Is it possible to build a great collection one coin at a time?
ColonialCoinUnion
Posts: 10,087 ✭✭✭
Or do you have to buy a few intact collections along the way to get some otherwise unobtainable great coins and then sell off the dupes or lesser items you don't want?
0
Comments
My EBay Store/Auctions
Positive BST Transactions (buyers and sellers): wondercoin, blu62vette, BAJJERFAN, privatecoin, blu62vette, AlanLastufka, privatecoin
#1 1951 Bowman Los Angeles Rams Team Set
#2 1980 Topps Los Angeles Rams Team Set
#8 (and climbing) 1972 Topps Los Angeles Rams Team Set
<< <i>It's possible, but for many of the rarer series you have no choice but to buy the whole set or risk losing the keys if it sells elsewhere or goes to auction. In building my seated dollar set, I had to buy 3 complete collections and two partial ones to get the right coins. >>
I guess the answer depends on what I ment by 'great', but if you look back at some of the most prominent collections of all time, I think all of Garrett, Norweb, Eliasberg, Ford etc., etc. did exactly what TDN describes.
I know of a few other landmark sets being built today and they have followed this same pattern.
<< <i>I'm sorry, what's a "great" collection? >>
Lets say its something on the order of what TDN or Stewart Blay or that registry award winning type set guy High Desert (I think thats the name) have built.
If he did it one by one, then hes a good example to show that it can be done.
As has been previously stated, established collections often have many of the coins that will fit and if you get the opportunity, it is best to buy the collection and sell off what doesn't fit.
Eliasberg bought the Clapp collection. The non-gold Eliasberg coins were available, but no one pulled the trigger.
It takes an enormous amount of money to purchase these types of collections and there aren't that many qualified individuals.
If you've got the money available that is the most advantageous method of building a collection.
Be patient. It happens infrequently.
I firmly believe in numismatics as the world's greatest hobby, but recognize that this is a luxury and without collectors, we can all spend/melt our collections/inventories.
eBaystore
Most people can only look at such coins and dream, if you are talking about a nice respectable collection, I think 1 at a time is how alot of people do it.....
Bass did it. Roper did it. Garrett purchased a bunch of things from the Newcomer collection, but only by cherrypicking; otherwise he did it. The Norwebs had the Holden collection to fall back on, but it was really just a multi-generational collection rather than a big lump purchase. Others did it in more specialized ways: Lovejoy, Logan (though he did buy Stew Witham's errors), Robbie Brown, Jack Robinson, Whitney, etc.
Of course, some took an easier route: Eliasberg bought Clapp; Starr bought Newcomb; Halpern bought Bareford's cents; Naftzger bought Clarke, Sloss, Blaisdell, and others; Ford bought Boyd; Cleanay bought Zanoni; Parmelee consumed collections like he was the Blob.
I bought out my sister in 1988 for $20. Does that count?
Betts medals, colonial coins, US Mint medals, foreign coins found in early America, and other numismatic Americana
<< <i>C'mon CCU, to quote an annoying movie character, "you can doooooo eeeet!"
Bass did it. Roper did it. Garrett purchased a bunch of things from the Newcomer collection, but only by cherrypicking; otherwise he did it. The Norwebs had the Holden collection to fall back on, but it was really just a multi-generational collection rather than a big lump purchase. Others did it in more specialized ways: Lovejoy, Logan (though he did buy Stew Witham's errors), Robbie Brown, Jack Robinson, Whitney, etc.
Of course, some took an easier route: Eliasberg bought Clapp; Starr bought Newcomb; Halpern bought Bareford's cents; Naftzger bought Clarke, Sloss, Blaisdell, and others; Ford bought Boyd; Cleanay bought Zanoni; Parmelee consumed collections like he was the Blob.
I bought out my sister in 1988 for $20. Does that count? >>
Your Seeester? Depends on what it was
Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
There is almost an inherent contradiction in the very question itself. If you simply buy an existing collection, have YOU built anything? Most respondents to this question have remarked on the definition of a "great" collection, but I cannot ignore the premise of the question. Great or not, I think most collections are built one coin at a time. Every collector is different, every collection is different, and every circumstance is different, but overall I think most collections are assembled over a long period of time, with acquisitions from many different sources. To be sure, it is beneficial to be able to take advantage of opportunity whenever it knocks, but typically "great" collections are not offered intact, but are dispersed through auction sale, or by outright sale to a dealer and then dispersed. It is the mindset of most collectors to establish a challenge, and then to set out to accomplish that challenge by seeking individual coins wherever they may be found. If the ultimate "great" collection could be had through just one purchase, what fun would that be?
I can think of several "great" half dime collections that were all assembled one coin at a time, over a long period of time. They were assembled by numismatists; complete collections that are purchased entirely complete are done by investors.
I've been just collecting one coin at a time for over 50 years now and mine is OK, but not great. But it is fun and enjoyable with each purchase or find.
Joseph
I'm trying to build a collection one coin at a time. I will consider it "great" when it is completed, while I am sure many others will consider it just another Lincoln cent set.
Jack
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
yes the only way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but it willtake you many years but that is what collecting is all about
but most importantly after a few years you will realize what you originally started to collect was not good or right for you but by starting out tryingb to build a collection you then will find your true calling so to speak and then you are now off to a great start
but you had to first go down the road and find that ultimate collection you are currently working on a labor of love
For me, a great collection is a collection of coins taht each have a "story." That mostly means scarce and key dates; and interesting (to me)varieties. As such, I will never "complete" it, but it will be fun and challenging for years to come!
Looking for alot of crap.