Lord Marcovan - holed type set advice?
jmcu12
Posts: 2,452 ✭✭✭
I have started a 7070 type set of holed coins.
Does his majesty have any advice for an aspiring holey roller?
Everyone please feel free to chime in!
Does his majesty have any advice for an aspiring holey roller?
Everyone please feel free to chime in!
Awarded latest "YOU SUCK!": June 11, 2014
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Comments
Me, I like as small and tidy a hole as possible, preferably as close to 12:00 on the obverse as possible. I don't care for off-position holes or multiply-holed pieces, though I do have some coins with raggedy holes or a less-than-ideal hole position. Doing this set should be fun and affordable for you- the biggest challenge will be the hunt itself. You can spend as little or as much as you like. Some pieces, like the Bust dollar which I still lack, are going to be pricey even with a hole in them, and harder to find since they usually end up being repaired. But you won't need a Bust Dollar for a holey 7070 set. I'll wager that the Reeded Edge Bust half might be the toughest one to find for that.
Since I collected for my Holey Coin Vest, I usually bought coins that would hang nicely (hence the 12:00 criterion). If you're using a 7070 and aren't actually hanging the coins from their holes, you're freer to accept stuff that is holed in a different position, or even center-holed coins. A lot of large cents were made into "lucky" coins and nailed on to old buildings through their center. You'll also see some with two holes through the center for a button. And some of the older coins have rectangular holes from the old "square" headed nails. Sometimes the shape or position of the hole tells a lot about the coin's history.
Except for the fact they're holed, I look for the same thing a "normal" collector does in a coin- nice detail and eye appeal. Except I don't have to bother with the minutiae and nitpicks like cleaning or artificial toning, etc. (Who cares, since it's already a "damaged" coin, right?)
It's a nice freestyle, casual way to collect. Holey coin collecting keeps me grounded in the way I collected as a youth- out of pure enthusiasm and fun, rather than for "investment" or showing off, or whatever else.
One issue to think about if you are using a 7070 album is that many coins are not quite round as a result of having the hole drilled near their rim. You might have some difficulty putting them into the album. I bought a nice (small) bulletin board with a fancy frame around it that I was gonna put my love token dime set on, using nice brass pins. So far they remain in a pocket page album, for the time being, though. I might move them to the back of the Holey Coin Vest after I downsize the large cent collection there. You could consider something like the corkboard as an alternative to the album if you wanted. If you used a bulletin board or shadowbox frame, you could print custom labels to pin beneath the coins and have a nice display. Or if you're really a nut, you could wear your collection like Carl Wohlforth and danglen and I do- there is no need to go wild and get a whole outfit like I have, but a simple hat with holey coins looks cool on anybody (at least when you're at a show). But the album idea has its merits, too.
It's all about freestyle fun- a way to turn traditional collecting guidelines upside-down, sort of like these lowball sets some folks do. Enjoy it!
Oh, and PM a wantlist to me periodically. I seem to be the clearinghouse for a lot of people's unwanted holeys. They send me more than I can use, and when I end up with duplicates, I try to pass 'em on or swap 'em with other holeyheaded folk. In fact, as I mentioned, I am thinking of breaking up my nearly-complete date set of large cent holeys in favor of a 19th century type set similar to what you're doing.
Once upon a time Thiggy (dthigpen) and I were the only holey folk around here, but that has changed. Take our newer member HoledandCreative, for example- he's got a collection that probably outdoes mine. There are more of us Holeyheads out there than ever. Maybe that's because it's a nice affordable niche to collect in during hard economic times.
Keep me updated on how you do, and make sure you post your progress here. I won't be the only one interested in how your set progresses!
<< <i>I know you have one really good holed type coin out of the way >>
Oh he does, does he? Do tell. What is it? I wanna see!
PCGS Registries
Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
This calls for a giveaway!
I have in front of me three duplicates- castoff orphans. They're nothing special but they could use a good home.
First is an 1857 Flying Eagle cent in G, holed at 6:00, just above the date (but the date is clear).
Next are two silver three cent pieces.
The first is an 1851 but the small hole goes through the date, so it's dated "1__1". (I don't think it's an 1861- looks like a Type 1 coin.)
The second is an 1853, I think, but the last two digits of the date are worn and rather indistinct. It's holed at 9:00.
jmcu12 gets first pick of these three duplicates of mine if he wants any of them. Then whoever else speaks up gets one, first come first served, in they order they posted to this thread.
Oh, no, that would be cheating!
the '53 perhaps?
