Affordable 1800-S Coins

Since I only own one large cent, braided hair cents like these, and an 1847 to boot, I'm not exactly a good person to comment here, but I will regardless. I bought by 1847 about 10 years ago, paid $16 for it in Fine condition; Red Book says it's now worth around $25, so a little appreciation is good. It's all brown (uniform, other than the two that are tarnished/got crud on them), no verdigris (like two of your have), and lacks tons of obvious nicks (like your third one has). Mine also doesn't photograph as reddish, making me think that one of your might have been cleaned.

I've been interested in buying more large cents (as my 1847 is my favorite coin I own, even though the date for me is meaningless), and although they can be cheap of ebay, I've avoided picking any up since they're mostly heavily worn or problem coins...and while I'd pick up a nice problem Morgan or heavily worn Seated Liberty dime or a nicely worn Indian Head cent (etc) in a heart-beat, I've never been able to actually pull the trigger (so to speak) and get a problem Large Cent, Half Cent, or Flying Eagle cent (even though I've contemplated it many times, with the rational that if I buy a number of really cheap problem Large Cents (for example, nice local auction a month ago had a really great deal on them), then with them sequestered, the theoretical implication would be that there'd be less of them on the market, less of the available (not to mention less bad in general) and would raise the value of the surviving market population and of the value of better-quality specimen in general...at the same time allowing me to create plastic coin tube "rolls" of large cents and feeling special for having them, albeit low-quality problem coins.

But I cannot pull the trigger. Maybe one day I will. Maybe I won't. I'm a little partial to coppers I think. With all that said, your 1846 would have been the only coin I would have contemplated buying, if I could more tell that it hadn't been cleaned...although a coin in that shape I would have preferred having had a nice 150 year tarnish on it. So, bad deal, okay deal, it's all up to how you view it; and what your goals on collecting are or your taste in how your coins look. I wouldn't have bought the lot, that's just me; but if all you wanted was to get some cheap 1800's coins with the intention of building upon them (and probably up'ing them in the process), than you did just fine.

The Two Cent series is a short and yet pretty affordable one to get a complete collection in business strikes. Save for the small motto and the 1872, the rest should be easy enough to find in decent shape in F-EF condition in your price range.




That does have merit, as you will end up with coins that you really like owning! But you can always start where you can afford to and upgrade as time goes on.

West, your absolutely right, I just learned the hard way that it made more sense (to and for me at least) to save for months if need be opposed to buying coins I'd likely loose money on when I went to upgrade.. It sucks not being able to buy as often, but the quality and not loosing money makes up for it. But hey, it's not for everyone and I respect that, I was just giving my opinion based in the OP's recent purchase..

Tkbslc, that's exactly the way I look at it, I'd rather have X amount of great coins with value that I absutely love over thousands of common, low grades. And it's definitely good to focus your interests opposed to being all over the place, as fun as that is I'd recommend choosing a few series you absolutely love. You can also start a "type set" (ex. Dansco's 7070), many of us, myself included are working on them. They're expensive but at least they focus your "type" collecting.

And also, if you think about it, in the " Coin World" 160-170 year old US coins are considered "modern", lol... If you really get a kick out of and enjoy the history aspect of "old" coins you may want to consider checking out ancients.... They're not my cup of tea (though I have a couple) but you can get them with amazing details still for great prices and those are a couple thousand years old.... Just some more food for thought, lol

Wanting to buy a 1800's quality coin for $40 is going to be very limited. As a entry level collector we want to buy many types of coins and as often as possible. So do some research and get the best deals that's out there.
As time passes our income will grow and our tastes for quality coins will improve as well.

I have bought a lot of large cents in VF or even XF for under 40 bucks. Try to look for coins with no big problems like corrosion, pitting, scratches, rim dings, and obvious cleaning. Look for a nice tan copper toning if you can. Some of the dates are worth more than others. No nice 1857 large cents at that price range. Sometimes if the pics are so-so you can find a deal if you look closely. I have also bought and sold a lot of low grade coins to local shops and made a few bucks that way to finance the nicer coins I do keep. It takes time and patience to find the nicer ones.

I think you can pick up decent Half Cents and flying eagles for reasonable prices. There are a lot of varieties of the flying eagles that you may be able to cherry pick since there are not a whole lot of specialists of that series.

I was at Hobby Lobby (current politics be damned) and noticed they had the newest 2015 Red Book and a 40% coupon on one item. So I got that for really cheap. I understand the coin values are not as up to date as they could be, but at least it gives a good idea of what to shop for and what is out there. Plus it's a nice encyclopedia of coins for someone new to the game. I've enjoyed reading it so far.

How about getting a VF-XF Civil War token in the neighborhood of $20?

Personally, my best buys have been made at coin shows ... lots of dealer competition in that venue!