My Father started us out (2 older brothers) on Lincoln Wheat Cents albums. As my Mother owned a neighborhood grocery store back in the 60's/70's, we would put away all silver...
Lincoln's are cool to me because of the long history, the VDB controversy, the low mintage 1914-D, the 1922 no-D, the 1955 DDO, design change of 59, ETC... I will say that I am not a fan of the Shield...
One of the greatest appeals to what I collect is the fact that nobody can ever have a complete collection. New discoveries are fairly frequent and plentiful. Nobody can even accurately define a "complete" collection. Instead, acquiring as many different examples as possible is the goal. It's sort of like chopmarked trade dollars in that respect, each one different.
And rarity? Notes of the highest rarity with 1-5 examples known start around $100 and most can be had under $1000. Scarce notes with 25-200 known can usually be had under $100. And it doesn't take very much to push prices up in such a thin market.
Collector and dealer in obsolete currency. Always buying all obsolete bank notes and scrip.
@Joe_360 said:
Should this have been a poll question?
Not as far as I was concerned. I declined to use a poll format because I wanted to include more than a few options for answers and encourage stories and discussion.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Interesting thread Mark!
Similar to @Catbert, I picked up the hobby again some 20 years ago. Previously, like many, I collected mostly circulated coins to place in albums (any & all up to dollars). When I commenced again, I started with key dates, particularly the ones I couldn’t fill in albums. It wasn’t long I realized I had a lot to learn instead of sole reliance on those “in the know”. So, I studied, read & studied & read some more. I slowly built a network of both like minded & collectors focused differently. I eventually moved into Morgan dollars. I liked the history & the classic beauty of the piece.
Along the way, I became closely acquainted with a gentleman, now deceased, who was both a copper specialist & a knowledgeable generalist. This numismatist became a mentor & I started to accumulate some nice Lincolns with his guidance.
From there, I became involved into what’s my specialty (& focus) today - Indians & Flying Eagles. The latter has one of the great designs in US coinage, imo. The former has an amazing history spanning 51 years. In this field, too, I had a mentor from whom I learned a lot. Gradually, I became a dedicated variety collector; again out of a developed interest.
Like many of the IHC collectors, I focused at first on the RD ones. Eventually I became attracted to toners & remain so until this day.
Finally, I added “secondary” interests: half dimes & Walkers. Odd duo, right? The former I saw as an area not many collectors explore + all the beautiful toners that are available on many of these “little beasts”. As far as the Walkers, I’m focused on the early ones. And, like others have said, they are perhaps the most beautifully designed of all US coins. Someday soon, I’ll dive into the gold dollars again. Stay tuned!
I like copper coins because they’re otherwise nearly worthless. I like 1 cent coins because just minted they’re common, and collecting rare things once common presents a nice juxtaposition.
Wheat cents pulled from circulation will also be nearest and dearest to my heart. It's how my father got me started when I was in elementary school (mid 70s). I was able to get a lot of them in that 1st Whitman folder, but eventually we had to go to a local show to finish the folder. I still pull good looking coins out of circulation and put them in Whitman folders.
As an aside, I never get tired of seeing @BillJones roll out photos of some of his Classic Head gold pieces. I have a handful of Classic Heads in my collection, but my pieces aren't even close to his beauties.
I love the Hobby as a whole, but there's too much to get a handle on. I need to focus. I love to focus. I love to tear a coin down and know as much as I can about it.
We all have our own things and ways.
It's just me.
Pete
"I tell them there's no problems.....only solutions" - John Lennon
Capped bust half dimes (1829-1837, by die marriages, 124 coins)
1. I prefer silver over other metals
2. Classic series have more appeal to me than moderns
3. My former multi-series approach was too broad and scattershot, and I needed focus
4. The early mint did a lot of things by hand and with old-style equipment (eg., screw press), and kept dies in service way too long, that resulted in interesting die characteristics - which fascinate me
5. There's a great reference ("Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837," by Logan and McCloskey) that has held up well
6. ... but there are still new discoveries being made (1835 LM-12 in 2007, 1830 LM-9.3 recognized in 2023)
7. The community was (and remains) welcoming and helpful
8. In particular, having a guru like @Barndog was a huge blessing
9. I envisioned a nice set that fit within my (multi-year) budget, but not too easily
10. I can (and do) own marriages/remarriages that are objectively RARE (because the collector base is smaller)
After developing presbyopia and discovering eBay (!!), I decided to abandon my childhood focus on pennies and dimes and collect larger coins. I wanted a series that was vast, was valuable in circulated grades, and where one could acquire raw original coins that would straight-grade off of eBay to fill a Dansco.
Kennedys are a huge set, but not scarce enough in circulated grades, and it's not smart to collect condition rarities in a Dansco if you're a slob. Barbers were disappointing - too many raw coins that looked original were cleaned and the photography on eBay was insufficient to catch them. Walkers are a beautiful design, but they're a weird set to collect with the huge difference in availability between early and post '33 dates. Then, @MarkFeld sold me a beautiful '39-D Walker that promptly dropped $200 in value along with other higher-grade Walkers, so Walkers faded in my mind. I still love that splash of mulberry toned 39-D Walker, though. Too bad I have no photos of it.
Seated Liberty halves were perfect, a classic design, a huge series with lots of affordable dates, and lots of raw coins in original condition available on eBay to fill a Dansco. Subsets like the ultra-low mintage yet readily available '80s dates have their own appeal. My first few SLH, all raw, original coins of eBay, "set the hook."
Circulated Classic commemoratives have also been fun and inexpensive to collect as a second set. Some great designs in the mix. Just don't expect them to appreciate much. They're perfect for a large marketplace like eBay. I also like the look of light to moderately circulated commemoratives, and particularly where the toning can enhance the design.
