How Long Did It Take You To Find The "Key Coin(S)" In Your Set?

I am still working on my sets because there is always room to improve them. Right now I am trying to finish a Morgan set, but if I see an outstanding LWH or Peace dollar or Buffalo nickel for a great price I will buy it if I can. Some key dates like 1893-S Morgan are so expensive in anything beyond VF condition it is really a long process to get there, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. You know you have these conditional rarities within sets like the 34-S Peace dollar in MS63-65 condition and you have to take these into account. There are many Morgans that jump from $250 in AU to $7000 in MS, so you have to set realistic goals for your income and resource level at the time.

I totally agree with this prior statement. For me, finding that special coin to complete my sets is not at all difficult (in today's world I could buy whatever I was looking for within the next hour). The only difficulty I have is financing my addiction. :)

Earlier this year, I decided to put together a set of Indian Quarter Eagles. Had the key 11-D come along with the right look, and at the right price, I would've jumped on it without hesitation. I did bid on a couple over the year at auction, but missed out both times. Ironically, it was by chance that I found, more like stumbled upon one that had the look I was after and at a reasonable price... it just so happened to be the last one I needed. Set complete.

ET

I spent about 50 years completing a U.S. type set of coins from the Half Cent to the $50 gold Panama - Pacific slugs. It took me about two years to find a 1796 No Stars Quarter eagle that pleased me, and I had the bucks to buy it. Some collectors spend decades looking for coins.

Of late I've been looking for a suitable 1839-C quarter eagle ($2.50), and I've had one of the leading gold dealers in The United States looking for one too. I could have bought one any number of times, but all of those coins were over graded and not attractive because most of them had been cleaned.

Peace dollars are a good deal easier. There are no "impossible" coins in the set, but you have to be patient and find "the right coins."

I am almost finished with an AU wheat Lincoln set. I bought most of the semi-keys early to get some of the more expensive ones out of the way. I also paid a bit extra for some to get them slabbed. It helped me immensely in my grading skills and learning about strike quality. For instance, my first 26S was AU but had a weak strike on the reverse-my upgrade doesn't suffer from that issue! I got a 25D for Christmas after searching for 1 year to find a coin with a decent strike.

I'm still short the S VDB but will have enough saved in Feb to do my hunting. Debating about the 22 plain-regular issue or mint error like a 55 DDO? Not convinced either way. Besides not getting a 22 Plain allows money to be used for keys in my next set (Buffalos? Mercs? WLH?)!

I find it pretty easy to find key dates for Morgan dollars. The hard part is being able to afford them in the condition I want. I have 7 to go to complete my set and all are expensive even if XF condition and I want AU. I will never get them all in AU condition so I will settle for some lessor coins if I ever want to complete the set.

Bill

A 1893-S Morgan in AU is affordable for die hard collector. People spend twice as much restoring old cars. Of course, you can drive a 93-s.

That I'd like to see.

Most people collect coins that are not particularly rare. If you want to buy a High Relief Saint and you have $35,000, you could probably find one in a few weeks. As Bill said, there are really no difficult to find Morgans, its just that they are so popular that they are expensive. A 1909-S VDB cent is a common coin, as is a 1911-D Quarter Eagle. Neither of those will take you more than a couple weeks to find in somebody's inventory or at an auction. Now if you collect Bust dimes by variety or Bust halves by Overton number, you could wait years before some of the tougher ones come on the market. Lots of Patterns are very rare and come up at auction infrequently. Some of them are not even terribly expensive, its just that there are very few collectors of them.

I just finished a Bust Dollar set in VF/XF. It took me nearly a year before a good, no problem 1798 Small Eagle with decent strike came up at auction or in dealer inventory, and last night I had my pick of three of them.