NN: "11 Quick Tips for the Liberty Seated Dollar Collector"
Goldbully
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11 Quick Tips for the Liberty Seated Dollar Collector
Posted on July 8, 2020 by Numismatic News Staff
By Brishen Foley
Editor’s Note: The following article has been reprinted from the E-Gobrecht Newsletter, Vol. 16, Issue 7, with the express permission of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club.
Here are some tips I think would be helpful to people that are contemplating starting a Liberty Seated dollar (LSD) set. They are not in any particular order and can all be equally important. One thing that goes without saying (even though I’m about to say it), join the LSCC! It is an incredible value and has been beneficial to me along the way. Hope these “Eleven Quick Tips” can help some newer collectors avoid some hard lessons and painful tuition.
1. Buy Coins with Original Surfaces
Most people start off buying the cheapest example they can find for each hole in the set. After assembling a handful of these examples you should be able to notice that while they may be straight graded, they certainly are not problem-free. Instead, they were deemed market acceptable. If the cheapest market acceptable coins are what floats your boat then more power to you. But make sure you do not pay a premium for them because you will have a tough time recovering any premium paid. For me, it is much more rewarding to pay more to find a problem-free example that is original and PQ. It may sound easy enough for those who are new to collecting Seated dollars but I can assure you that after years of building this set, it is tougher then you could ever imagine trying to locate PQ examples. I have spent countless hours searching for these rare treasures and with the help of a few great friends and dealers, I have managed a humble 41 of the 43 (minus the 1870s) I originally laid out as my goal. There is no way to get a precise number of surviving examples with original surfaces, but I lean heavily on the CAC population to get a rough idea of the number of original coins for each date. Another way to get an idea of how tough it is to find a nice original Seated dollar is to do a quick, simple search on eBay. I would guess nearly 90 percent of the dollars on eBay have been dipped, cleaned, damaged, or abused at some point in the past. That includes both raw and certified examples. If you are lucky enough to finally find a date you need that is strictly original and PQ… buy it!
2. Learn to Grade the Series Before You Buy
There is an endless amount of knowledge to learn about LSDs. It is fairly easy to find out the basics such as how many coins are in a full date and mintmark set, which year was a proof only issue, and which coins are considered to be a key date. So I won’t bore you with those basic details. Learning to grade is an important part of becoming an expert in the series. You can not rely solely on what the plastic says. There are many dates that suffer from poor strikes and learning how to grade them yourself is essential. I would also strongly suggest getting a grasp of the survival estimates and how rare each particular date is taking into account originality. There are many dates that are considered “common” (if there is such a thing in this series), but I’d bet some of these “common” dates will take years to find a fully original PQ specimen. Once you’ve mastered this, you’ll be able to make a quick decision if you come across a date on your want list.
Article continues in link..................
https://www.numismaticnews.net/article/11-quick-tips-for-the-liberty-seated-dollar-set
Comments
I suspect the tips are not prioritized... Seems 1 and 2 should be reversed. Understanding grading is a plus in the search for original surfaces. I still see no harm in seeking a wider grade range within a set to capture the series at varying states of preservation. This is great series to collect and it need not be complete to be appreciated if the right coins are acquired along the way. Not sure I agree that these need to be purchased in slabs or sent to CAC but that would largely depend on the date, grade and spread between grades.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
“Bring a few your coins to show to see what they’re worth”
That’s always a ton of fun
BHNC #248 … 130 and counting.
This list was posted to the forum back in June 8 by the author:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1038895/11-quick-tips-for-liberty-seated-dollar-collectors
Congratulations to the author. Great article.
Great information and posts such as this really help the new collectors/members....Cheers, RickO
As yosclimber said in his post. I originally posted the write up here because I felt it would be helpful for people. I had no clue someone would reach out and ask to use it. I’m no writer but was assured the editor would enjoy the article and would take care of any grammatical issues. The feedback has been amazing getting the forwarded emails from the editor with people saying positive things . Since people enjoyed the first article I have written a couple more. I’m told the upcoming printed journal will have one of them which is the story of my 1856 $. The editor is reviewing another one I wrote called LSD sleeper dates ( which I really enjoyed writing).
I really want to urge other LSD collectors to contribute to the E journal & printed journal. The LSCC could really use some new members/contributors for this denomination. Paul (Journal editor) Len (LSCC Pres) are great to work with.
If you are not a member of the LSCC your going to miss out on the next journal So pony up the 25 bucks and join for a full year. It’s the best 25 bucks you’ll ever spend.
Great article Crusty.
I can’t wait for the next article, my vote for article of the year so far!😎
I think your article will help any numismatist whether they specialize in seated dollars / trade dollars or anything else. 👍🏻