Barbers were disappointing - too many raw coins that looked original were cleaned and the photography on eBay was insufficient to catch them.
Seated Liberty halves were perfect, a classic design, a huge series with lots of affordable dates, and lots of raw coins in original condition available on eBay to fill a Dansco. Subsets like the ultra-low mintage yet readily available '80s dates have their own appeal. My first few SLH, all raw, original coins of eBay, "set the hook."
That's very interesting! Why would raw SLHs not be cleaned like raw Barber Halves?
50 + coin machines were collected by 2 of us and destroyed. Inside these machines, many coins were tossed in the cabinet section.
The magnets placed in their train of the coin count, to me, were so powerful. When extracted, and attached to anything,
movement was very ...lets say lol.
Many years of coins were filtered. The one cent, that I knew about, but I never saw such a clean coin of a 1943 steel,
and was attached to one of these magnets and never moved, kick started me.
Then the 1982 cent came into play as I have many, due to a armored truck co. moving into our neighborhood, which must have stirred up some inventory. (Phila. area)
Barbers were disappointing - too many raw coins that looked original were cleaned and the photography on eBay was insufficient to catch them.
Seated Liberty halves were perfect, a classic design, a huge series with lots of affordable dates, and lots of raw coins in original condition available on eBay to fill a Dansco. Subsets like the ultra-low mintage yet readily available '80s dates have their own appeal. My first few SLH, all raw, original coins of eBay, "set the hook."
That's very interesting! Why would raw SLHs not be cleaned like raw Barber Halves?
I believe it's because seated Liberty halves have had longer to acquire toning and one can judge their originality and even hairlining better by their toning in photos whereas hairlining is easy to hide on lighter toned coins with lighting angles. A lot of those early SLH coins were well toned such as the coin below.
I just started looking for original-looking toning amongst raw coins and found them more often in the SLH. At least I had much better luck finding them on eBay. Here's one of each plucked raw off eBay.
I try not to overthink it, i don't always succeed but I try. I have to like the design of a series to seriously collect it. If there's a reasonable expectation of completing a set I'll attempt a set, if not I'll gather an accumulation of choice pieces, maybe some with different types of luster and die states.
It is not my question to answer, but I think the circulating history's of the two different coins has resulted in very different results. Seated coins went thru periods of hoarding and then getting pushed back into the economy. I think Barber coins hit the economy at the exact time that there was a much larger demand for circulating coins. I have often seen low grade Seated coins with a variety of toning that would indicate a much different past. It seems all most all low grade Barber coins have the well used grey you would expect for work horse coins that were used extensively. James Thanks for question though, it was interesting to reflect on.
Many years ago, I found a really cool dealer. His name was Mark. He helped me build a nice type set. Once I was happy with the set I had to pick something new to start on. I wanted to go with larger and older toned coins. Bust Half Dollars were a good fit for me. A guy named Al offered me part of his collection and it gave me a start to a great collection. That's about all I collect anymore.
You meet some cool people on coin forums.
@seatedlib3991 said:
It is not my question to answer, but I think the circulating history's of the two different coins has resulted in very different results. Seated coins went thru periods of hoarding and then getting pushed back into the economy. I think Barber coins hit the economy at the exact time that there was a much larger demand for circulating coins. I have often seen low grade Seated coins with a variety of toning that would indicate a much different past. It seems all most all low grade Barber coins have the well used grey you would expect for work horse coins that were used extensively. James Thanks for question though, it was interesting to reflect on.
Interesting comment. I hadn't considered the differences in how they circulated and the effects of hoarding on their condition.
Is it due to:
the design?
affordability?
possibility of acquiring an entire set?
ties to your childhood?
remembrance of a family member?
history?
age?
other reason(s)?
Changed for me over time, but I generally like or dislike the design:
1. At one point it was gold and I preferred the Liberty coins, especially the $20. The Mexican gold peso coins are also nice.
2. Now I like Bust, Seated Liberty, and Walking Liberty Halves
3. Affordability is a big issue
4. An entire set doesn't make sense to me; the design is usually the same but one has to pay more for a certain date
5. Ties to childhood in that I can now afford what I could not afford then.
6. Remembrance of family only plays a part for inherited/gifted coins
7. History is a big component and I prefer 19th Century to 20th Century, except for a few dates like 1918, 1948, etc.
8. Age plays no part; once you have the coin bug it is always lurking; just have to say no more sometimes
World, Ancient & Medieval, US Type, Exonumia. You name it. If I like it, I grab it.
Under that vast aegis, I have lots of smaller spotlights of focus. Maybe it’s the ruler or historical era of the coin I’m interested in. Maybe the aesthetics of a cool design. The best coins combine all that: history and aesthetics.
Although I've moved on to different interests, my first love was Indian Head Cents. When I was around 10 years old I would go through the dealer's junk bin pulling out dates to fill an album. I later moved on to nice XF to Unc. pieces. I've since sold most of those coins but still have an affinity for them, so a childhood connection for sure.
Need a Barber Half with ANACS photo certificate. If you have one for sale please PM me. Current Ebay auctions
Like my friend Rob, Lord Marcovan I collect a wide range of coins, foreign, and United States, new and old I like them all!
There are many factors as to why, primarily aesthetics, but also rarity, and the history of when and where these coins were made lots of factors that make these things so much fun!
I have things that are super common, but extraordinarily pretty:
And then others that are a little bit crude, but very beautiful to me, LOTS of character:
Right on up to modern Coins that I have had a lot of fun with recently:
I definitely like finding and having coins that aren’t so easy to find scarcity is part of the fun for me.
I also like paper money, especially the weird, obscure stuff:
One thing, though, originality is vital! I can’t deal with stuff that’s been altered or processed…
This has been a fun thread to read!
