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Type sets - what do YOU do?
Bochiman
Posts: 25,308 ✭✭✭✭✭
So, I picked up a Dansco Type Set album...after seeing so many cool coins, even in series I and the boy don't collect.
Gonna be expensive and I don't think I will be getting "similar look/similar grade" coins.
But, I do want to fill it out as much as I can. I think it is cool.
I even won a 1868 shield nickel (I won't collect the series) since it is my birthyear -100 and I will crack it out of anacs slab to put in the album.
That, and doing some "simple" filling has me wondering though, and this is the question from the title:
Do people use PROOF coins or MINT STATE coins (even if circulated....either circ or unc)?
I can think some cool proof toned coins would be great but it would really look different to have a mix of proof vs mint state.....does anyone do it and if so, are you doing it as you feel is right, or trying to do it all proof?
Gonna be expensive and I don't think I will be getting "similar look/similar grade" coins.
But, I do want to fill it out as much as I can. I think it is cool.
I even won a 1868 shield nickel (I won't collect the series) since it is my birthyear -100 and I will crack it out of anacs slab to put in the album.
That, and doing some "simple" filling has me wondering though, and this is the question from the title:
Do people use PROOF coins or MINT STATE coins (even if circulated....either circ or unc)?
I can think some cool proof toned coins would be great but it would really look different to have a mix of proof vs mint state.....does anyone do it and if so, are you doing it as you feel is right, or trying to do it all proof?
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
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HOWEVER, I don't recommend putting proofs in a Dansco. I had problems with slidemarks and milk spots and haze when I did that. Baley's famous Dansco 7070 type set has a lot of proofs, though, including 19th century proofs!
Edit to add: you're in for a lot of fun. The Dansco is a blast. I've done it 2.5 times.
I really really like my 7070 album. It's one of the most fun facets of my collection, and definitely the one that shows the best.
I have a few that are toned and a few that aren't.
I have a limit around $80-$100 for a coin I would put in the 7070 instead of in a slab.
What upset me is the nickel portion......I just bought the 7070 and there is no slot difference for the Westward Journey nickels than the Monticello from '38-'03 (except for the war years of silver).
So, "new page" coming?
I really think all four from '04-'05, and whatever comes out in '06, should be in there.
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
I finally broke down and cracked a bunch of slabs for my Dansco a couple months ago. I had all these great looking 19th century type coins, and all these slots with either nothing or a scrubby F12 or something -- I just couldn't stand it. Anything that I figured wouldn't get hurt, and that I could in reasonable confidence say wouldn't be for sale this decade, went in the album. It was a great day.
filling the rest of the book out. (And gave up and cracked out a
20 cent and Trade dollar and Seated Dollar to fill the last holes!)
I think that the key is to find a coin that you like; set your own rules.
When I was finishing the first phase of my 1872 project (get an example
of each denomination) someone replied to my "I'm done!!" post by
saying that I cheated by using the proof 2 cent as my example of that
denomination while everything else was business strike. My response
was that I can't be cheating because I set the rules as to what constitutes
an example!
Do whatever makes you happy, and enjoy the set.
You may have a little trouble with your $80 to $100 per coin budget. I rarely spend more than $100 per coin, but I already have about 14 coins in my type set that I spent over $100 per coin on, and they're nice original coins, IMO. I still have 3 big holes left, and 2 of those are the early large cents and the Seated Dollar with motto. I don't think there's anyway I can fill those holes with decent examples for less than $200 each.
Have fun...you'll get addicted to that album.
I do both MS and Proof. I'm looking for the best possible example ot the type of coin for each hole. Actually, a lot of the 19th Century coins are much cheaper as Proof than MS!
Ken
Proof coins were made to be saved and preserved, so they should be pristine.
Mint state coins survived that way, generally, by dumb luck.
I like the idea of having old coins that are mint state and have no rightful reason to have survived like that.
<< <i>Proof coins were made to be saved and preserved, so they should be pristine. >>
They can remain that way in a Dansco just fine if you are careful with the slides.
My OmniCoin Collection
My BankNoteBank Collection
Tom, formerly in Albuquerque, NM.
Years ago when I first started it, every coin had to be something special.
