Friday Evening Post: your favorite series and why you collect it.

keets · April 11, 2003 11:58AM

What is your favorite series and why do you collect it?? My happens to be Jefferson Nickels. I've always been fascinated with the whole Lewis and Clark expedition, the role it played in our country's development and the role Jefferson played in the expedition and the happenings of his time. While the design of the coin is seen as bland by many, I like the obverse portrait and the date running along the rim plus the use of a building on the reverse. As many are learning recently, the nickel alloy seems to have a penchant for rather attractive toning!! I like the metallic blue, especially when it circles the coin.

So what's the favorite series that you collect and some reasons behind it's attraction to you?

Al H.

LucyBop · April 11, 2003 12:01PM

I'm undecided.

MrEureka · April 11, 2003 12:12PM

I'm undecided.

Priceless!

JTMC · April 11, 2003 12:19PM

my favorite series to collect is the standing liberty quarters. i just like all the detail on these coins.my set consists of vf-au. i really dont collect slabed .although in the last 3 weeks i did pick up 2 1909 vdb ms67's and 2 ms67 2000 reverse error lincolns.

braddick · April 11, 2003 12:25PM

keets- It's funny you should bring up this Thread because I was just thinking of you earlier yesterday, regarding the Jefferson nickel.
Due to your enthusiasm for the series, you got me collecting these (raw, MS GEMS, in a Dansco) about two months ago.
(Right after reading your 1965 SMS DCAM Thread.)

I'm throughly enjoying this series.
Different varieties; metal types and some tougher coins in super high GEM condition.
Original coins may still be obtained reasonably too- if you know where to look.

I'm about 60% complete and the display of these coins together is attractive.
I guess I'm thanking you for introducing me to this great series without you even knowing you were doing so!

Fairlaneman · April 11, 2003 12:27PM

Have not decided yet on a favorite. Thinking hard about State Quarters though.

Ken

FC57Coins · April 11, 2003 12:30PM

No doubt about it - even though I find colorful Morgans and DMPL Morgans fascinating, I'm always drawn back to the Franklin series as my favorite. The coins are interesting, the history is interesting and they're down right scarce in excellent condition!

nwcs · April 11, 2003 12:36PM

I have no favorite series, but I seem to have lots of morgans, lincolns, roosevelts, jeffersons, and am getting more mercuries. I think I like getting eye appealing coins and coins that are inexpensive. I'm really not sure how I want to proceed: inexpensive quality but with many coins or expensive quality with fewer coins.

Fairlaneman · April 11, 2003 12:38PM

Franklins are Scarce ? I did not know that. Maybe I'll look into that series.

Ken

ccr · April 11, 2003 12:56PM

Morgans for me. I was hooked when I was a kid and my Dad brought some home. I couldn`t stop looking at them and enjoyed looking at the detail. I still get a big kick out of it when I look at one today.

Max · April 11, 2003 1:00PM

Bust Halves or Bust! I love them dirty, mottled and ugly. These are rare historic coins. I now have 278 of them and now just collect them when I see a bargain. When I die I envision a Heritage auction with my photo laying down on over 1000 Bust slabs. Heaven!

fcloud · April 11, 2003 1:06PM

Many years ago I was collecting just about everything. In about 1979 I sold almost everything and learned not to build sets because the dealers only wanted to buy the keys. Anyway about 10 months ago I started a silver proof (pr69dcam) state quarter series. That got me restarted on another set, and the only set I plan to complete is my Winged Liberty (Mercury) dime set. The coins remind me of when I was a kid in the late 1950s and early 1960s. My Mom would give my brother and I 12 cents for bus fair. Many times we would get bright shiney Mercury dimes. Some parts of the set are cheap and easy to find, while others are tough, and I do enjoy a challage (I hope my pocketbook holds up).

Tony

wingedliberty · April 11, 2003 1:06PM

Keets:
Would you be surprised if I said Mercury dimes. I love the series because it combines the perfect combination of NeoClassical and 20th century design. I reminds me of a Roman denarius. I love the impression of flight and movement combined with the fasces on the reverse as a symbol of unity and strength. The design is also aesthetically pleasing because its so well centered. Adolf Weinmann learned from St.Gaudens and it is evident. I also love Walkers, Jeffs, Roosies and British Sovereigns.

Brian

longtimecollector · April 11, 2003 1:09PM

Seated Liberty Half Dollars......... The MOST UNDERVALUED-UNAPPRECIATED coin in todays marketplace....... Take a GOOD look at the mintages from 1879-1890..... The ENTIRE 12 year run has a COMBINED mintage of right around 100,000 pieces....... TOTAL !!!!!!! Thats 1/8th the mintage of a 77 Indian, 1/5th the mintage of an S-VDB........less that 1/2 the production of 16-D's..........1/28th the mintage of the SCARCEST FRANKIE (sorry Lucy)..........and about equal to the mintage of 93-S Morgans!!!