Hopefully Lord Marcovan will join in…
@BillJones said:
I collected sets of the Classic Head $2.50 and $5.00 gold pieces because the history and the connection to Hard Times tokens. I also admired the design as something "exotic" when I was kid.
I like these a lot, they are as good as it gets for "exotic/price" ratio. Amazingly cheap for how cool they are and how special they would look to a non-numie type. Go back one generation and they they rocket to the moon.
@seatedlib3991 said:
It is not my question to answer, but I think the circulating history's of the two different coins has resulted in very different results. Seated coins went thru periods of hoarding and then getting pushed back into the economy. I think Barber coins hit the economy at the exact time that there was a much larger demand for circulating coins. I have often seen low grade Seated coins with a variety of toning that would indicate a much different past. It seems all most all low grade Barber coins have the well used grey you would expect for work horse coins that were used extensively. James Thanks for question though, it was interesting to reflect on.
Interesting comment. I hadn't considered the differences in how they circulated and the effects of hoarding on their condition.
To follow up on this, I like the dark toning on Capped Bust halves as well, and they are well known to have spent considerable time in bank vaults. I have over a dozen terminally toned BCHs and could easily become a CBH Nut.
Hairlines from wiping bother me more than they should, and I would see more annoying hairlining on toned Barbers than I did on the SLHs I'd purchase. That may simply reflect my ability at detecting cleaning at that time. Gradually I lost interest in Barbers and focused on SLHs, a design I liked more, one in which even common dates held significant value in lower grades, and the set is huge so one can fill it with nice, raw, common date and even some rare date coins scrounging off of eBay.
@Barberian . I ended up going for Seated Halves big time but must admit once upon a time I was going to collect Barber coins only a bad experience affected me.
I had to sell most of my collection in the fall of 1982 but by 1984 I was back again to start a new collection. I spent months looking through Coin World, the Redbook and various coin magazines. A lawsuit went my way and I was awarded a nice chunk of money to start my new collection.
I found an add in Coin World. The hook was that they (there were 3 dealers) had over 100 years of experience. They belonged to all the usual alphabet soup groups. Most importantly they had high circulated grade Barbers in all three denominations. i selected one coin from each denomination to see which one I should go with. Then things went sideways.
I knew I was in trouble the second I got the coins. The Barber Half had been whizzed to death. Both the dime and the quarter had odd grey splotches that turned black! in less than 3 days.
Won't bore you with the protracted mess that followed but they swore I was the crook and was trying to return different coins. All three dealers swore they inspected all coins and their man Dennis was of unimpeachable reputation. Last thing the great Dennis said to me on the phone was. "Geeze, you 'd think you were the only guy to ever get the bait and switch". A statement I always considered a confession.
Anyway, the whole thing almost put me off coin collecting entirely, and absolutely effected the way i looked at Barber coins. James
@seatedlib3991 said: @Barberian . I ended up going for Seated Halves big time but must admit once upon a time I was going to collect Barber coins only a bad experience affected me.
I had to sell most of my collection in the fall of 1982 but by 1984 I was back again to start a new collection. I spent months looking through Coin World, the Redbook and various coin magazines. A lawsuit went my way and I was awarded a nice chunk of money to start my new collection.
I found an add in Coin World. The hook was that they (there were 3 dealers) had over 100 years of experience. They belonged to all the usual alphabet soup groups. Most importantly they had high circulated grade Barbers in all three denominations. i selected one coin from each denomination to see which one I should go with. Then things went sideways.
I knew I was in trouble the second I got the coins. The Barber Half had been whizzed to death. Both the dime and the quarter had odd grey splotches that turned black! in less than 3 days.
Won't bore you with the protracted mess that followed but they swore I was the crook and was trying to return different coins. All three dealers swore they inspected all coins and their man Dennis was of unimpeachable reputation. Last thing the great Dennis said to me on the phone was. "Geeze, you 'd think you were the only guy to ever get the bait and switch". A statement I always considered a confession.
Anyway, the whole thing almost put me off coin collecting entirely, and absolutely effected the way i looked at Barber coins. James
A dealer was also involved in my initial Barber half efforts as well. A highly reputable one from what I learned here years later. At least once a year I read amazing praise and testimonies about this seller here. Well, that dealer or their assistant sold me a nice gray Barber half with someone's initials carved into the eagle's chest, then gave me grief when I wanted to return the coin. I doubt it had much effect on my switching series, but I've always been amused at the praise for this dealer. Maybe the seller or assistant was just teasing me, but it left me with a negative impression of that seller.
@davewesen, I read your post in a different thread in which I said I wouldn’t post further, so I’ll address it here, instead.
You wrote:
“If people post to a thread NOT from today, it gets brought to the top - you know that
at least there is new content +++”
Yes, of course I know that when someone starts a thread, they can’t control whether or when it gets brought to the top if someone else replies.
Your bringing several of my old threads to the top in order to make your point about lordmarcovan‘s
threads ignores a major consideration and strikes me as disingenuous. I didn’t start 5 threads in a single day or double digit threads in the same week. I’m sure that you understand the difference.
And now, I’ll stop posting to any threads on this divisive topic.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I am a nickel nerd and have mostly always been that way.
My first collections were in folders from roll searching. Jefferson nickels in particular were the most affordable collection to complete and it sort of snowballed from them into UNC then graded Jeffersons and eventually all nickels and other non-gold denominations.
I like the number 5 so nickels and half dimes fit perfectly with that.
@cladking said:
I like modern coins in chBU that have a denomination equivalent about to the price of a loaf of bread when they were issued. Most are quarter size and made of cu/ni.
They are the workhorse of most coinage systems and were often undersaved. They are high enough denominations that people think of them still as "real money" and were expensive to set aside. Most have been degraded or melted in far higher percentages than other coins.
I don't now if they melt clad coins. They don't seem to wear out.
