and I'm still loosing my butt, so why would I change a thing?
PS Currently loving my 2 Cent pieces!
If I had a "do over" I would just go for high grade early copper, guess I missed the boat.
If I could go back to 1995 when I had my first meager paychecks, but with crystal ball knowledge of the future, I would have:
1) Bought monster toned Morgans in "not so old" green PCGS holders instead of buying raw BU and DMPL Morgans.
2) Stuck to my plan to assemble a set of Seated quarters, and started with the key dates, instead of quitting out of frustration.
3) Bought every pretty "slider" Bust half I could find, because Bust halves were common/overrated and people hated a slider AU58+ like you would not believe.
1913 Liberty nickels, 1804 Dollars, and specimen 1794 Dollars.
Problem is, in the 1960's just about anything was dirt cheap. I think my first $20 Liberty cost $42.
For investment I should have collected gem U.S. paper money. I knew of no error collectors so 18th and 19th century mint errors. Variety collectors were rare. I had to beg a dealer to take an XF 1916/16 5c off my hands for $32. He had one that he could not sell and I had a duplicate. Neither of us wanted two specimens.
For the fun of collecting now and back then...You cannot go wrong (if you know authentication) collecting foreign gold coins. You get more ounces of gold for your money.
Say around 1990:
USA large size currency AU - Gem CU, (NBN especially brown backs, FRN, Educ Issues, etc.) Modern World Gold acquired close to melt, USA AGE, AGB, rolls USA ASE.
Other USA coins - zero unless 80 pct at CDN bid or less.
Then sell at market peaks like when gold and silver went thru roof in 2011.
Current focus: MWG and mod US slabbed gold close to melt, US and World currency can get less than 50-60 pct market (CV) value, USA vintage coins in blue - gray range. I do not pay premium for CAC as it's merely a 2nd opinion of grade on holder. My offer bid (assuming have use for coin ) per grade on TPG holder. Some USA coins tricky bc huge range between blue and grey like 1921-S dollar in MS65, MS66. I remember guy offering MS65 Walker in 1930's where blue 275 grey 500. I offered him 300 and he tried argue w me but I would not budge he shopped it around bourse then came back pushing for 500 - I layed 3 Bens on table but he no go as that was all I was going to pay. He definitely came to show to sell it but blowing in wind w what he wanted. In following months grey came down a bit.
It would not have changed a thing because I was little kid with no money. Generally I have been very pleased with the collecting decisions I have made. The worst investment I made when I was young was in a series of Indian Cents. I lost interest in them, and only got about 33 cents on the dollar when I sold them. It was a circulated set that ranged from Fine to Mint State. The trouble was the market collapsed on them, and I bought high and sold low.
I'm losing money on some buys now, but I don't care because I enjoy the coins.
When I started collecting in the late 50s I never bought anything. I just filled holes in blue Whitman folders from the change I collected on my paper route or coins I could pick from rolls obtained at local banks. I also managed to accumulate a lot of early S & D mint Lincolns (teens), 22-Ds, 26-Ss etc. as well as a jar full of Barbers that I didn’t have the Whitman folders for.
From the time I got my first real job in the 60s I bought a lot of uncirculated US Type including proofs and a lot of circulated Seated Dollars. If I knew then what I know now I would have kept it all. I can’t think of anything more interesting and challenging than putting together a high grade type set but most acceptable coins are a lot harder to find and a lot more expensive than they were in the 60s.
In the 70s I started my everyman’s collection of liberty $5 gold. If I knew then what I know now instead of filling holes with common dates at $30 to $75 each I would have concentrated on C, D and CC mint coins and the rarer dates. The common dates will always be common and if you have the money they will always be available, not so for the 1847-O or the 1877 P etc.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
When I first started in 2000 I should have kept with just bullion for a few more years. Would have had a much larger stack to dump at the top of the market instead of the medium stack I had. That and I could have started my ebay/online store much earlier.
Still grateful that the people I choose to trusted when I first started this were the right group of people!
I would have only collected hot chicks with good attitudes. I wasted a lot of time in my younger collecting years going after hot chicks with bad attitudes. Thankfully, the future Mrs. Hydrant came along just at the same time that I was about to make a really, really bad purchasing decision concerning a damaged and over graded specimen. She became my mentor with regards to the main focus of my collecting activities. Thank God. Mrs. Hydrant is a plus grade, gold sticker kind of girl. WHEW!!!!!!!
Funny what sticks in your memory - sometime in the late 1970s, somebody had five really really choice gold aureus of Nero @$350 each. I had nothing like those coins at the time, but I gave really really serious thought to buying them. I could have swung the money, that wasn't the issue. In moments of reverie, that's one of the few numismatic "things that got away" that I wistfully recall.
Nothing minted after 1816
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Started collecting in 1959 when first Lincoln Memorial cent was the rage. I collected the usual, pennies, nickels, & dimes. Quarters and halves would be later. Back then, you could go to any bank and get rolls of silver dollars. Nobody but Arizona wanted them (sound familiar?). I had no concept of grading (11 years old) and no one I knew collected coins. I got the idea to mow lawns to get a $40.00 “bank”. Every week I would get and search one roll of dollars for “good” coins. Then, after a few years, my interest strayed to girls. I blew the Morgan’s to impress my dates. I often wonder how many elusive VAM varieties unknowingly purchased movie tickets, sodas, and carnival rides. Truth be told, I am not sure I would give up the memory of those days and nights! However, if I could go back and had the means, with all due respect to this form, I would have collected those lightly circulated, older, beautifully engraved US bills. C'est la vie.
I started in 1961. I would have collected nice U.S. type and Large Cents.
Libertas medals!
A: The year they spend more on their library than their coin collection.
A numismatist is judged more on the content of their library than the content of their cabinet.
POWERBALL tickets!!!
I don't have any collecting regrets, it was all part of the journey, starting with coins out of circulation, then going to most US and some world type, and then progressing into early US die varieties and other research on the First US Mint and the people who worked there.
If you knew THEN what you know NOW what would you have collected when you first started?
Proof Columbian Exposition Half Dollars.
I would have focused on exonumia. Civil war tokens, HTT's, political medals, etc. So much history and subject matter to research, much more variety than by collecting the same coin design by date/mm year after year. There is also a lot less competition. You can own a token that has a survival estimate of only a few examples for many, many times less than a US coin with similar population. That is intriguing.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I started collecting pennies & nickels from circulation as a youngster, since they had already stopped minting silver. As I got a bit older, I expanded to dimes, quarters & halves from circulation & stores, etc,
I never collected any denomination of Barbers or SLQ's. I also got very late into the game collecting my 2 favorite series: Walkers & Morgan/Peace dollars.
I'd have expanded into them much earlier, so I wouldn't have so many holes still left to fill today.
I'd also have gotten a bit more into IHC's and 2-cent pieces for nicer examples.
I would have kept the silver coins my Dad brought back to me after cashing his check, not every week, but often.
Being a dumb kid, I spent them.
Funny I was thinking of this at work today...
POST NUBILA PHOEBUS / AFTER CLOUDS, SUN
Love for Music / Collector of Dreck
This is a very stupid question now that I think about it Keets, but it's fun to imagine about the "stuff" that I use to own that I had to dispose of and now worth a small fortune.
I would of kept EVERYTHING but as we all know it's not possible for the most of us.
With very rare exceptions, I would not have purchased anything made after 1839 and would have focused on Flowing Hair/Bust coins and early gold as income increased.