Dansco Album Collections
erwindoc
Posts: 5,364 ✭✭✭✭✭
With counterfeits, problem coins and expensive key/semi key date coins, which series are the most reasonable to collect in an album?
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Probably the Washington quarter or Jefferson nickel in my opinion.
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
1 vote for Peace dollars. Easy-to-complete series. Very impressive to have a bunch of lustrous coins in an album. Do the keys in AU, the common-dates in 65-66, and the semi-keys in 63-64.
I would throw Roosevelt dimes in the group too.
All the above are fine. Franklins can be an easy and good looking album set too, if you decide on a reasonable middle-of-the-road grade range.
I have done several sets of Jeffs. You can look at them in several ways . . . . bright white, peripheral toners, or more obvious toners . . .and then of course steps. It is always easy to but one or two at a coin show while you patiently wait for a big-hitter key coin in another series . . . . .
Drunner
A lot of good options above!
I will add Ikes and Silver Eagles as two more options.
Big agreement with Bryce on Peace dollars. With silver being so cheap and these coins being plentiful, you can have a good time doing the set without regard to dumping money on coins that should properly be certified.
I'm going for a dirty AU set as we speak.
My recently completed short set of 1892-1906 Library of Coins album 1 Barber Halves was a nice challenge in VG10-VF30, but it took 18 months and I did crack a few out of holders. But then I suspect you've dabbled in them yourself
I love my SLQ album minus the 1916 in VF.
EAC 6024
Peace dollars, Franklins, silver Washingtons are fairly easy to complete, Ike dollars and silver Roosevelt dimes also very easy even in high grades.
There are many more interesting and challenging options if circulated coins are acceptable..
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
bullion works. Libertads, ASE, etc.
Or get a generic type album, maybe one without labels
I prefer coin boards over albums.
SHQs
Roosevelts (both silver and clad)
Jefferson Nickels
Kennedy Half Dollars
Franklin Half Dollars
Ikes
SBAs
Sacs
Those are the ones that my son (and I) have played around with...(exception being the SBAs)
We have also done Washington Quarters (eagle reverse) but from circulation and mint sets, so still have some holes in the early years, of course.
Anything beyond those and you kind of get into the issues you mention....counterfeits possible, more expensive keys/semi-keys. Some hit more than others.
You CAN hit subsets (later date half cents, year sets instead of year/mm sets, etc) but some don't find those as fun.
Also, with the more modern ones I posted, if you collect them in an album, you probably don't have a ton put into them so, if something were to happen, it wouldn't hit you as badly as if you had a peace dollar album filled up and it was stolen....
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
Sets of Kennedy's and Franklin's are nice and can be fun - even some varieties to be had if so inclined. Cheers, RickO
Franklins, Ikes, ASEs, State and ATB Quarters.
I have a blank Dimes folder that I'm using to house a collection of Mercury through late 1970s Roosevelt. Don't overlook the blank albums for creating a larger set that spans types. The "short set" of Walkers (41-47) plus Franklins would be good, too, and then throw in the 64 Kennedys to close out the 90% coinage. It looks like the blank halves folder holds 80, so you could extend the set earlier or later. You can probably also add another page of 20 to the album.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Surprised at all the votes for Peace Dollars! They are so boring to me!
Presidential dollars.
Decent question. I've been picking up solid raw VF-XF Large Cents when the come around with the entention of maybe making a Dansco book someday. I think it would be solid joy to flip the pages full of old coppers. I'm even getting tired of the growing stack of 2x2s spreading out.
So I just took a peak at what's in one of these books.
Right away I realize that page one isn't 'affordable' and I could toss that one out....
Page two can go as well, as they're really not quick to find nice for easy to come by money.
Then it starts looking doable if I get them in low grades and as the book goes on and the coins get easier to find, they become less interesting pretty quick. I mean the 1850s seem to be everywhere.