Like most double digit kids in the late 50's, I started with Lincoln's and Indians. Both were readily available at cost. 4-5 Indians in a roll. Never cared for Lincolns design, but what I could afford. I do have my last Complete Lincoln set, lacking the 09SVDB, which I had to let go several years ago. 😥
Absolutely loved Indians since starting and never owned the 77 and only an ag 09S.
I graduated to Buffalo's with the advent of my paper route at 12. Many from change. Loved them also, still have my 3rd set.
I went through mist every 20th century silver coins liking the Walkers the best. A couple if those, sets and still have my National Album complete.
About 20 years ago, I picked up the bug for early copper and spent 10 years with both 1 cent and ½ cents.
But a couple of years ago, thanks to the help of @Cladiator , @Bikergeek and @yosclimber I learned to absolutely love ½ dimes. Clad, who is one generous individual, GAVE me a copy of Logan McCloskey's book, which has opened up the avenue allowing me to learn so quickly. Sean has been invaluable to me keeping me focused and concentrating. So easy to
miss so much while seeing so little. Any attribution surfer knows what I mean. It takes so many right things to attribute a coin, but only one wrong thing to disprove it.
Mark, I've rambled on, but I hope I"ve answered your question. In early collecting, I collected what I had access to and later life only what I liked.
Jim
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
Though my collecting interests are not exclusive to this “type”, it’s a “recipe” I particularly favor…. Early federal coins from SCARCE historical dates/eras, original and in lower circulated grades, with old holders, and stickered. Mind you, I do NOT insist on particular holder types or stickers, and always buy the coin because of the coin itself. However, I do think scarce early dates in early holders, with CAC, will always be in higher demand, hence more liquid, and liquidity IS important to me.
This is a really good example - scarce date, nicely circulated, from the John Adams era as the country was just coming together. This, I like as an example of that preferred recipe….
Is it due to: the design? affordability? ties to your childhood?
Viewing bust halves for the first time as a child blew my mind. I remember that they were in an album but some were loose because I remember stacking perhaps 5-6 of them and admiring the edge lettering and design. The dark, original toning and the design itself with the lettered edge had this aura of age, beauty, and scarcity that left me awestruck. Ever since, I've liked dark toning and the feeling of age and originality that it conveys.
I love this photo, and it takes me back to that first exposure to their beauty when I was 9 or 10 years old. I own about a dozen of them today, yet I've never collected them by date or die marriage. They're also quite affordable in low to mid grades.
I generally like to collect sets by die varieties, and more recently die states too. I was drawn to large format silver dollars because they were out of reach for me when I was a paperboy kid collector way back when. I got into VAMs for many years after doing prooflike Morgans (had all but 93-S and 00-O/CC, many with multiple VAMs), because I used the fact that I was upgrading one of my PLs with a different VAM as an excuse for not selling the previous coin of the date. After doing VAMs for decades, I tackled cataloguing Trade varieties over the pandemic for something to do, applying the sensibilities from VAMs and avoiding the their cataloguing problems. Tried Seated and Ikes with less interest. Early dollars (Flowing Hair and Draped Bust) did infect me though.
I did a lot of other sets: half cents by variety, 1811 C-1 cent die states (a lot of fun -- the development of that cud produced some ultrarare intermediate states), 2.5 dollar gold around the civil war years, Lafayette dollars by die pair, Daniel Carr products that were overstruck on large format silver dollars or included their design elements, Shawnee & Poarch Creek silver dollars (BU/PF set completed), ... There is definitely a madness to it, but unsure if it is correlated to a method.
Oddly, the current Type I am collecting are St. Gaudens double eagles, with minimal exposure to varieties. Just adding the handful of cherrypicker ones. How I got into them is that I was stacking gold and silver and figured Saints were close melt for many dates in MS65. Started them at the Buena Park show a bit over a month ago. Of course, I changed from meltish ones to the full set and targeting one grade below top pop for each. I am probably about 2/3 complete at this point. Been selling off the early dollars since FUN and will probably do the same for the Saints by the next FUN. I enjoy the pursuit but don't want to hold things so nobody else in my generation will have the opportunity.
Thank you! It’s a great date both in the series as well as in general, along with 1802. 1802 half cents are among my favorites.
Somewhat related, I’m watching the John Adams miniseries on HBO Max, it’s quite good in my opinion.
I of course had to start with Lincolns pulled from circulation, being born in 1955 and starting collecting in 1962. My first big find was a 22 no D strong reverse that I kept for many decades. But having pretty much completed the 09-58 Lincolns in MS65 other than a couple of misses (17 DDO in XF45, 22 no D in XF45, and 55 DDO in MS62) and still hunting down some tough DDO/R, getting a 43 DDO MS65 this week to be with my 43/2-S from Heritage last year.
But yeah, I have spread out a lot, did a 12 Caesars and lots of associated figures in silver and many in gold, along with many type coins.
Still waiting for delivery on a 44BC XF 4/5 4/5 Caesar Dictator in Perpituity Wreathed 14 months after the auction -- would not use EU auctions again, did not know about cultural certificates and the other regulatory hurdles, but it is supposedly going to UPS today, I'll believe it when I actually see it in hand. UPS returned it to France from The US recieving point after I paid customs in February and the auction house had to get new papers since UPS destroyed the old ones, ugh. Really don't know what to do when I go after an Eid Mar, snice I see most in Europe.
Peace dollars baby! When I started collecting them it was for several reasons. The design is bold, daring, and beautiful in my mind, especially when compared to the Morgan. The Morgan is fine, but it’s so……. gosh darn common. Too many issues too. The Peace dollar is like the hot redhead little sister. At the time, (10 years ago) I thought the design would have an upsurge in popularity at its 100 year anniversary and that I might ride that wave a bit value-wise. Turns out l, was correct - at least a little.