All this plus the series has enough "varieties" to keep you looking, searching, discovering and LEARNING for a lifetime........ Without having to sell your firstborn........ Miss Liberty, 1839-1891.......

Damn it....... now my secrets out...........

WWW · April 11, 2003 1:10PM

The toned commemoratives. The variety of designs and the different toning patterns appeal to me like no other series.
Following very closely behind that preference are the toned Buffalo and Jefferson nickels. Sorry, I can't pick just one.

jonesy · April 11, 2003 1:31PM

Buffalo Nickels, enough said

Glenn

Striker · April 11, 2003 1:36PM

Mercury dimes for me. I'm not sure why but I'm drawn to them.

EVillageProwler · April 11, 2003 1:43PM

I'll give you 5 choices from which to choose:

1. SQ's, because I love being able to acquire them from circulation. Plus, it's nice to know how the Mint has mangled the original design choices from the states...

2. SBA's, because I think the design is just so lovely.

3. Modern commems, because they have such excellent re-sale value in the after-market!

4. Seated dollars, because they are grossly underrated (especially in original condition) and big and majestic.

5. Sac's, because I though they were really made of gold and I thought I was getting a bargain!

EVP

Fairlaneman · April 11, 2003 1:45PM

Guess I'll go with Adolph's Pretty Little Ladies. No special reason other than a lot of other folks seem to like them.

Ken

oldcameoproofsguy · April 11, 2003 1:58PM

My favorite series is the proof Barber quarters. They are beautiful, rare and a real challenge to find in CAM or DCAM condition. I would collect the half dollar coins but for me they are prohibitively expensive.

lclugza · April 11, 2003 2:09PM

I like the "sexy" Type One SLQs!

itsnotjustme · April 11, 2003 2:43PM

Type. Period. I get a little of each!

Typetone · April 11, 2003 6:26PM

20th Century type. It just doesn't get any better than that!!

A blazing red or purple toned Indian Head Cent.
The curious and beautiful type 1 Standing Liberty Quarter.
A beautifully toned proof Morgan.
A blazing white Walking Liberty Half.
A rainbow toned FBL Franklin or a deep cameo proof.
An accented hair proof Kennedy Half.
A PKOK toned IKE.
A glorious toned proof Mercury.
A historic Barber.
A type 1 Buffalo.

Who could ask for more

?

Greg

relayer · April 11, 2003 7:01PM

Those are some great coins. That 1906 Indian is killer. No wonder you're at the top of the type sets

I have to agree with the other type collectors - a series is called duplicates in a type set.

Tade · April 11, 2003 8:53PM

The small series were fun to complete like the SBA's and Ikes. Now I am trying to put together the
Washingtons. In numbers, it is quite a task.

I'm sure some of the coins are cleaned, whizzed, etc but I do not care. It is an impressive set to pass down. I put it in a good quality Eagle book and it is fun to show off.

This is my accumulator mode like my proof set series, with other sets I am a collector.

barberlover · April 11, 2003 10:24PM

When my collection was at it's peak, iwas into mint state type coins as well as mint state barber quarters and halves.

Many mint state type coins of the 19th and early 20th century are at or near there lowest prices since the advent of the 2 major grading services.

My individual favorite series is mint state barber halves. I think barber quarters and halves with great eye appeal are among the best values in the hobby today and should certainley be worth more than proof buffalo nickles of the same grade.

buster · April 11, 2003 10:47PM

I've been a collector for about 35 years now and my collecting habits were all over the place. Over the past few years I finally settled on my true passions. Early Bust Quarters by die variety, Three Dollar gold pieces and Liberty Seated Half daollars. You can't imagine the thrill it is cherrypicking a scarce die variety from some of these issues. These series should keep me happily collecting for the rest of my time here.

Bill

BillJones · April 11, 2003 10:55PM

The early half dimes from 1792 to 1805 are my favorite series. I've been working on set for about 30 years. I have not gotten a new one in about three years, but that's not unusual for me.

Beyond that I collect all U.S. type coins from copper to gold. I've got many types, and getting any new ones is really hard because the pieces I don't have cost many thousands of the dollars. About all of my type current collecting activity involves upgrads from AU to Mint State or from Mint State to better Mint State. The "discards" go to inventory and usually sell very quickly.

I also collection Civil War tokens and 19th century presidential campaign medalets.

fivecents · April 12, 2003 12:17AM

I Like any of the 1996 - 1998 unc. modern commem coins they are scarce. I also like nicely toned liner coins.

