SHOULD I SLAB ALL OF MY POCKET CHANGE?
SeattleSlammer
Posts: 10,121 ✭✭✭✭✭
I just don't get it. I'm not trying to be rude or condescend to others that enjoy collecting moderns (especially state quarters), but I need someone to explain the appeal of collecting moderns. I know, this has been discussed before......
BUT, why get excited over modern coins, especially those that are still in circulation? Why on earth would anyone want a slabbed MS66 statehood quarter? Or a slabbed 1975 Rossevelt dime?
SHOULD I SLAB ALL OF MY POCKET CHANGE? Come to think of it, that might be a good title for a book on Modern coin rarities.....still, even with those rarities out there, with BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS minted, you know there will be at least thousands more that will show up down the road at some point........
Help me, I want to understand the appeal.
BUT, why get excited over modern coins, especially those that are still in circulation? Why on earth would anyone want a slabbed MS66 statehood quarter? Or a slabbed 1975 Rossevelt dime?
SHOULD I SLAB ALL OF MY POCKET CHANGE? Come to think of it, that might be a good title for a book on Modern coin rarities.....still, even with those rarities out there, with BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS minted, you know there will be at least thousands more that will show up down the road at some point........
Help me, I want to understand the appeal.
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NEVER LET HIPPO MOUTH OVERLOAD HUMMINGBIRD BUTT!!!
WORK HARDER!!!!
Millions on WELFARE depend on you!
PLONK!
The reason I collect modern Roosevelts is because there an extension of my silver 46-64 set. The clad set
is part of the whole. I only wish I started the clad set sooner.
Onlyroosies
anyways.. i don't slab any of my coins.. i prefer them raw. It adds to the ownder of who handled them back in their day
<< <i>I'm not trying to be rude or condescend to others that enjoy collecting moderns >>
Yeah, the thread title of "SHOULD I SLAB ALL OF MY POCKET CHANGE?" sure doesn't do that.
Why is it that so many have this compulsion to attack the collecting habits of others? Is it a genetic thing? Environmental? What exactly is the underlying root cause of the apparently irresistible and fundamental need to take pot shots simply because somebody else isn't meeting one's criteria for a "collection"?
Help me, I want to understand the affliction.
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>SHOULD I SLAB ALL OF MY POCKET CHANGE? >>
Go right ahead. Don't expect anything that will pay for the slabbing fee. I look long and hard for any moderns I submit. I recently went through $200 in bank wrapped state quarter roles to find 9 coins to submit. 4 of the 9 made the money grade I was after.
<< <i>I'm not trying to be rude or condescend to others >>
Then why did you SHOUT a rude and condescending title on your thread?
<< <i>Who wants a run over coin that is all beat up >>
Hey! Run over, beat up coins are cool!
Russ, NCNE
You might find it a challenge. Collecting is what's fun to you.
Many great collections started with pocket change.
Collector since 1976. On the CU forums here since 2001.
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
modern that is worthy of the price of grading. Having no history, it's a gamble.
<< <i>it's possible to find the occasional
modern that is worthy of the price of grading. >>
Why yes, it is:
Sometimes you can even find them that are worthy of the cost of grading a few times over.
Don,
Whip out the 1966 SMS Kennedy.
Marty,
Whip out the '61 Frankie.
Russ, NCNE
Tom
<< <i>Marty,
Whip out the '61 Frankie. >>
I pray you are talking about a coin
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3038640044&category=525
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
The argument that moderns aren't worth collecting is not a valid argument, or even worth hanging over modern collectors' heads. All coins have their merits - it is just that we each perceive value or enjoyment differently in our own way. I know folks that live and die by trimes. I can't afford them in problem-free condition, and I cant acquire them locally.
Said differently, I like what I like for my own reasons. I happen to appreciate nearly all coins (Well, maybe not Shriver commems). I just don't have access to all of them.
I've spent A LOT of time looking through coins, mostly moderns (because of access and relative low cost). I don't have access or a budget for analyzing and handling 100-300 bust halves (I love those!).
Here's one that you WILL NOT find in pocket change. I looked at bocoups 03Ds to find this one. I doubt there will be more than two digits of these in this condition in the next decades because they were so poorly produced in their (only) 3m mintage:
Here's another coin that you can search for for a very long time, but won't get one just because you can order proof sets from the mint - you have to look through hundreds to find one that is this nice, and only out of about 800K minted (if I remember my figures correctly):
Now this one is a modern, and won't appear in pocket change. But is only a year old. It is exceptional beyond doubt and is a beautiful coin, too (I wish I'd saved the obverse picture before I sold this coin) - I worked very hard to find this coin:
I appreciate your question and I respect your opinions very much. I really do. I just think that all of us should look from without into the hearts and minds of others before we judge what "others should like."
My Auctions
"Senorita HepKitty"
"I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter
Still, I didn't think anyone would take my thread title as anything more than a rhetorical question--and that is certainly how it was intended.
I am all for people collecting what they find most interesting and rewarding. But I am genuine when I write that I do not understand the appeal of modern coinage. For me it comes down to understanding the implications of mintage numbers in the billions. I think of a 100,000 mintage coin like the 93-S Morgan, and I truly understand why someone would pay a grand for a "nice" VG example. Modern collectors: why collect a coin that may seem rare at the moment but has a good chance of becoming ultra common as literally millions upon millions of coins turn up? And they WILL turn up. The logic to me is odd....more specifically, I'd find it odd to collect something whose rarity could always be called into question...legitimately called into question.