The series isn’t enormous - 2 dozen coins makes for a tidy collection that almost fits in one box. There isn’t a single issue that is impossible to find. It’s quite possible to be familiar with the quirks and qualities of each individual issue. Sets with 50% of the value in a single key-date coin bother me some. In high MS grades there are several semi-keys, and the 34-S is just in the mix. The coins can be found really, really nice, often in original blast-white luster.
One drawback is that they don’t generally tone nicely - certainly nothing like the bag toning (and modern chemical look-alikes of original bag toning) sometimes found on Morgans. When you do find a nice toner Peace dollar, it’s special.
With very few exceptions, there are no silly proofs to contend with either. These things were made with business in mind.
Finally, this was the last major denomination to feature allegorical Liberty before the onslaught of politician coins. She held that spot until the 1970s. (Moderns that nobody has ever seen don’t count).
@BryceM . An excellent appeal to anyone looking for something to collect. I will have to consider taking a shot at them when I finish with Seated coins. Reincarnation may be required at some point but one never knows. james
Comments
Thanks to everyone for your thoughtful, interesting replies and stories!
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Should this have been a poll question?
My Father started us out (2 older brothers) on Lincoln Wheat Cents albums. As my Mother owned a neighborhood grocery store back in the 60's/70's, we would put away all silver...
Lincoln's are cool to me because of the long history, the VDB controversy, the low mintage 1914-D, the 1922 no-D, the 1955 DDO, design change of 59, ETC... I will say that I am not a fan of the Shield...
I'll make a point that hasn't been made here yet.
One of the greatest appeals to what I collect is the fact that nobody can ever have a complete collection. New discoveries are fairly frequent and plentiful. Nobody can even accurately define a "complete" collection. Instead, acquiring as many different examples as possible is the goal. It's sort of like chopmarked trade dollars in that respect, each one different.
And rarity? Notes of the highest rarity with 1-5 examples known start around $100 and most can be had under $1000. Scarce notes with 25-200 known can usually be had under $100. And it doesn't take very much to push prices up in such a thin market.
Not as far as I was concerned. I declined to use a poll format because I wanted to include more than a few options for answers and encourage stories and discussion.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Interesting thread Mark!
Similar to @Catbert, I picked up the hobby again some 20 years ago. Previously, like many, I collected mostly circulated coins to place in albums (any & all up to dollars). When I commenced again, I started with key dates, particularly the ones I couldn’t fill in albums. It wasn’t long I realized I had a lot to learn instead of sole reliance on those “in the know”. So, I studied, read & studied & read some more. I slowly built a network of both like minded & collectors focused differently. I eventually moved into Morgan dollars. I liked the history & the classic beauty of the piece.
Along the way, I became closely acquainted with a gentleman, now deceased, who was both a copper specialist & a knowledgeable generalist. This numismatist became a mentor & I started to accumulate some nice Lincolns with his guidance.
From there, I became involved into what’s my specialty (& focus) today - Indians & Flying Eagles. The latter has one of the great designs in US coinage, imo. The former has an amazing history spanning 51 years. In this field, too, I had a mentor from whom I learned a lot. Gradually, I became a dedicated variety collector; again out of a developed interest.
Like many of the IHC collectors, I focused at first on the RD ones. Eventually I became attracted to toners & remain so until this day.
Finally, I added “secondary” interests: half dimes & Walkers. Odd duo, right? The former I saw as an area not many collectors explore + all the beautiful toners that are available on many of these “little beasts”. As far as the Walkers, I’m focused on the early ones. And, like others have said, they are perhaps the most beautifully designed of all US coins. Someday soon, I’ll dive into the gold dollars again. Stay tuned!
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
Nickelodeon
I like copper coins because they’re otherwise nearly worthless. I like 1 cent coins because just minted they’re common, and collecting rare things once common presents a nice juxtaposition.
Empty Nest Collection
And your collection is first class!
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Wheat cents pulled from circulation will also be nearest and dearest to my heart. It's how my father got me started when I was in elementary school (mid 70s). I was able to get a lot of them in that 1st Whitman folder, but eventually we had to go to a local show to finish the folder. I still pull good looking coins out of circulation and put them in Whitman folders.
As an aside, I never get tired of seeing @BillJones roll out photos of some of his Classic Head gold pieces. I have a handful of Classic Heads in my collection, but my pieces aren't even close to his beauties.
Focus Mark. It's all about focus.
At least it is for me.
I love the Hobby as a whole, but there's too much to get a handle on. I need to focus. I love to focus. I love to tear a coin down and know as much as I can about it.
We all have our own things and ways.
It's just me.
Pete
Generally like half $ size or higher.
Capped bust half dimes (1829-1837, by die marriages, 124 coins)
1. I prefer silver over other metals
2. Classic series have more appeal to me than moderns
3. My former multi-series approach was too broad and scattershot, and I needed focus
4. The early mint did a lot of things by hand and with old-style equipment (eg., screw press), and kept dies in service way too long, that resulted in interesting die characteristics - which fascinate me
5. There's a great reference ("Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837," by Logan and McCloskey) that has held up well
6. ... but there are still new discoveries being made (1835 LM-12 in 2007, 1830 LM-9.3 recognized in 2023)
7. The community was (and remains) welcoming and helpful
8. In particular, having a guru like @Barndog was a huge blessing
9. I envisioned a nice set that fit within my (multi-year) budget, but not too easily
10. I can (and do) own marriages/remarriages that are objectively RARE (because the collector base is smaller)
My (infrequently updated) hobby website Groovycoins.com
After developing presbyopia and discovering eBay (!!), I decided to abandon my childhood focus on pennies and dimes and collect larger coins. I wanted a series that was vast, was valuable in circulated grades, and where one could acquire raw original coins that would straight-grade off of eBay to fill a Dansco.
