How much would a complete set cost?
MrEureka
Posts: 24,419 ✭✭✭✭✭
Very few of us bother to project the cost before we start building a set. Many of us have given up on a set after we've figured out that it is too ambitious a financial undertaking. Sound familiar?
So, let's do ourselves a favor and run some numbers. Pick a set, pick a grade, and tell us what you figure it would cost to build it at current market levels.
Andy Lustig
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
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I built a complete Barber Half set In VF30 - XF45 (maybe a few AUs), before the advent of TPG. It cost me about 12-13K and another 2K in grading fees. I had all PCGS graded and sold it for 29K in 2011. in today's prices that same set would cost over 30K easily. In XF 40-45 - probably 40K +. In AU over 50K but under 75K.
In 1911?! How the hell old are you?!
Obviously a typo.
Seated Liberty Dimes in XF, about $100k.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
Couldn't complete a full Barber half set in 1911, nobody could.
I knew that, lol. That would likely put him as the oldest human ever....
I’m just getting prepared to start an Indian Head Cent registry set. Originally I thought a basic circulation strike set. I just discovered the “Indian Cents Toned Basic Set, Circulation Strikes (1859-1909)” this is perfect for me because I can’t see the RD toned coins very well due to colorblindness, nor can I afford the higher priced RD coins you need for bonus points. Well this set is right up my alley because you get bonus points for BN coins and DEDUCTIONS for RD! Perfect!
So I’m setting myself an average of $200 a coin. That mean I can get some very nice toned common dates around MS64BN. 55 coins at $200 would be $11K. Well, I don’t have that
SO... this is going to be a life time set for me. Maybe 2-3 coins a year. I’ll keep filling my low grade folders, but this will be my crown jewel special occasions purchase set.
That said, obviously I’m not getting all the coins for $200 or MS64. An 1877BN is gonna cost me $1000+ and that will be for a much lower grade. So all in all it will be a lot more than 11K.
That’s ok. I’m in it for the haul, nice and slow, purely for my enjoyment, not to make money, win awards, or even crack the top 20 in the registry. This will be for me and me alone. My happy place.
And you’re all gonna get a lot of questions from me in the future so be prepared!
Collector of randomness. Photographer at PCGS. Lover of Harry Potter.
Yes it does sound familiar. Your statement is very true. Happened to me twice. Morgan Dollars were fun until you have to pay higher amounts for a coin that is the last one you look at when reviewing your set. Damn common 1879 S is one of my favorites and when you slide it next to a lower grade 1895 you paid three times as much for, well it wasn't doing much for me.
In the future I think going key coins first is the way to go. Save for good examples and than enjoy paying less for better looking coins as you go rather than the other way around.
I usually look at the cost of the key coins and go from there. If I can't afford the keys and think that I will be super disappointed with the set if I don't have them, I'll pass on the set.
I have gone through this process with a date set of large cents. I have dabbled with it a couple of times, but I always come back to the 1804 and most especially the 1799, which are really expensive in a decent grade, like a nice Fine. In great grades, like EF or better, they are nearly impossible, at least for me.
I have completed a set of the Type I and Type II gold dollars, but the Type III set is off the table for me. The 1856-D, 1861-D and 1875 are simply too hard and expensive. I competed the “short set” from 1880 to 1889 instead.
I’m looking for a nice evenly matched set of Susan B. Anthony dollars in choice VF and must be with a CAC sticker. It is certainly condition rarity stuff! Priceless!
Seriously, I don’t collect any colonial series with the goal of completion. It is essentially impossible no matter how deep your pockets are. My goal is to get as many nice coins as I can.
A set of SF $5's from 1855 to 1876 in XF-AU is probably about a $250-300k project.
I completed a set of CC Morgans... however, they are not matched in grade. I did this quite a few years ago. Would cost a lot more now....I should upgrade a couple of them... of course, those would be the more expensive coins. Cheers, RickO
A few times Ive bought a type coin and thought that this would look great if there was a well matched set of them and kicked off a collection. Throw a time frame out the window...
It's hard for me to do a set if I see a nice coin I grab it. Even if I have ten of them but if I where to just focusing on a set I feel I would pass up the single nice coins a long the way because I was so focus on the set.. So many moving parts on this collecting machine you cant skip a beat.
Hoard the keys.
Interesting question and actually one of the main reasons I chose the set is it was completable within my budget. Also had room to leave a mark and contribute to new discoveries.
Trade dollars in AU with all varieties about 100k
That said there are only about 2 complete sets possible if one collects the wide CCs and maybe about a dozen sets possible with if you include the 76s DDO
The 75p 1/1 and 77s DDR 801 are also pretty rare
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
I started my Bust Half set with the goal of just completing a date set. Soon I realized I wouldn't be happy without the overdates. Follow that up with going for the redbook varieties and the key dates and now I'm missing the 1807 Bearded Goddess, 1817/4, 1828 119 and 1839 SL. All in all I've got over 110 die marriages and don't see myself stopping anytime soon! I would say this set will end up running me 70-100k before I slow down and that's without the 1817/4 and 1839 SL!
Built a set of Indians in mint state , these are for a dansco album. ms-61-64 coins, all ex pcgs / ngc slabbed.
did not buy the 56 , because One I already have one in MS in my core graded coins, secondly , not a slot for the 56 in dansco. I believe it cost around 25-27k if my math is correct. Towards the end, I just paid the price what several higher priced dealers were asking , because I liked the coin, and was ready to finish it.
