New Member Searching For A Really Good Starter Set

Mike, just realized as new member you can't use PM feature until minimum 50 post limit. I can send an email to you but you must turn on the feature in your profile section. Be happy to help you and your son get started.

I agree with muddler ...a Ben Franklin set of half dollars would be a good starter set.

The set goes from 1948 through 1963. Coins that are graded XF to BU would
not be to hard to put together. You might want to look up some history on
Ben Franklin while you collect the set.

Another popular set would be American Silver Eagles ( ASE). ASE's were
first minted in 1986. They contain 1oz. of .999 fine silver.

Dansco makes some nice albums for coin sets, you might want to check
out what is available.

I agree with Wade on this one. It's not easy to make money on coins. Do it for the experience, not as an investment. Assume you won't make money, and hope you don't lose money -- any profit is just a bonus. You'll want to amass knowledge before you amass coins. If deals sound too good to be true, they probably are. Crazy posted pictures of some nice 1851 Indian Head silver dollars the other day, and I'm sure he'd let them go at "spot price"! But they're forgeries, and he posted them as an illustration of knock offs being produced now. Good luck!

If you want a set that has "value" from circulation or searching boxes of coins then the Kennedy half is the way to go.

If you want an easier set to start with that will give you a quicker satisfaction of filling the album up faster Lincoln Memorial cents are the way to go.

Jefferson nickels are doable but it may take you a LOT of boxes to finish your album.

Would that be the Westward Journey?

I agree with both Franklin halves and Jefferson nickels. The nickels have quite a few more years but even the War Nickels can be found in rolls and aren't highly priced. There are minimal key and semi-key dates. You mentioned "teaching" and Jefferson nickels have gone through several changes since 1938 including composition, mintmark placement (existence of P) design updates, etc. A lot to learn.

The Franklin's are 90% Silver but are manageable because of the short run.

As far as cents go, a Lincoln Memorial set (1959-2008) should be fairly simple to achieve. There are a few varieties that can or cannot be included at your discrepancy and most can be found in rolls.

Whatever you do, make it your own. There aren't any hard and fast rules to a set.

How about just starting with your own wallet and look for all the different cash you have? A lot of Americans here say to have started with cents (by year and mintmark), so that may be a classical way to start for a child. There are also quite some nickels to be found. How about State Quarters or America the beautiful? Those are widely available in change and a lot of them are still in excellent condition. There are quite a few albums around which are dedicated to such coins, too. Just check ebay, coin shops or such vendors to see what they have to offer.

Not only would that be a nice way to start a collection, it'll also make getting change a bit more interesting and exciting. And if you decide that coin collecting is not for you, for example because it doesn't turn out to be the gold mine you expect it to be, then you can just spend it all again and nothing is lost. I personally try to get an American type coin set just out of circulation (ok, plus a few Morgans and so on the side), and I got well over 100 different types, not paying attention to mint mark or year. If I'd have done that, I'd probably be over 1000 by now. And I don't even live in the USA...
Also check the 'junk silver' bins at your local coin shop. There might be quite a few treasures there going for about silver spot price, like silver dimes or quarters.

As for the gold mine... unless you are dealing in precious metal (and very good at it) or able to invest in high end coins for trade, there won't be a physical gold mine. The most you'll get out of it is time spent with your son.

Some terrific ideas posted here!

As another idea and learning experience, why not attempt a "one from every country" or OFEC set? Buy a few cheap lots on ebay for $5-10 each and see how far you can get, then start hunting down individual countries. It's not terribly expensive, but it is a genuine challenge and will teach all but the most seasoned of geography nerds a thing or two.

My son got interested in coins by looking through my small box of wheat cents and some silver coins. We started with the 50 state series, then the National Parks ( ATB) series and the Presidential dollar series. Once we were done/caught up to releases there, we started going to the bank and buying penny rolls and nickel rolls to look through.

After about a year, he is 13 coins away from a full set of Jefferson nickels from circulation and he's fully completed the Memorial cents collection. We've completed all but 6 wheat pennies from 1941-58. We've found some proofs in circulation, a few Indian Head cents, and 3 Buffalo nickels during that time, and some random foreign coins. He's had fun every step of the way, which is important to us.