Kennedys are a huge set, but not scarce enough in circulated grades, and it's not smart to collect condition rarities in a Dansco if you're a slob. Barbers were disappointing - too many raw coins that looked original were cleaned and the photography on eBay was insufficient to catch them. Walkers are a beautiful design, but they're a weird set to collect with the huge difference in availability between early and post '33 dates. Then, @MarkFeld sold me a beautiful '39-D Walker that promptly dropped $200 in value along with other higher-grade Walkers, so Walkers faded in my mind. I still love that splash of mulberry toned 39-D Walker, though. Too bad I have no photos of it.
Seated Liberty halves were perfect, a classic design, a huge series with lots of affordable dates, and lots of raw coins in original condition available on eBay to fill a Dansco. Subsets like the ultra-low mintage yet readily available '80s dates have their own appeal. My first few SLH, all raw, original coins of eBay, "set the hook."
Circulated Classic commemoratives have also been fun and inexpensive to collect as a second set. Some great designs in the mix. Just don't expect them to appreciate much. They're perfect for a large marketplace like eBay. I also like the look of light to moderately circulated commemoratives, and particularly where the toning can enhance the design.
That's very interesting! Why would raw SLHs not be cleaned like raw Barber Halves?
50 + coin machines were collected by 2 of us and destroyed. Inside these machines, many coins were tossed in the cabinet section.
The magnets placed in their train of the coin count, to me, were so powerful. When extracted, and attached to anything,
movement was very ...lets say lol.
Many years of coins were filtered. The one cent, that I knew about, but I never saw such a clean coin of a 1943 steel,
and was attached to one of these magnets and never moved, kick started me.
Then the 1982 cent came into play as I have many, due to a armored truck co. moving into our neighborhood, which must have stirred up some inventory. (Phila. area)
I believe it's because seated Liberty halves have had longer to acquire toning and one can judge their originality and even hairlining better by their toning in photos whereas hairlining is easy to hide on lighter toned coins with lighting angles. A lot of those early SLH coins were well toned such as the coin below.
I just started looking for original-looking toning amongst raw coins and found them more often in the SLH. At least I had much better luck finding them on eBay. Here's one of each plucked raw off eBay.
I try not to overthink it, i don't always succeed but I try. I have to like the design of a series to seriously collect it. If there's a reasonable expectation of completing a set I'll attempt a set, if not I'll gather an accumulation of choice pieces, maybe some with different types of luster and die states.
It is not my question to answer, but I think the circulating history's of the two different coins has resulted in very different results. Seated coins went thru periods of hoarding and then getting pushed back into the economy. I think Barber coins hit the economy at the exact time that there was a much larger demand for circulating coins. I have often seen low grade Seated coins with a variety of toning that would indicate a much different past. It seems all most all low grade Barber coins have the well used grey you would expect for work horse coins that were used extensively. James Thanks for question though, it was interesting to reflect on.
Many years ago, I found a really cool dealer. His name was Mark. He helped me build a nice type set. Once I was happy with the set I had to pick something new to start on. I wanted to go with larger and older toned coins. Bust Half Dollars were a good fit for me. A guy named Al offered me part of his collection and it gave me a start to a great collection. That's about all I collect anymore.
You meet some cool people on coin forums.
Interesting comment. I hadn't considered the differences in how they circulated and the effects of hoarding on their condition.
Sometimes I go overseas.
IMO, that could be a LIBERTY portrait just as easily.
Okay, I was sick all week, but I really have wanted to post this (I know, this is my second response).
Maybe it's the med's
.
lala la la lala la la
.
I
Like
Big
Bust
and I can not lie
You other Collector's just can't deny
When one shows up with a little color on her face
and plenty of luster to grace
my wallet gets a twichin'
and my fingers get to itchin'
And I need to figure out how to make her mine!
.
I
Like
Big
Bust
and I can not lie
Put her in PCGS with a Bean and she's a special prize
But I like 'em when they're graded low or high
Whether the Eagle's ready to fight or head held high.
It's all about the coin, and I'm ready to try!
.
I like Big BUST!
.
.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
I ALSO like Big Busts and I cannot lie!
They allow me lots of coins to buy!!
Hope you feel better Pursuit!
Changed for me over time, but I generally like or dislike the design:
1. At one point it was gold and I preferred the Liberty coins, especially the $20. The Mexican gold peso coins are also nice.
2. Now I like Bust, Seated Liberty, and Walking Liberty Halves
3. Affordability is a big issue
4. An entire set doesn't make sense to me; the design is usually the same but one has to pay more for a certain date
5. Ties to childhood in that I can now afford what I could not afford then.
6. Remembrance of family only plays a part for inherited/gifted coins
7. History is a big component and I prefer 19th Century to 20th Century, except for a few dates like 1918, 1948, etc.
8. Age plays no part; once you have the coin bug it is always lurking; just have to say no more sometimes
I’m all over the map. Literally.
https://www.colleconline.com/en/collections/4508/lordmarcovan
World, Ancient & Medieval, US Type, Exonumia. You name it. If I like it, I grab it.
Under that vast aegis, I have lots of smaller spotlights of focus. Maybe it’s the ruler or historical era of the coin I’m interested in. Maybe the aesthetics of a cool design. The best coins combine all that: history and aesthetics.
Although I've moved on to different interests, my first love was Indian Head Cents. When I was around 10 years old I would go through the dealer's junk bin pulling out dates to fill an album. I later moved on to nice XF to Unc. pieces. I've since sold most of those coins but still have an affinity for them, so a childhood connection for sure.
Like my friend Rob, Lord Marcovan I collect a wide range of coins, foreign, and United States, new and old I like them all!
