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 Replies: 17 / Views: 2,895 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3283 Posts |
I will say that buying complete sets is probably the most cost effective way to buy coins.
Just do your homework and make sure you can see what your getting, either in hand or with good photo's
from a trusted seller.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2077 Posts |
Hunting them down one by one sounds more fun to me, but a lot more work.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2269 Posts |
I agree that hunting down coins is a lot of fun. Since 1987 I have been working on a Lincoln Cent collection with most of my coins found in circulation. There will come a point where you will have to buy certain coins in order to complete your set. For example in 25 years of building my set, I never found a 1909 S VDB, 1931 S, 1914 D, or a 1922 type 2 No D in circulation. I knew I had to purchase these coins if I wanted to complete my set. It took me 25 years to finish the set, but it was really enjoyable. As for purchasing a complete set, I did this once. I finished my Roosevelt dimes from 1965 to present and I wanted to complete my 1946 to 1964 set. Because I only collected Roosevelt dimes from circulation, I only found about 10 pre 1964 Dimes. I weighed the options of either purchasing the coins individually or the entire set. I did a little research and found purchasing the entire set would cost less than buying the rest of the coins I was missing. The best advice I can give you is to do your research, you can probably find a good deal on the internet. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2150 Posts |
What are you talking? A complete wheat set? All from '09-present? All proofs or proofs from '68 forward? Memorials only?
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
If you like it and want to do it that way go for it. If thats what I wanted to do I wouldnt regret it if you really wanted to get a complete set soon and can afford it. You can always do a find it yourself one at a later date if you decided thats what you wanted to do.
Price wise doing it youself would be less dollars, but if you consider the time it would take you it comes out pretty even maybe even cheaper for the price of your time. If you really enjoy doing it obviously that isn't a concern but if you stop enjoying it theres not much point
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
If you cant wait and you can afford it then do it. But IMHO you will miss all the FUN  . The hobby is called coin collecting.You get coins through roll and box searching, you trade some with your friends .... then when you are about to complete it, you buy the hard dates from shows, shops, ebay, you cherry pick them ....etc, and then when it is complete you will start upgrading your set. If you buy the complete Lincoln Cent set, then whats next? you will start another either Lincoln or another series so what will you do then, buy another complete set?! I dont think there is a time limit to complete the set and the longer it takes the more the fun and the more the happiness you will feel when you complete it. But as I said this is just my opinion and again if you really want a complete set and you can afford it then do it and enjoy the fun collecting the next. Edited by EgCollector
08/14/2012 7:24 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
1. Buying an entire set including the most counterfeited ones is asking for problems
2. You have no ability to choose what grade you want buying a set.
3. Trying to return an entire set also may not work out well.
4. Buying anything over the internet for that amount is really risky.
5. If they come in a Folder, the reverses may well be meesed up by that Folder.
6. Just not a good idea.
One person I know also thought it would be a great idea to do that. He purchased a complete set at a coin show. At home he found many had the reverse messed up by a bad Folder. At all the next coin shows the dealer that sold that to him never returned. So now what?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4085 Posts |
I had a very incomplete collection from childhood and so I bought a couple of low quality sets just to give me a kick start on the collection. I bought a 1941-59 wheat set for $5 on ebay and a 1909-40 partial wheat set (missing the keys and semi-keys) for around $40 on ebay next. Then I filled in the semi keys and started building a memorial set from roll searching. Once the memorial set was all BU, I thought why not get the 1941-59 wheaties in all BU? That shouldn't be too difficult. After that was done, I thought let's go for the 30's in BU. Finished that and have been working my way backward. It's getting expensive and hard to find good coins now that I am mainly down to the teens and twenties D and S mints, but I'm still working on it. In my case, spending $45 or so on a circulated set gave me the critical mass to feel like I had a collection to upgrade and it has been fun doing that. I wouldn't buy a high grade set that way though. Too much risk and I like to pick out the individual coins if there's real money involved. Edited by KenKat
08/14/2012 8:08 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
620 Posts |
If you dont enjoy or have tired of the hunt, then by all mean buy a completed set.
My advise buy from a dealer with a good reputation. Or buy from a brick and morter shop
so you can look the cents over close before you buy them.
Many times you can find completed sets much cheaper than buying each coin one at a time.
Coin collecting should be a fun a rewarding hobby. And I also think you should be able to
collect anyway you want. So what ever floats your boat, go for it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1510 Posts |
I dont know I had a blast getting my lincolns together--even though I am missing the 5 biggies--it is still one of my most fun sets to get...
Retired USAF 1983-2003
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2077 Posts |
Nothing like the thrill of watching that 31-S that you were willing to buy for $82 sell to someone else for $83. That's what it's all about. Most of the sets I see on ebay are missing key dates anyway. If you do find one, make sure the keys are correct as that's where 90% of the value is. |
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New Member
United States
17 Posts |
I have always looked for, or purchased, individual coins and tend to stay away from the sets. I have purchased a few sets in the past but always found something lacking in them; mostly issues of quality. Having a choice and picking and choosing has always been more satisfying for me!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1193 Posts |
My best advice, with only one coin left for the "typical completion" in my set... is... find a GOOD/FRIENDLY/KNOWLEDGEABLE dealer to work with, that knows your intention, and more than likely he will have just as much fun as you are completing it. They will know which ones are, "dig deeper into your pocket coins", and keep an eye out for ones that are your target grade.
I have bought rolls of modern cents, just to find the perfect modern date...clearly you wont be doing that with 1914-D's or 1970-S's even... but if you're looking for a money making scheme, you won't make it on LWC/LMC,..but I speak for myself when I say.. I DONT CARE because I love them!
Truthfully, some of the 80-2012 cents are harder to find with the perfect strike and grade rather than the older ones.
In conclusion, I advise to not buy the set, because you will most likely end up switching them all at some point if you keep it... there is always one better out there :)
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19964 Posts |
You didn't specify what year range?
Kenkat's idea is GREAT. If you're serious, you'll have lots of fun upgrading a set....yet you don't feel rushed to "fill holes". One of the biggest mistakes made is being in a hurry. The more time you take, the better your collection will be.
If you buy a set, don't do it online. Buy a set you can see, hold and inspect each coin in it. There's a HUGE difference between sets with most containing cleaned, damaged and subpar coins. If I was starting over, I'd put all my time, effort and money in a stellar set from 1909-1933 and ignore the rest.
Lincoln Cent Lover!VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1193 Posts |
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Replies: 17 / Views: 2,895 |
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Posted 08/14/2012 5:18 pm
