Your opinions on Modern Commems.?

mojorizn · October 23, 2003 11:36AM

I'm very interested to know everyone's opinions on Modern Commemoratives, especially the lower mintage MS issues rather than the Proofs. This series would yield a beautiful, yet affordable high grade (MS69/70) collection in my opinion. Anyone pursuing this set?

Mojo

fivecents · October 23, 2003 11:51AM

I like the low mintage Uncirculated $10, $5, 1$ ,50 Cents and the lower mintage $10 proofs. Its more affordable to buy them raw and send them to be graded yourself than to buy them already slabbed. The cheapest why to buy them is in unpicked thru six piece sets in the wooden box. So far PCGS is the only service you need to send them to. Learn how to grade them by the third party grading standards for MS69. If the coin is not an MS69 do not send it in to be graded. Sometimes you might even make a MS70!

XpipedreamR · October 23, 2003 11:54AM

I don't mean to rub anybody the wrong way, but I'm not too crazy about most modern commems, or modern versions of the cent through the quarter, for that matter. I think most of the mint's output for the last 15-20 years pales in comparison to the glory days of US coinage. I like a few commems, though. I give the uncirculated 1984 Olympic dollar an A+!

flaminio · October 23, 2003 12:15PM

I love 'em. I'm putting together a MS69 set -- 75% completed. See the linky in my sig for more details...

MrEureka · October 23, 2003 12:17PM

I think that for the most part they're great value and a good investment, but I have zero interest in collecting them. No history, no character, no challenge.

291fifth · October 23, 2003 12:22PM

The modern commems are due for a promotion. There are enough of them to make up a very interesting set. I especially like the gold commems from 1995 to date because of the low mintages. Interest is currently focused on the low mintage uncs. but in the long run I feel that most collectors will want the proofs.

I am already becoming wary of buying the commems raw. I suspect that any coins that come back from the grading services with a grade of less than "69" will be cracked out, put back in their original government packages, and be resold, probably in online auctions. I am preparing a shipment of raw commems now and am looking at them very closely to cull out any that may not make "69".

Increased interest in the modern commems is likely to lead to an increase of interest in the early commems as well. I originally collected the modern commems only but quickly expanded to the early commems when I became more aware of just how interesting they really were. I like the idea of all the coins in a collection being a different type.

mgoodm3 · October 23, 2003 12:25PM

I like a few of them, don't like others. If I were to buy any it would be on a case by case basis.

mintluster · October 23, 2003 12:30PM

<< <i>I'm very interested to know everyone's opinions on Modern Commemoratives, especially the lower mintage MS issues rather than the Proofs. This series would yield a beautiful, yet affordable high grade (MS69/70) collection in my opinion. Anyone pursuing this set?

I must say that I only like about 20% of all of the modern commemoratives that our country has produced in the last 20 years.
Most are very ugly artistically speaking and the themes are usually very odd and very questionable driven by political means.
There are a few that stand out in my mind from an artistic standpoint:
2000 Leif Ericson
1984 Olympic
1994 P.O.W. ('94?)

LanLord · October 23, 2003 12:52PM

I really like the commemoratives, both modern and classic. I think that the designs, while not the best, are always interesting to look at.

I am collecting both UNC and PROOF of the moderns and UNC in the classics.

bigbadchad777 · October 23, 2003 1:06PM

Modern commems are awesome!
Better investment is the Uncirculated set.
Beautiful, interesting, never ending set.

Here is my Commemorative Set:

Load up on the rare MS69-70 issues!!!! You won't regret it.
I have all the commems: Classic, Modern (Unc & Proof) and the statehood quarters (they are commems too). Check out my commems on ebay.

keets · October 23, 2003 1:27PM

i've put together an almost complete set of MS slabbed half-dollars for three reasons------they are relatively inexpensive, the designs/themes are interesting and i like the way clad tones to a mellow gold color. the only gripe i have about the modern program as a whole is that it leans too heavily on sports, but that seems more a reflection of our society and not the Mint. i'm picking my way through the dollars as i find them for a reasonable price and will probably put together a set of $10 gold's along with that bi-mettalic.

i wonder how many who are critical of the themes and mintages of the modern commems would have been griping about the themes of the classic commems? they seemed to rely heavily on local, state or regional things. nothing wrong with that, but i'd bet they met with more than a little displeasure in their day. multiple year issues seemed to be the old programs undoing------spreading a liberal mintage over many years instead of a larger single mintage was common. i think it only shows that while things change in one sense, they tend to remain the same in another.

collecting the entire commemerative series beginning in 1892 presents a challenging and thematically interesting set with what i think will provide some surprising similarities to a collector who faces the challenge. it isn't really two sets, classic and modern. it's one set that had a much needed hiatus and came back to us with renewed vigor.

al h.

cladking · October 23, 2003 1:40PM

Well said Keets.