There are many factors as to why, primarily aesthetics, but also rarity, and the history of when and where these coins were made lots of factors that make these things so much fun!
I have things that are super common, but extraordinarily pretty:
And then others that are a little bit crude, but very beautiful to me, LOTS of character:
Right on up to modern Coins that I have had a lot of fun with recently:
I definitely like finding and having coins that aren’t so easy to find scarcity is part of the fun for me.
I also like paper money, especially the weird, obscure stuff:
One thing, though, originality is vital! I can’t deal with stuff that’s been altered or processed…
This has been a fun thread to read!
Hopefully Lord Marcovan will join in…
My YouTube Channel
I like these a lot, they are as good as it gets for "exotic/price" ratio. Amazingly cheap for how cool they are and how special they would look to a non-numie type. Go back one generation and they they rocket to the moon.
To follow up on this, I like the dark toning on Capped Bust halves as well, and they are well known to have spent considerable time in bank vaults. I have over a dozen terminally toned BCHs and could easily become a CBH Nut.
Hairlines from wiping bother me more than they should, and I would see more annoying hairlining on toned Barbers than I did on the SLHs I'd purchase. That may simply reflect my ability at detecting cleaning at that time. Gradually I lost interest in Barbers and focused on SLHs, a design I liked more, one in which even common dates held significant value in lower grades, and the set is huge so one can fill it with nice, raw, common date and even some rare date coins scrounging off of eBay.
Two raw SLHs that graded VF35 and VF25.
A decent raw Barber half that graded VF35.
@Barberian . I ended up going for Seated Halves big time but must admit once upon a time I was going to collect Barber coins only a bad experience affected me.
I had to sell most of my collection in the fall of 1982 but by 1984 I was back again to start a new collection. I spent months looking through Coin World, the Redbook and various coin magazines. A lawsuit went my way and I was awarded a nice chunk of money to start my new collection.
I found an add in Coin World. The hook was that they (there were 3 dealers) had over 100 years of experience. They belonged to all the usual alphabet soup groups. Most importantly they had high circulated grade Barbers in all three denominations. i selected one coin from each denomination to see which one I should go with. Then things went sideways.
I knew I was in trouble the second I got the coins. The Barber Half had been whizzed to death. Both the dime and the quarter had odd grey splotches that turned black! in less than 3 days.
Won't bore you with the protracted mess that followed but they swore I was the crook and was trying to return different coins. All three dealers swore they inspected all coins and their man Dennis was of unimpeachable reputation. Last thing the great Dennis said to me on the phone was. "Geeze, you 'd think you were the only guy to ever get the bait and switch". A statement I always considered a confession.
Anyway, the whole thing almost put me off coin collecting entirely, and absolutely effected the way i looked at Barber coins. James
A dealer was also involved in my initial Barber half efforts as well. A highly reputable one from what I learned here years later. At least once a year I read amazing praise and testimonies about this seller here. Well, that dealer or their assistant sold me a nice gray Barber half with someone's initials carved into the eagle's chest, then gave me grief when I wanted to return the coin. I doubt it had much effect on my switching series, but I've always been amused at the praise for this dealer. Maybe the seller or assistant was just teasing me, but it left me with a negative impression of that seller.
They are affordable to me and I have gotten better grading them when raw
@davewesen, I read your post in a different thread in which I said I wouldn’t post further, so I’ll address it here, instead.
You wrote:
“If people post to a thread NOT from today, it gets brought to the top - you know that
at least there is new content +++”
Yes, of course I know that when someone starts a thread, they can’t control whether or when it gets brought to the top if someone else replies.
Your bringing several of my old threads to the top in order to make your point about lordmarcovan‘s
threads ignores a major consideration and strikes me as disingenuous. I didn’t start 5 threads in a single day or double digit threads in the same week. I’m sure that you understand the difference.
And now, I’ll stop posting to any threads on this divisive topic.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Wow. All this angst. This is why I don't watch The Young & The Restless with my wife. I can't handle angst. james
I am a nickel nerd and have mostly always been that way.
My first collections were in folders from roll searching. Jefferson nickels in particular were the most affordable collection to complete and it sort of snowballed from them into UNC then graded Jeffersons and eventually all nickels and other non-gold denominations.
I like the number 5 so nickels and half dimes fit perfectly with that.
https://www.autismforums.com/media/albums/acrylic-colors-by-rocco.291/
I don't now if they melt clad coins. They don't seem to wear out.
Like most double digit kids in the late 50's, I started with Lincoln's and Indians. Both were readily available at cost. 4-5 Indians in a roll. Never cared for Lincolns design, but what I could afford. I do have my last Complete Lincoln set, lacking the 09SVDB, which I had to let go several years ago. 😥
Absolutely loved Indians since starting and never owned the 77 and only an ag 09S.
I graduated to Buffalo's with the advent of my paper route at 12. Many from change. Loved them also, still have my 3rd set.
I went through mist every 20th century silver coins liking the Walkers the best. A couple if those, sets and still have my National Album complete.
About 20 years ago, I picked up the bug for early copper and spent 10 years with both 1 cent and ½ cents.
But a couple of years ago, thanks to the help of @Cladiator , @Bikergeek and @yosclimber I learned to absolutely love ½ dimes. Clad, who is one generous individual, GAVE me a copy of Logan McCloskey's book, which has opened up the avenue allowing me to learn so quickly. Sean has been invaluable to me keeping me focused and concentrating. So easy to
miss so much while seeing so little. Any attribution surfer knows what I mean. It takes so many right things to attribute a coin, but only one wrong thing to disprove it.
Mark, I've rambled on, but I hope I"ve answered your question. In early collecting, I collected what I had access to and later life only what I liked.