I limit myself to sets in MS grades, don't collect anything modern, pretty much eliminates most classic coins with my budget. Focus on type mainly, but had to exclude 18th century, again because of cost. I've heard it said that one should start with the toughest coins, no disappointment later with this approach.
In 1977 I decided to put together a complete set of Morgan and Peace dollars (minus the 1895). I didn't want to take forever doing it so I bought them all in one full swoop, in 1 auction lot actually, Kagin's 1977 ANA sale in Atlanta, session 2, lot 1929, $1,900.00, no buyer fee. No kidding, check it out on the Newman Numismatic Portal auction archive.
On the other hand I started a set of Coronet/Liberty $5 gold, 1839 - 1908 in 1975. I still need about forty pieces not counting varieties and figure it will cost about $3,000,000.00 to complete should I be so lucky.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
Morgan Mint Mark Set in MS65 about $1,300.
Silver Roosevelt dimes 1946-64. The set in MS65FB would be around $1,500 and MS66FB would be around s $3,500. If you took the 5 most expensive 66FB and substituted 66 the investment would be around $2500. If you substituted 67 instead the investment would be around $3000. Also a set in MS67 would be around $4000 and MS67FB would be around $28000. There are some great looking toners out there so prices could vary depending on eye appeal.
I am working on a set of proofs 1936-1964 in rattlers. This would be an easy set to complete in any other plastic, but is extremely difficult to find these in the old holders.
I would gladly pay 20X ( or 200X) PCGS price guide for a 1960 Small date proof lincoln or a 63 nickle or a proof 1962 dime in a rattler, but I fear that these do not exist.
I am not a wealthy man, but I would part with much of my savings to complete this ridiculously silly set.
As for cost, who knows? I have stopped trying to keep track of how much this set will cost to complete long ago. If I ever complete this set and it time to sell, I am sure that I will be offered about $4 for the 1959 proof cent in a rattler that I paid over 300 times more to get.
SF 5$'s??? What is SF? San Francisco mint mark? Thanks
"I've heard it said that one should start with the toughest coins, no disappointment later with this approach."
That is debatable. The tendency to make mistakes is much greater when starting out, unless you are fortunate to have a good mentor looking out for you or have experience collecting other types of coins before beginning a new collecting goal.
RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'
CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
Consider the 1817/4 and 1839 small letters unobtainable. Just forget about them. You're looking at hundreds of $thousands.
The rest is very possible. A modest set could run $100k, easily. The major variety set in mid-AU is probably $250k.
Your 110 set of die marriages would qualify for membership into the Bust Half Nut Club. We'd love to have you! You have the fever, it seems.
Lance.
I'm starting back up on a 7070 type set. My target grade is 45/50. I like that the coins were actually used in commerce but still have plenty of meat left on them. There are 76 coins in the set. The Classic Head LC will be about the most difficult coin and I may have to go 30-35 for this particular piece. I did find a nice holdered VF30 at my last show for less than $1k... but timing is critical and I didn't have quite that much with me. Anyway, I'm anticipating around $10k before the dust settles... bear in mind that this set will contain coins I pulled from circulation for face value...
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
I'm more of a type set guy for the very reasons you mentioned...there always seems to be a 'stopper' (or two or three) in every 'complete' set I'm interested in that causes the full complete set to be a little (or a lot) out of reach. I've come to terms with this reality and have simply adjusted to it.
Case in point is Large Size Bust Quarters...I love them, but the 1823 just isn't realistic for my budget, so even putting aside a complete set by die marriage or even redbook variety and focusing on just a basic date set will fall short of truly 'complete' because of the 1823. That being said, with a modest target grade of choice Fine to Very Fine (say 15 to 25), I think you could put together a nice set of 9 of the 10 coins for around 6.5 to 7k (which I'm currently in the process of doing - see https://collectivecoin.com/sch1man/6srb59kLJsqdoWyLNLbS.) If things change for me financially, maybe one day I'll add the 1823, but even if they don't, I think the 9 coin almost 'complete' basic set will be nice as is even in the modest grade range I've chosen.
CC Morgans are my favorite. Would you mind posting the grades for the coins in your set? How long did it take to complete? Are they all graded by the same TPGS?
It was either a sample or regular rattler but I'm 99% sure one was on ebay a few months ago when rattler sample slabs were very hot.
62 is a very important number for me so it'd be odd for me to remember random 1963s or 64s.
@pbj ....They are not all graded several are in GSA holders, several are raw... most run in the 64-66 range. It took a couple of years - not sure, maybe two and a half...Cheers, RickO
A couple of sets i have completed. The to rattler sets to much $$$
the morgans almost $100,000. Would like to upgrade always bought highest grade i could afford.
.> @pbj said:
CC Morgans are my favorites too... I don't even mind picking up duplicates if they are really nice. I do have some GSA's but only a few are NGC graded. My best complete PCGS set is as follows:
1 1878-CC MS65
2 1879-CC MS63
3 1880-CC MS65
4 1881-CC MS66
5 1882-CC MS65
6 1883-CC MS66+
7 1884-CC MS65
8 1885-CC MS66
9 1889-CC XF40
10 1890-CC MS64
11 1891-CC MS64
12 1892-CC MS63
13 1893-CC MS63
Short of winning the lottery I'll never complete my 1794--present half dollar by year set. Something in me simply refuses to accept the idea of paying more for a coin (either one of 1796 and 1797) than I did for my house. That said, I probably currently have 50K wrapped up in my set without them.
Edit to add before wife sees post. 50K would be current replacement value--not what I've spent over a 50+ year period.