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Moderator
 United States
14463 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
398 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4421 Posts |
 to the CCF .... IMHO, Buffs are THE most definitively American coins ever produced. Having put together numerous sets of them over many years of collecting, I would offer a few considerations. Putting a set together in good to fine condition is doable at a reasonable cost for most collectors in today's market. I highly suggest looking for coins that bear a full date and show at least the base of the bison's horn. Tempting as it may be to plug those empty album holes, avoid buying fillers that are damaged, discolored or acid treated. Take your time to piece a well-matched set together. While the error coins, overdates and other varieties are interesting, focus on completing a basic set. Take your album to coin shows and comparison shop. In time, you will complete a set that you can then truly appreciate over the years and one that will retain true value. One last thought. Consider assembling a personal "grading set" to train your eye. The set might consist of one nickel each in AG, G, VG, F, VF, XF, AU and Unc. Good luck  |
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New Member
 United States
14 Posts |
Awesome ideas, ExoGuy! That's exactly what I had in mind. I agree that error coins are interesting, but not something I need to have right now.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1450 Posts |
For the more scarce Buffs such as 1921-S, 24-S, and 26-S if you can collect them in at least VF condition you will have coins that are just at the point where the coins start to really get expensive and yet these VF coins are so much better than the ones in just good condition. I would like to have only Buffs with full horn but those usually are at least EF condition and can really get expensive as in close to $1000 for some.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4421 Posts |
Quote:
For the more scarce Buffs such as 1921-S, 24-S, and 26-S if you can collect them in at least VF condition While I generally agree with buying better grade coins, those three in solid VF will cost over $200, apiece. In Fine condition, the trio can be had for under $250. Most sets I put together were solid, sharp date, half horn coins in Fine condition. At VF or better, prices soar. I built but one set at XF and better. It took me years to match that set. IMHO, there are far too many over-graded Buffs residing in VF slabs; particularly so, with those bigger money dates. The values on these slabbed VF's have slipped, as the market adjusted to this phenomenon. For this reason, I'd never encourage a starting level collector to plunge into the pond at VF level. They'll be too many sharks in the water. Edited by ExoGuy
10/01/2017 3:40 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
24885 Posts |
To the Forum. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11914 Posts |
Thank you ExoGuy for your excellent post. Feel smarter having read it.  IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: " It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." My coin website: https://fairfaxcoins.com |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4421 Posts |
Thanks for the comp, Numismatic Student .... Still learning, too, I am!
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Valued Member
United States
422 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1450 Posts |
I do notice that many Buffs that are graded as being VF do not have a full horn. I see many certified coins graded as VF 20-35 not having full and distinct horn. It seems you have to buy the EF coins to really get good reverse side of the coin. I agree with Exoguy on this and I think it is minor scandal that there is this grade inflation. I have picked up quite a few more scarce Buffs in F15 condition in the $200 range. I think Buffs may be a good long term bet for younger collectors who have many years to see appreciation on their coins. Nobody wants to pay $400 for a coin and 15-20 years from now see them not even keeping up with inflation even if you a collector and not investor.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4421 Posts |
Yes, Terry, I agree with what you wrote. I never considered assembling a VF set of Buffs for exactly the reasons noted. I assembled about 15 Buff sets of matched, Fine condition coins over the years, along with the one XF-Unc set - all being full, sharp horns.
Although I've owned a few of the major error coins, I never considered those anomalies to be part of a set. The Buff series is loaded with a wide array of error coins.
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Valued Member
United States
398 Posts |
Agree Buffalo nickel and make sure keys have FULL DATE / Liberty and at least base of horn, of course full horn better but sometimes price jump does not warrant investment, in my opinion but at all costs avoid acid and partial dates, they really don't have much value and certainly appreciation if any would be limited. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
IF you were using Whitman Classic Albums, you could put pages for both in the same album. Make it a Nickel Album. That is one of the ones I made.
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Moderator
United States
189969 Posts |
Quote:
IF you were using Whitman Classic Albums, you could put pages for both in the same album. Make it a Nickel Album. That is one of the ones I made. You can do the same with Dansco. Just saying.  Of course, I like the idea regardless of brand.  |
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Replies: 25 / Views: 3,920 |
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Posted 10/01/2017 04:14 am