Paul

FrattLaw · April 12, 2003 12:28AM

Toned Peace $. I started off with proof Ikes, then SBAs and Sacs. And figured I'd stay with the dollar coins, and try to build sets comprised of just them. I had originally planned on just a normal, run of the mill blast white Peace set, and then I saw one with some color. I was hooked. I then found out that toned Peaces were rare but not in big demand so there wasn't a huge premium for color.

So I'd figured I'd build a set of entirely toned Peace $, not realizing how hard that maybe. I wanted something different, something of a challenge. Most dealers I've talked to said it can't be done. There's no way I'll find MS grade Peace $ with toning for all the dates necessary to complete a set. They just don't exist.

That only spurned me on to try harder. I still haven't completed the first set, but I have started a second since I have already upgraded some coins. But I'm about 70% finished on the first and I'll think I'll do it. Then I'll probably spend the rest of my life upgrading the coins.

It's a great endeavor.

Michael

cladking · April 12, 2003 1:02AM

There aren't m(any) coins I don't like, but my favorite are the made for circulation
clad coins (especially quarters). They are frequently tough in grades over Fine and
usually tough in gem. Very few are really common in gem. Rare varieties and hard
to find grades can be pulled out of circulation, and they are a blast to collect. It is
educational assembling these sets and trying to answer questions like "why is the
72-D quarter much easier to find in XF than a 1979 quarter". Or "why is an '84 so
much harder to find nice than a 1965". Or "how are coins distributed and how do they
wear as entities and as a group".

I find it utterly fascinating that coins could have circulated for so many years with
hardly a glance from collectors, and more importantly, I find the coins themselves
fascinating!

BAJJERFAN · April 12, 2003 1:04AM

For me its Morgans. They are nice looking coins, there are LOTS to pick from and it is possible to fill a whole set. You don't need to be a millionaire to collect em but it helps. Best thing is that because so many others like them it does make them easier to sell.

Askari · April 12, 2003 4:12AM

Mine is the coins of German East African. There's some fascinating history behind them. What drew me to them is the story of the German resistance fighters during WWI who fought off English, Indian, Boer, Belgian, and Portuguese troops invading their colony -- even taking the war to their colonies -- and in spite of being badly outnumbered and cut off from their homeland, ended the war as the only German force that never surrendered. Despite it all they even managed to issue their own banknotes and coinage ... from the only German mint ever established outside of Germany.

Barry · April 12, 2003 4:26AM

Seated Dimes, recently finished the series. Now starting Bust Dimes. Why - I dunno...
Also like Large Cents, but haven't actively added to those in a few years.

Baley · April 12, 2003 4:32AM

US type set first and foremost. have 2 of them going, one complete/upgrading and one 90% done.
I just love seeing a survey of the whole history of US coins at one place at one time, and enjoy the challenge of finding the early pieces with the right look.

Draped bust quarters and halves by date and major variety, also quite challenging, and amazing to hold 200 year old coins that circulated when our country was young.

Also enjoy capped bust halves, early dates, in EF and AU, dig those lettered edges!

have completed Franklin halves in MS and have the proofs back to 1954, want to upgrade a few pieces and get the 50-53 proofs, someday. I like the last of the big silver coins for circulation!

working an peace dollars in au for the keys and MS for the commons, yes also in an album. nice coins!

did most of a set of Jeffs out of circulation as a kid, filled the key holes raw for cheap. was fun to work on when I was a YN but lost interest once I found bust and seated coins.

Have a set of Ikes in BU and Proof, you guessed it, in an album.

have circ sets of merc dimes, indian cents and early lincolns going, all in whitman folders, fill a hole here or there, if there isn't something to buy that goes with the above. It's fun to handle the pennies and dimes and press them into the folders, takes me back to being a kid!

also have selected "nice" coins in slabs, all my early gold, better early type, some proof and high MS silver, etc. are all slabbed... for now

(hey, thats how I bought them, just haven't had time to bust em out yet!)

MrEureka · April 12, 2003 4:42AM

Mexican War for Independence (1810-21). As far as I'm concerned, the coins have it all. Tons of character, history, rarity and mystery. On the other hand, the average grade for most issues is crudely struck VG, so they're not for everybody.

I don't collect US, but my favorites are patterns, especially the 1877 Morgan half dollars.

shylock · April 12, 2003 5:56AM

Late 19th Century and early 20th Century original red copper is my favorite. I think its a combination of mystery (who preserved this coin so well for 100 years?) and the beautiful tones they acquire, making each a little different. Common date (1899-1909) Indian cents seem to embody this more than any other run of copper so are my favorites from a visual standpoint. Some of them are flat out jewels.