<< <i>When it comes to the ASE or other moderns, do you make your own hole? >>
I personally don't collect post-1900 holeys, so it's a moot point. But I'm also of the opinion that drilling your own holes is "cheating". Which is not to say I haven't drilled out a plug or two, or finished an incomplete hole that didn't go all the way through a coin- I admit to doing both of those. And I must confess that I did drill two holes through the center of a couple of nasty cull Flying Eagle cents and Shield nickels, to make buttons for my Holey Coin Vest. (A buddy of mine had dug them with his detector and gave them to me, so I cleaned 'em up in a rock tumbler and drilled 'em.) One of the buttons on my vest is an original 19th century holey, but the others I had to drill 'cause I couldn't find any with buttonholes in 'em.
<< <i>My 1853 trime is spoken for now, unless jmcu12 wants it.
<< <i>When it comes to the ASE or other moderns, do you make your own hole? >>
I personally don't collect post-1900 holeys, so it's a moot point. But I'm also of the opinion that drilling your own holes is "cheating". Which is not to say I haven't drilled out a plug or two, or finished an incomplete hole that didn't go all the way through a coin- I admit to doing both of those. And I must confess that I did drill two holes through the center of a couple of nasty cull Flying Eagle cents and Shield nickels, to make buttons for my Holey Coin Vest. (A buddy of mine had dug them with his detector and gave them to me, so I cleaned 'em up in a rock tumbler and drilled 'em.) One of the buttons on my vest is an original 19th century holey, but the others I had to drill 'cause I couldn't find any with buttonholes in 'em. >>
Kind of precludes a 7070, doesn't it? Also, does the "King of Siam" know what you did to his collection?
and thanks for the diggs posts, they sure help us sick and shut-in folk.
<< <i>Kind of precludes a 7070, doesn't it? >>
Yes, if he does a 7070 he'll have the challenge of finding modern holeys, and it will be pretty difficult unless he succumbs to the temptation of making his own. It's not that modern coins don't get drilled- they do- but it's not as commonly done as it was in the old days when a piece of pocket change actually had some bullion value and/or purchasing power. And people who have modern holeys are less likely to offer them for sale in venues like eBay- all those clad holeys are unlikely to see the light of day since most folks would consider them too worthless to even bother offering them. That is going to take some circulation hunting and hard work to get a lot of the modern stuff for a 7070. (Of course, with a lot of forum friends keeping an eye open for him, who knows? I'll have to remember the holey 7070 people next time I get a holey Kennedy half or clad quarter.)
This is one reason I confined my collecting to pre-1900, personally. And why I'd recommend a cork board instead. But the 7070 idea has its merits, as I mentioned. The added challenge of finding modern holeys without "cheating" and drilling your own could be fun, if you're twisted and masochistic enough.
As far as 20th century holeys go, I did have an early Lincoln cent and a Merc dime and a couple of Peace dollars, but gave them away.
<< <i>Also, does the "King of Siam" know what you did to his collection? >>
Eh, he's long dead, anyway. This thread and some of the other holey talk made me decide to dust off that old sig line pic and wear it again for a little while.
That's not the only old holey sigline picture I've used in the past.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
Somebody didn't like Ike!
Well, maybe they just didn't like Liberty. Hmm. That coin must have been drilled by the Taliban.
I think she wants to put together a 7070 type set of holeys, but I think she will want to wear them instead of putting them in a book. She is looking for a nice mercury dime now as she loves the design.
Lafayette Grading Set
It is a challenge. I collect because it is a challenge, you can't pick up a CW or NN and order what you want and send a check.
I have looked at the King of Siam set thinking how good it would look with holes in them. Now I know for sure how good they look. Isn't Photoshop wonderful!
I looked at a '48 CAL a month or two ago and said to the dealer that it would look really nice if it had a hole in it. The poor guy's jaw just dropped.
The modern coins are very hard to find. Someone somewhere has put a hole in a modern for one reason or another and you just have to be in the right place at the right time. eBay is a wonderrful source not that I want to bid against you.
I think I think the idea of finding holey coins - it gives them a little more character, they are generally cheaper, and they are just neat.
The only rule that I have set for myself is that they must be pre-holed. I cannot, in all good conscience, put a hole in a coin just to satisfy my set. Other than there are no holds barred I think.
And thanks to fivecents for selling me a nice crusty and holed bust half dollar!
So do you need that Flying Eagle or 3c silver? Neither are premium holeys, but they're yours for the askin' if you need 'em.