A key date, a rare variety or maybe a proof. I view it now as a mistake.
It never really had that look of a well matched set.
Over time the proofs started to have problems from the album and I started to worry.
I had put some coins in the album that just did not belong there.
Over time I down graded the set and put most of the coins in plastic.
A type set is great fun, no matter how you go about it.
I will have a "type set" in slabs, for the preservation as well as authentication (such as on the trade dollar if I ever get one....they aren't cheap for a nice one), but I also want something in the album because I think it looks cool.
I haven't done proofs, yet, but may.
I have gone high end, on moderns only, for the timebeing. Unless the coin has cool toning or something. I am putting some that I find in rolls, etc, that have cool toning just because
For the $100 budget....I know it will be hard. I may break it on occassion. But, I am not going to break my idea on not putting in high MS coins that are easy to counterfeit (or have many out there) or are just plain hard to get. Ie.....the merc dimes won't find a 16-d in there nor will a lincoln 09-svdb be in there
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
I think it kind of shows the evolution of coinage to have the moderns be dcam proofs; the technical merits of the coins improved while their artistic merit declined steadily after reaching it's apex in the 1907-1916 through the 1935-47 period.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
I like that. It puts into words what I have been thinking for a long time.
As for the rest of it, I crack slabs all the time to put them in the dansco. I try where I can, to do first or last year of issue, and where applicable, I use the "transition" year. For example, I put in an 1883 NO CENTS nickel, (which I cracked out of an NGC slab), but then for the "with cents variety, I went out of my way to use an 1883. That way you can actually see the change.
Here are some photos for example's sake.
the other pages have changed quite a bit since I last scanned them, so i left them out. (plus I didn't want to dominate your thread).
They all have the same high light low dark look and nearly the same color in person, the pics make a few look different.
This is the most challenging way to collect as far as circ go I think.
siliconvalleycoins.com
It has NO holes for my Type I Buffalo, my 1909S VDB cent, my "with cents" V nickel, or the 5 state quarters, or type I and II SLQ. I have such a love/hate thing going on with Capital plastics.
<< <i>As for the rest of it, I crack slabs all the time to put them in the dansco. I try where I can, to do first or last year of issue, and where applicable, I use the "transition" year. For example, I put in an 1883 NO CENTS nickel, (which I cracked out of an NGC slab), but then for the "with cents variety, I went out of my way to use an 1883. That way you can actually see the change. >>
Great minds think alike. My type nickels are dated 1867, 1883, 1913, and 1942 -- two of each date, each different types.
A Library of Coins (two albums - no gold) which will never be complete unless something weird (like a lotto / megamillions winning ticket) happens and then two Danco 7070, one with the gold page and the other without.
The Danco 7070 without the gold page was given to me as a Christmas present before many of the forum members were born (1970). It is makedly different from the current 7070 with no spaces for SAE, Sac and SBA dollars, Statehood quarters or Ike dollars (although I did add a bicentennial page to it back in 76 - I don't think that page is available any longer).
At any rate, the Library of coins set it my primary set, all the best stuff goes there, as I upgrade coins in that, the one that got upgraded will go into one of the 7070 albums.
Type sets are one of the more interesting ways to collect since you get to see a broad spectrum of US releases.
Self Indulgence | Holey Coins | Flickr Photostream
BUT since my favorite type coins fall in the 1792 to 1807 range, I'm happy if I can afford a nice AU. Mint State, with one exception, the Draped Bust half cent (1800 - 8), is out of the question for me financially.
At first, I filled many holes with coins from my existing childhood collection. Recently, I and have been actively upgrading and filling holes. The general thought is to have key/semi key dates for all the coins in as nice of a grade as I can afford.
Many of the moderns are proofs. For many of the early 20th centry and non-modern coins the price of proofs becomes limiting, so I try and get a key or semi-key date below $500/coin.
The method I use is: I research a series, buy a book or three, pick a few candidtate coins, then start searching for them. I buy from ebay, TT, DLRC, Heritage, etc. I buy slabbed and non-slabbed coins -- I buy the coin.
I've really had a blast doing this and learned a bunch.
Have fun...Mike
Pics??
Herb