So now I'm starting to think maybe a date and type set is way too daunting and obviously some folks lifelong endeavor and why would I want to buy low end coins just to complete it. This would also tie up a lot if money in coins that don't really add up to winners just to fill holes.
So now I'm thinking I could just get a type set going or boil it down to maybe one Large Cent. Or maybe Two or Three. HeHe. I always look for one with all the stars conjoined with a circular die crack and tons of luster. One that would cost as much as the projected value of the set and have that represent my Large Cent collection. I'd have to see what's out there but I'm thinking a nice MS in OGH would appreciate better than a full book group of affordable coins. Affordable sounds practical and boring and easy and not likely to grow in value. But what do I know.....maybe turns out great.
So this is really why I don't build these sets. Although the notion sounds fun and romantic, the doing isn't that practical. The last time I built a date run of Lincolns, that set really bossed me around at the end. I think I've talked myself into listing my raw ones and taking my own advice before I really get going.
Put your dough in one GREAT "fill in the blank" coin, and call it a day and move on. That's my advice.
But hey if you pull off a set, show it off! I'd love to see it. Sets do look great and well matched sets better and now I'm talking in circles. Lol.
...isn’t that what Dansco’s do best though...they’re a shot in the arm for a boring set...a pleather-bound locker room full of the slackers who got cut from team Plastic...they’re the lipstick on miss piggy...so yeah, Peace Dollars should work just fine here
Don't discount the 7070 type set. Really not that difficult other than the fun in attempting to locate truly decent looking, problem free in circulated grades. A well matching set is an attractive display and should retain its value over the years.
peacockcoins
Go for Barber dimes
BHNC #203
I'd say Jeffersons, Roosies, Washingtons and Kennedys.
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
Mercury dimes! One of my newest and favorite dansco sets I'm working on is the "Crowns of the World" dansco. Good way to collect large hunks of silver from a ton of different countries/years. They have blank pages by various mm:
http://www.danscoalbumstore.com/crowns-world-dansco-album-7010-p-8751.html
Roosies, Washies and Frankies.
U.S. Type Set
For me it has always been Jefferson nickels. Lately I've been having fun with Washington quarters. Just something to keep busy with.
One of my Whitman folders as a kid was One-a-Year Nickels - I moved the collection to a blank Dansco nickels album and have been adding one a year (plus some Liberty nickels and the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery)
Pacific Northwest Numismatic Association
Kennedy halves a good one to start with. Many varieties and moderately priced on most of the entire set. And easily obtained to complete a set.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
I competed a Franklin half Dansco (XF to 63) set a few years ago and have upgraded most of them to (65 or better) over time. Looks pretty cool now. Easy to find in higher grades, cheap and no need to certify in my opinion. I can remember getting Franklins in change when I was a kid. Matter of fact, I can remember (just barely) being able to go to the bank and get silvers dollars in exchange for paper dollar bills. (dollar for dollar) They usually didn't have many but I could buy 3 or 4 a week. (Which was a lot of money when I was ~10 years old.)
^^ one of the things I like about the Franklins is that as a fairly concise set you can focus on putting a truly nice coin in each slot, whatever 'nice' means to you. Also, the coins are fairly liquid -- assuming nothing too crazy happens in bullion prices you can probably get out something not too unlike what you put in, should you choose.
I'm a big fan of Jeffersons, and I built a really nice album set of them over about a nine-year span, but there are a lot of holes, and putting a really nice example in each spot sometimes meant spending five bucks here and fifteen there on a whole lot of coins that will be a pain in the neck to sell at anything but giveaway prices should I or my heirs ever decide that's the thing to do. It was all just "coffee money" at the time, but so was the money I spent building a set of Franklins -- yet I could probably get all of that back and maybe even make a few bucks.
Franklins are not a big set in terms of numbers and are inexpensive. I have a set of 64's that I have cracked out and it was fun putting it together although it did take me a while as I wanted a certain look to the coins, Ikes are nice also IMO and look good with the cameo proofs.
K
This board wouldn't work for me, I have a short-short set beginning 1938.