Jim
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
Though my collecting interests are not exclusive to this “type”, it’s a “recipe” I particularly favor…. Early federal coins from SCARCE historical dates/eras, original and in lower circulated grades, with old holders, and stickered. Mind you, I do NOT insist on particular holder types or stickers, and always buy the coin because of the coin itself. However, I do think scarce early dates in early holders, with CAC, will always be in higher demand, hence more liquid, and liquidity IS important to me.
This is a really good example - scarce date, nicely circulated, from the John Adams era as the country was just coming together. This, I like as an example of that preferred recipe….
Is it due to:
the design?
affordability?
ties to your childhood?
Viewing bust halves for the first time as a child blew my mind. I remember that they were in an album but some were loose because I remember stacking perhaps 5-6 of them and admiring the edge lettering and design. The dark, original toning and the design itself with the lettered edge had this aura of age, beauty, and scarcity that left me awestruck. Ever since, I've liked dark toning and the feeling of age and originality that it conveys.
I love this photo, and it takes me back to that first exposure to their beauty when I was 9 or 10 years old. I own about a dozen of them today, yet I've never collected them by date or die marriage. They're also quite affordable in low to mid grades.
I generally like to collect sets by die varieties, and more recently die states too. I was drawn to large format silver dollars because they were out of reach for me when I was a paperboy kid collector way back when. I got into VAMs for many years after doing prooflike Morgans (had all but 93-S and 00-O/CC, many with multiple VAMs), because I used the fact that I was upgrading one of my PLs with a different VAM as an excuse for not selling the previous coin of the date. After doing VAMs for decades, I tackled cataloguing Trade varieties over the pandemic for something to do, applying the sensibilities from VAMs and avoiding the their cataloguing problems. Tried Seated and Ikes with less interest. Early dollars (Flowing Hair and Draped Bust) did infect me though.
I did a lot of other sets: half cents by variety, 1811 C-1 cent die states (a lot of fun -- the development of that cud produced some ultrarare intermediate states), 2.5 dollar gold around the civil war years, Lafayette dollars by die pair, Daniel Carr products that were overstruck on large format silver dollars or included their design elements, Shawnee & Poarch Creek silver dollars (BU/PF set completed), ... There is definitely a madness to it, but unsure if it is correlated to a method.
Oddly, the current Type I am collecting are St. Gaudens double eagles, with minimal exposure to varieties. Just adding the handful of cherrypicker ones. How I got into them is that I was stacking gold and silver and figured Saints were close melt for many dates in MS65. Started them at the Buena Park show a bit over a month ago. Of course, I changed from meltish ones to the full set and targeting one grade below top pop for each. I am probably about 2/3 complete at this point. Been selling off the early dollars since FUN and will probably do the same for the Saints by the next FUN. I enjoy the pursuit but don't want to hold things so nobody else in my generation will have the opportunity.
It has high demand plus really like its design.
Great 1801 VG dime!
Thank you! It’s a great date both in the series as well as in general, along with 1802. 1802 half cents are among my favorites.
Somewhat related, I’m watching the John Adams miniseries on HBO Max, it’s quite good in my opinion.
Is it due to:
Affordability (face value)
Possibility of acquiring an entire set. (Done)
Accessibility (Banks or Circulation)
I guess these are specific types and completes the set of the series.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
I of course had to start with Lincolns pulled from circulation, being born in 1955 and starting collecting in 1962. My first big find was a 22 no D strong reverse that I kept for many decades. But having pretty much completed the 09-58 Lincolns in MS65 other than a couple of misses (17 DDO in XF45, 22 no D in XF45, and 55 DDO in MS62) and still hunting down some tough DDO/R, getting a 43 DDO MS65 this week to be with my 43/2-S from Heritage last year.
But yeah, I have spread out a lot, did a 12 Caesars and lots of associated figures in silver and many in gold, along with many type coins.
Still waiting for delivery on a 44BC XF 4/5 4/5 Caesar Dictator in Perpituity Wreathed 14 months after the auction -- would not use EU auctions again, did not know about cultural certificates and the other regulatory hurdles, but it is supposedly going to UPS today, I'll believe it when I actually see it in hand. UPS returned it to France from The US recieving point after I paid customs in February and the auction house had to get new papers since UPS destroyed the old ones, ugh. Really don't know what to do when I go after an Eid Mar, snice I see most in Europe.
Aren't you glad we now have PCGS and CAC! We just need to decide if we like the way a coin looks.
Peace dollars baby! When I started collecting them it was for several reasons. The design is bold, daring, and beautiful in my mind, especially when compared to the Morgan. The Morgan is fine, but it’s so……. gosh darn common. Too many issues too. The Peace dollar is like the hot redhead little sister. At the time, (10 years ago) I thought the design would have an upsurge in popularity at its 100 year anniversary and that I might ride that wave a bit value-wise. Turns out l, was correct - at least a little.
The series isn’t enormous - 2 dozen coins makes for a tidy collection that almost fits in one box. There isn’t a single issue that is impossible to find. It’s quite possible to be familiar with the quirks and qualities of each individual issue. Sets with 50% of the value in a single key-date coin bother me some. In high MS grades there are several semi-keys, and the 34-S is just in the mix. The coins can be found really, really nice, often in original blast-white luster.
One drawback is that they don’t generally tone nicely - certainly nothing like the bag toning (and modern chemical look-alikes of original bag toning) sometimes found on Morgans. When you do find a nice toner Peace dollar, it’s special.
With very few exceptions, there are no silly proofs to contend with either. These things were made with business in mind.
Finally, this was the last major denomination to feature allegorical Liberty before the onslaught of politician coins. She held that spot until the 1970s. (Moderns that nobody has ever seen don’t count).
@BryceM . An excellent appeal to anyone looking for something to collect. I will have to consider taking a shot at them when I finish with Seated coins. Reincarnation may be required at some point but one never knows. james