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Are some coins too small or too large for you to collect?

ZoinsZoins Posts: 34,401 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited February 9, 2018 9:14AM in U.S. Coin Forum

Some coins are small and some are large.

Are there some coins that are too small or too large for your collecting interests?

I just picked up my first seated half dime (raw) and I'm amazed by the size difference next to a Seated dollar.

Comments

  • BillDugan1959BillDugan1959 Posts: 3,821 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Well, Maundy coins never bother me.

    4 pence, 18 millimeters; 3 pence, 16 mm; 2 pence, 13 mm; 1 pence, 11 mm.

  • StoogeStooge Posts: 4,673 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Also coins can be too cheap to collect and some are too expensive to collect.


    Later, Paul.
  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 34,401 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Stooge said:
    Also coins can be too cheap to collect

    Don't have any of those! :)

    and some are too expensive to collect.

    Have lots of those! :'(

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The five ounce America the Beautiful....forget it.

  • SaorAlbaSaorAlba Posts: 7,593 ✭✭✭✭✭

    One time I placed one of my tiny ancients on top of my Swedish plate 4 daler coin - but alas no picture.

    Tir nam beann, nan gleann, s'nan gaisgeach ~ Saorstat Albanaich a nis!
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,827 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I like California fractional gold coins. Their small size is part of their charm (pun intended). :D
    These coins look huge when examined with a quality loupe under good lighting.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @mvs7 ... Excellent post with the comparative pictures..... I have a one troy pound silver Eagle... not a U.S. Mint coin, but it is huge...the smallest I have is a gold Mexican coin... Peso ( or two or three...cannot remember, must go look). Put together they are comical...Cheers, RickO

  • cardinalcardinal Posts: 2,005 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It depends on the theme of what you are collecting, which may come in a variety of sizes:

  • ElmhurstElmhurst Posts: 795 ✭✭✭

    No half dimes for me...although I like my proof 3 cent silver

  • jayPemjayPem Posts: 4,082 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The little coins where the first to go when I started selling my collection.
    Not much excitement for me there...
    But I've picked up one of my old projects again, a 7070 of love tokens, hobos, c/s,cc etc..
    Now I'm looking for cool examples of all those old tiny coins again :)

  • messydeskmessydesk Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'd probably collect fanams and Yap stones if I had the collecting bandwidth (combination of time, resources, and space), but for now, they're off my radar.

  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 29,210 ✭✭✭✭✭

    the3 centers are to small for me. theres nothing wrong with them its just hard to see it for me

  • BillyKingsleyBillyKingsley Posts: 2,661 ✭✭✭✭

    No. But imaging the smaller ones can be a challenge.

    Billy Kingsley ANA R-3146356 Cardboard History // Numismatic History
  • WalkerfanWalkerfan Posts: 9,740 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I prefer quarters, halves and dollars but like all coins, so size isn't really a consideration for me.

    Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍

    My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):

    https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/

  • topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I also prefer quarter size.
    I have ONE half dime.
    NO 3c silvers.
    I tend to go for the larger coins.

    I do wish my $2 1/2 CAL was a $10 CAL. :D
    But also recognize that they wanted wider distribution and it was only 240 oz to work with.

  • shishshish Posts: 1,180 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 9, 2018 1:14PM

    Size matters, that's why I collect dollars. I appreciate coins of all sizes but the larger coins look more impressive.

    Liberty Seated and Trade Dollar Specialist
  • Nope It does not matter to me. ALL coins matter to me.

    I LOVE old coins.

  • topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    ACM :D:D:D

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 34,791 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 9, 2018 3:13PM

    So far as the U.S. series is concerned, "too small" is not a problem for me. I have had a long term interest in the early half dimes, and I have completed a date and mint set of the Type I gold dollars. I'm both near sighted and don't mind using a glass. The fact that the coin is small is not a problem for me.

    The largest pieces I have U.S. medals and some of the Bryan comparitive dollars that were often made of lead. The only thinkg I don't like about the size of these pieces is that it makes it harder to store them. Some pieces are too large for the over sized flips that I have seen available, and they take up a lot of space in whatever box you store them.

