Modern Commem Thoughts/Questions?

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Originally posted by national dealer

First, you should always collect what you like. Don't base any decision on what others like. This is your collection and should be your pride and joy. A showcase of your taste and your personality.

Now, onto weights and dimensions. The new gold is based on new standards. $5 gold is 10th of an ounce where the old gold was based from one ounce and fractions working down. Since the system now has $50, $25, $10, $5 it is different than days of old. However, the purity is still the same.

Silver is still the same. When it comes to commems, you are buying the packaging and design, not the intrinsic value.

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Hi ND,
Thanks- your input is always valued by me. Modern US commemoratives come in a bewildering (to me at least) number and types of issues. This was my attempt to get a handle on the "series" Now however, I am officially confused
I think you refer to "new' gold american eagle contents above- where the $50 coin is an oz, and as you state $5 is 1/10 oz. I'm asking about modern commemoratives (putting aside whether or not SAEs and GAEs are commems or bullion-I'm referring to special commemorative issues) I know that the $10 first flight gold commem contains 16.7 gm of .90 fine gold- which I believe is the same content as the most recent historic gold eagles (ie 1910 $10 indian). The 1984 olympic $10 has the same content as well. Obviously the LOC $10 coin is different- is it the only exception-are all of the other special modern commem issues 16.7gm .900 gold if they are $10 coins, 8.3gm if they're $5? I think the '82 Washington and '87 constituition 50c were silver halves with the same content as say a 64 Kennedy half. I think all of the other 50c modern commems are clad. Is this correct? And all of the modern $1 issues are silver, and same content as say a 1964D Peace (example just for your enjoyment)? And that is different than a SAE, which is 1 troy oz
and $1.
On to my "set" questions. I'm trying to think about how one might put together a modern commerorative series. That's what's strange about commemoratives, it seems to me- If one puts together say lincoln cents- well that is clear- one determines whether to collect by year, year/mm, or a variety of varieties
For the mods, I like some, others leave me cold. One approach would be to not worry about it and just collect the ones I like. Another would be to collect all of the app 90 issues (I likely won't do this), but one could double this by getting both proof and unc , or collect 1 or the other type of strike. Another would be to collect at least 1 of each commemoration if there are multiples- ie get a 50c clad Captiol visitor center to represent the CVC "family" a FF$1 to represent those 3 issues, a civil war $1, etc. I may do this-obviously it is less expensive. For some "Issues" one coin represnts all of them- ie dolley madison $1. Another would be to collect just the dollar commems. I guess I'm thinking "aloud" and wondering how others collect this series. And partly I'm processing that due to mint issues really just within the last 30 years or so, how it is difficult to collect 1 of everything. In 1964 it was simple- could get 1 of everything the mint put out- 1 proof set, and 1 circ from the two mints. (yes, I realize one could get an AH and non AH Kennedy, but you know what I mean!) Now it is exponentially more complex

SFDukie, I think the official " Red Book of United States coins" by R.S. Yeoman is a great book to use for helping to decipher questions such as these.(A new edition comes out each year) It displays and covers Early, Gold, Silver and Modern Commmem's in a very tidy an inexpensive format.... About $12.00. It may help you to categorize these for building a future collection! Hope this will help. Mike If you can, get the wire bound paperback version. It holds up to a lot of abuse without the pages falling out,stays open to the page chosen and it's easy to carry!

The gold weights in the new commems are different than the old gold coins. The sizes don't match up well. They match with the AGE series so that the Mint can keep things simple. The 10 dollar gold coins today are not exactly the same as the $5 of old.

Now to your collecting idea. If you are planning to keep the set for a keepsake, I would say only buy what appeals to you. If you are thinking that you will sell the set, I would suggest a complete set. Complete sets always appeal to a wide range of buyers. You could also concentrate only on the higher valued coins and put together a "hot" set.

Now to the silver. The dollar commems have the same weight and composition as the silver eagle. The halves that are silver are also 90% .999 fine.

They tend to be more valuable in the mint packaging unless you really have the ultra grades. Just because they look perfect doesn't mean that they are. I still cannot spot the difference between a 68 and a 70. I have even tried to get the graders at the show to spot the difference and they often fail.