Unfortunately their cost is catching up to their rarity

paigowjohnny · April 12, 2003 6:31AM

Morgans !!! Big ol' honkin' hunks of silver with some great stories and history...The whole Bland Allison silver contingent forcing them on us....couldn't get the tail feathers right in '78...the Pittman Act melting history away...Redfield hoarding them in his coal bin...Carson City...etc ad nauseum.

ARCO · April 12, 2003 7:01AM

Barber halves in Mid-grade

1) coins have a beautiful design (some don't share that opinion)
2) coins are large, but not overwhelming like a silver dollar, which equals the perfect blend for size.
3) coins are very challenging to find original with great eye appeal in grades as low as VG10, yet are not priced commensurate to their relative scarcity.
4) No super keys to break the budget, but at least one third to one half of the dates in the series are very challenging and are not seen frequently.
5) Coins have a beautiful design...Oh I said that already.
6) the coins are found original with exceptionally interesting contrasting shades of toning(not too many still have such nice surfaces).
7) without any true keys, completing a complete set in Fine or Better with original surfaces and nice eye appeal examples is a great numismatic accomplishent!

How many collectors do you know that have completed a Fine or better set with coins you would consider beautiful and collectable?

Without Barber halves I would be mindlessly collecting some other tedious, infinitely less satisfying series like Morgan dollars or Lincoln cents!

Here is one of my latest Ebay buys. Cost was $40.00 or so. It is an common date, but oh so uncommon to find with proportional, original toning. 1899 Half

boz · April 12, 2003 11:04AM

I agree with paigowjohnny. The Comstock Lode, the manipulation of silver, the greed. Very fascinating reading. Looking elsewhere soon, now that my Morgan collection is almost complete. (One to go)

Maybe Seated Quarters or Halves.

Higashiyama · April 12, 2003 11:11AM

I like cladking's comment "There aren't m(any) coins I don't like"

Recently however, I've been picking up a selection of Seated halves and dollars. These can be beautiful coins, and during the period they were issued, the US (and Anglo-global) economy matured into a modern economy.

jeffnpcb · April 12, 2003 11:18AM

Proof Cameo and Deep Cameo Roosevelt dimes from 1950-1964 as well as DD's in Cameo as well. Next will be FT's for Roosevelts from the seventies because of there low pop and rarity. Already have them from '46 through '69, just not on the label in MS state.
God only knows why, I was always told by my mom that if she had a choce of coins in a 5 gallon bottle, she'd want it in dimes. It's a volume thing in terms of total value!

Clankeye · April 12, 2003 11:28AM

Selected designs from the early commemoratives.

But now being pulled heavily towards coins of the British Commonwealth, and Philippines/American issues.

Carl

Android · April 12, 2003 12:42PM

For me, it's high grade MS Washington quarters from 1932-1964. I am attracted by the simplicity and lack of clutter in the design. I found great cherrypicking opportunites in this series, primarily from dealers who can't stand them, and don't know how to grade them very well. Washington quarters, for their design simplicity, are deceptively hard to grade. I'm also working on a high grade MS set of FB Mercury dimes, which is about 50% complete right now.

Andy

lordmarcovan · April 12, 2003 1:42PM

I'm a type guy overall, though I'm not really working on any type sets at the moment.

Current collections:

-Pre-1900 world and US proof coins (I have a whopping three pieces so far, but they're respectable.)

-Holed pre-1900 world and US coins for the Holey Coin Vest and Holey Gold Hat, which I wear to shows. (The back of the vest is an 1800-57 date set of holed large cents, the front is a holed US type set plus a number of world coins. The hat is all pre-1900 gold.)

-Irish predecimal coinage from 1928-69 (not just a type set but everything, type AND date, in three Dansco albums. I'm well along and might finish before long.)

I generally try to keep one or two of each nongold US type from 1800 up in my case at the mall, for resale. So you might say I'm still a type "collector", though I'm really a small dealer collecting the coins for resale purposes. I just try to keep a good selection on hand. It's dull to look over a dealer's inventory and see nothing but Morgan dollars or Walkers or Saints or whatever. Those are nice coins, but I like to keep a few of the "seen-less-often" babies around.

SO- my answer to the question "What is your favorite series and why do you collect it" would have to be that I don't have a favorite series- I like it all!

PS- I do still have one Registry set going, just for giggles. I'm #4 on proof 2-cent pieces, but I only have a single coin registered, and am not likely to add any in the near future.

jcping · April 12, 2003 6:56PM

My favorite series, Standing Liberty quarters and Ike dollars. To complete a nice FullHead set of standing liberty quarters with overall better strike and eye appealing is very challenging. Also, to find high grade Ike dollars is also very challenging.

For standing liberty quarters, I am also a big fan of tear drop varieties. Do you know the no drapery standing liberty quarters?

Right now, I am moving into type set collection. I want everything a little bit.

Friday Evening Post: your favorite series and why you collect it.

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