    The situation gets worse when these pieces are certified. The slabs are heavy and bulky, and I would prefer to avoid them if I could.

    I have zero interest in the oversized silver quarters that the mint has been selling in recent years. Those pieces just don't do anything for me.

    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 ... ?
  • mirabelamirabela Posts: 5,101 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'll admit I'm less enthusiastic about tiny coins. I'm not a great fan of three cent silvers or gold dollars, especially the Type 1.

    mirabela
  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 34,401 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 10, 2018 5:55PM

    Some medals make even half dollars look small. Here's a 3" Toivo Johnson die trial with half dollar impressions on the back side, possibly struck by his son.

  • tommy44tommy44 Posts: 2,319 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Smallest dark side silver, Hamburg 1855 1 sechsling,0.7600g, about 14mm in diameter.....

    Largest dark side silver, Indonesia 1970 750R, 30.0000g, 45mm diameter.....

    it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide

  • BustDMsBustDMs Posts: 1,694 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If I can see it and carry it I may collect it ;)

    Q: When does a collector become a numismatist?



    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.
  • bronco2078bronco2078 Posts: 10,425 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Coinstartled said:
    The five ounce America the Beautiful....forget it.

    Not only too large , too stupid looking . Its if someone at the mint saw the ugly Canadian $10 olympic coins that sell at a discount to melt value everywhere and decided to design something much less appealing.

  • TurboSnailTurboSnail Posts: 1,668 ✭✭✭✭✭

    1 ton of gold.

  • northcoinnorthcoin Posts: 4,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @howards said:
    These are a tad too large for me:

    This post deserves an award for "post of the thread."

  • carabonnaircarabonnair Posts: 1,445 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The novelty "inflation money" is the smallest U.S. I have. For the upper limit, I usually try to stay below 44mm (Silver Eagle size), but I couldn't resist this medal at 66mm.

  • ElcontadorElcontador Posts: 7,681 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If it's smaller than a dime, it hurts my eyes to look at it.

    "Vou invadir o Nordeste,
    "Seu cabra da peste,
    "Sou Mangueira......."
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,942 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 13, 2018 8:30PM

    One of the largest gold coins made, from an era when they might have seen some actual circulation (as opposed to straight NCLT):

    1950 Peru 100 Soles
    46.8071 grams
    37mm diameter
    3mm thick
    1.35439 AGW

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 34,401 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 13, 2018 9:37PM

    @carabonnair said:
    The novelty "inflation money" is the smallest U.S. I have. For the upper limit, I usually try to stay below 44mm (Silver Eagle size), but I couldn't resist this medal at 66mm.

    The inflation money is kind of cool. Do you know who made it? Kind of reminds me of Bryan money.

    The Bliss Company medal is cool. It's neat to see how coins are made.

  • Cougar1978Cougar1978 Posts: 8,766 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 14, 2018 9:22AM

    Yes - I prefer half dollar size or larger

    But something like a BD date set then want complete. I collect / invest in coins / currency both US and World from my Birth Year. It’s a fun activity for me.

    Investor
  • KkathylKkathyl Posts: 3,762 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited February 14, 2018 9:49AM

    I love them all but do find it a challenge to store at times. I have some nice older gold that is tiny and large So called dollars. Its a challenge because once you start a row of items sized differently, then you box looks small and then you start the hunt.

    Best place to buy !
    Bronze Associate member

  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 34,791 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If this Grant medal were certified, I don't know much room it would take up. The slabs have really been growing relative to the size of the medal in recent years. I'm not so sure I would want this piece in a huge slab. The storage would get to be a problem.

    BTW the medal that awarded to Grant was in sold gold.

    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 ... ?
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,587 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Despite diameter, rectangular remains the same. :joy:

  • ashelandasheland Posts: 23,736 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Weiss said:
    1896 Guatemala 1/4 reale (.77 grams), balanced on a pencil...

    EPIC picture! (and coin)

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