I personally prefer coins which circulate but the modern commems make an interesting
set which is affordable to many people. There are also many individual coins which have
a wide appeal to non-numismatic collectors. These come in various finishes and metals,
and can appeal to many different coin collectors also.

Whether these are considered as part of a set composed of all commems or not isn't crit-
ical to their future since they can stand on their own.

mojorizn · October 24, 2003 12:33AM

Thanks everyone! I agree with the hit-and-miss artistic merits of the series, still, they do reflect the political climate of the time (classic and modern, I mean).

The modern gold issues are definitely a cut above the rest. Probably the best place to start a set.

Mojo

paigowjohnny · October 24, 2003 12:35AM

<< <i>I like a few of them, don't like others. If I were to buy any it would be on a case by case basis. >>

Ditto...overall, they don't excite me much. As an Annapolis man, I do like the West Point one. And I think everybody ought to own a Special Olympics/Shriver

ClausUrch · October 24, 2003 1:15AM

I enjoy both the classic and modern commemorative series. I recently sold my top 10 PCGS Registry Set of Modern Circulation Strike Commemoratives piece by piece and am in the process of assembling a set in Dansco Albums. Grading these mint products is a "no brainer". On the average, 90 coins out of 100 from the mint capsule to PCGS will grade a MS69, 2 will grade a MS70 and the remainder will grade lower than 69 because they have, at one time, been removed from the capsule and subjected to dings, nicks, scratches, hand oil, food or other environmental factors. My opinion....Don't waste your $$$$ on graded modern commemoratives unless you must see your name and set "in lights" on the Registry page. To me, the coins are much more enjoyable displayed and viewed in the traditional way. There is something to be said about removing the coin from its display and actually making contact without a barrier of sorts. Kind of like a prophylactic! It's fun with one but much more so without!!

Just watch out for "raw" examples, especially on E-Bay or you may catch more than you bargained for!!

I have seen the light and have set my coins free!!!! It now becomes apparent that once one becomes proficient in grading any particular series, the "crutch" of hard plastic can be disposed.

tgilliams · October 24, 2003 2:20AM

I find the series both interesting and intriguing. The different themes, while some are not the best, breaks the monotony of the same coin, in a different date. Many of the Gold Commemoratives are really pieces of art. Will continue to build my 115 NGC/PCGS Collection.

CarlWohlforth · October 24, 2003 2:35AM

I purchased 2 MS 69 dollar sets this year. I really like the look, to me it is a matte proof finish. They have really great luster. I like many of the designs. The ones with too much text seem boring.

flaminio · October 24, 2003 3:39AM

A lot of folk comment on the designs of modern commems, claiming that they are boring, uninspired, or lacking in artistic merit when compared to the classics.

Now, I won't go so far as to say that all modern commems are stunning works of art, I will say that there are a fair number that can hold their own with any classic coin. Examples:

1982 Washington 50C -- beautiful rendition of The Man on his horse, beautiful rendition of his house
1988 Olympic $5 -- IMHO, one of the most attractive coins the US has ever produced.
1993 Jefferson -- compare with the nickel -- same subjects (man & house), which is more attractive?
1999 Dolley Madison $1 -- Ol' James was a lucky man, that's for sure.
2000 Leif Ericcson -- Might be cheating -- did Iceland design this one?
2001 Buffalo -- Definitely cheating

Those are just off the top of my head -- I'm sure a perusal through my collection or a Red Book would divulge more.

And don't knock Mrs Shriver -- it's not her fault that she looks that way

.

coinmickey · October 24, 2003 3:47AM

I'm getting rid of some raw Modern silver commems, so anyone interested feel free to PM me.

As to the topic of the thread I agree with several others that Moderns are a hit or miss proposition. I like some, don't like others. And the whole series gets thrown for a loop with all of the Olympic coins. Overall, at least in silver it's an oddball set with some interesting and some not so intersting pieces. I think the gold moderns are much nicer.

BSqr · October 24, 2003 7:12AM

I too am a fan of modern commems. I started out about a year and a half ago after having started a collection of state quarters. I jumped in with both feet and my first endeavor was gold proofs. I like proofs and nothing beats gold. Over the span of a year of so I completed my modern gold proof commem set and have been working on the gold Uncs and silvers ever since. I tell ya what, watching the price increase in these things has been amazing. Looking back, I certainly wish that I had started with the gold Uncs instead of the proofs. Man these things are getting pricey and some are rather hard to find. Especially when competing against the hoard of e-Bay resellers.

techeff · October 24, 2003 8:37AM

I really like these commems even though they weren't produced by the U.S. Mint. They were produced by the Medallic Art Company during the 60's and 70's while the U.S. Mint was out of the commems business. Each coin came with literature and give a great history lesson. I have the complete set of almost 100 medals all with the same mintage number. Here are a few...

Your opinions on Modern Commems.?

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