<< <i>Modern collectors: why collect a coin that may seem rare at the moment but has a good chance of becoming ultra common as literally millions upon millions of coins turn up? >>
Uh, maybe because we like them?
Russ, NCNE
<< <i>The guys that were collecting Lincolns when they first came out are enjoying thier profits now.
Yep! In their graves.
Oscar Wilde
If every collector felt this way, we wouldn't have any mint state coins. Your classics were modern when they were issued.
Lou
ANA Life-Member
Brian
I mean really, we all know the only REALLY weird people are the ones that collect Three Cent Nickels.
Dave
I know that you collect them because you like them, and I totally understand the liking part.....BUT, I assume that there's a part of you that enjoys those accented hair '64 Kennedy's because they are, at the moment, much more rare than many other modern coins. Consequently, couldn't the point be made that you collect them because you like them, but mostly because you think they're rare?
I mean, do you also collect all of the other Kennedy dates in high grades? Do other Kennedy dates hold the same appeal for you? I guess I'm just trying to get to the root of why you and others like the moderns....because I could go on for days about why I think beautifully toned and mirrored 19th century coinage is so great (and indisputably rare). Not that anyone here would want that.
Still, I appreciate all collectors regardless of what they collect. Whatever turns my crank may not blow your skirt up, as it were. And vice versa, of course.
Cheers
<< <i>Consequently, couldn't the point be made that you collect them because you like them, but mostly because you think they're rare? >>
Actually, I don't think they're rare. In point of fact, I've repeatedly stated that they are not rare. Production was somewhere around 200,000 coins (noting for the record, that the "experts" believe it to be less than that, but I think they're wrong). No coin with 200,000 minted can be considered rare by any stretch of the imagination.
However, they are extremely scarce in high grade true two sided cameo. Premium hairline-free, spot free examples are very, very difficult because the mint fubared most of them during production. Much more so than the second obverse die. Search a few thousand 1964 proof sets and look at a few hundred Accented Hairs if you think it's easy to find problem-free cameos.
As to why I collect them? Because the coin has a very cool story behind it, much of which has not yet even been publicly revealed. It fascinates me, and collecting them gives me pleasure.
<< <i>I mean, do you also collect all of the other Kennedy dates in high grades? Do other Kennedy dates hold the same appeal for you? >>
I have the complete proof Kennedy set and am currently ranked 13th in the registry of 111 sets. No, the rest do not hold the same appeal as the Accented Hair, but I do like them.
<< <i>because I could go on for days about why I think beautifully toned and mirrored 19th century coinage is so great (and indisputably rare). >>
I also think it's great. Want to give me the money to afford it?
Russ, NCNE
Would you say that the mint has improved its handling techniques in the last decade or so? It seems like I'm seeing so many MS and PF 70 coins these days, especially bullion (although I know those get special treatment). When I think of those Kennedys, it's amazing how careless they were about handling them, considering how perfect they are after striking.
I look forward to hearing the whole story on them....I've read your mentions of that a few times now and my curiosity is peaked!
Or perhaps more accurately phrased, moderns are coming out of the woodwork
now due to sharply higher prices. This is true. There aren't many rolls showing up
simply because people didn't save rolls and bags of these coins. They were "ugly",
debased, and impossibly "common". What would possess people to invest hard
earned dollars in a $1000 bag of 1971 dimes or quarters? They didn't do it. What's
left of those massive mintages are in VG condition in the pocket change you're send-
ing off. What's coming out of the woodwork are the mint sets. Millions of them. Of
course most of the mint sets have been destroyed over the last few decades also,
but the survivors are coming onto the market in droves. This is evidenced by the fact
that despite balloning demand since 1999, the prices of these sets have only inched
up in the last twelve months. Granted this demand is still pretty small but compare it
to the demand which kept the price at less than FACE VALUE for twenty years until
1997.
This isn't to say that all one has to do to capitalize on the modern markets or even to
form a collection is to go out and buy one of each mint set. It is far more complicated
than this. Many modern regular issue coins do not appear in mint sets. Very few of the
important varieties appear in sets. If you want these you'll have to find them in one of
the BU rolls if you can find the rolls. Even the issues which do appear in mint sets have
a very serious problem; some issues are extremely poorly made. The mint sets are the
best source for gems and for some issues the sole source. Even if there were rolls of some
dates it wouldn't affect the number of gems available because there weren't gems in the
rolls in the year of issue. High grade coins can account for as little as about .3% of some
coins in mint sets. These have mintages as low as one million and attrition as high as 70%.
Many of the surviving sets are in the hands of collectors who are outside the mainstream
hobby or in collections. Many are owned by those who can easily wait out for higher prices
and believe the prices can go far higher.
The fed and mint rotate their stocks of coins and have done so since 1972. While there was
ample reason to set aside bags and pallets of the old silver coins and there was the tenden-
cy for the older coins to get lost in warehouses, this simply doesn't pertain to modern coin.
There are no warehouses full of 1974 nickels just waiting for a government bureaucrat to find
them. If there were such coins why have none shown up since 1972?
Of course the modern hobby is much larger than just the regular issue coins. There are many
other types and sorts of modern coins and many of these are rare in all grades.
Those who don't like moderns should collect something else. There are many great coins from
the US and the world which range from current to thousands of years old. If none of these
suit you there are stamps and baseball cards. Tokens and medals are very coin like and lots
of fun to collect. Have at it.
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
I see you've been digging in to Marty's stash.
Russ, NCNE
and it sets us apart from practitioners and consultants. Gregor
Is that a mint error 1960
"Senorita HepKitty"
"I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter