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Replies: 55 / Views: 5,145 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
Danny, A complete set of Franklin halves, in better than OK shape, can be pulled from a bargain bin. The Washingtons, before 1940, can get costly. Just an opinion. Do you know the story of the eagle on the Franklin half? Old Ben was not found of choosing an eagle to represent the US. He preferred a Wild Turkey - "A noble bird." It has long been rumored that the designer of the half, mindful of Mr. Franklin's dislike of the eagle, made it as small as possible and still meet the requirement that an eagle be portrayed.
Edited by matthewvincent 09/21/2012 12:27 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2366 Posts |
With only $20/month and your dealer not having junk bins I would go with the previous suggestion to roll hunt. Go to the bank (or a store) and make friends with a teller and stop by to swap your $20. If there's nothing in there you like then you still have $20 available to try again. Also, invest in a good loupe or a USB microscope for your computer so you can check out the details of the coins.
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New Member
 Canada
42 Posts |
Do you guys suggest dime roll searching, quarter roll searching?
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
632 Posts |
1. Buy the book. It doesn't have to be the new edition, a 3 to 5 years old will be fine. In fact an older edition will give you a section on grading coins and will include the non-circulating legal tender coins (NCLT).
2. Join a club (you may get some freebies, including an old catalog). Visit shows and chat with dealers and collectors.
3. Join discussion groups and read a lot.
4. Learn to grade.
5. Learn the most important lesson: collecting is for fun. A collector rarely makes money out of his/her collection. If you want to invest and make money, buy bullion and let it sit for 30+ years.
5. Buy the coin you like in the better condition as possible - see 4 above.
6. Note that I repeated #5.
7. $20.00 will take you a loooooonnnnng way into collecting if you study the catalog.
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
9866 Posts |
Buy a Charlton's Search penny or nickel rolls.
"Dipping" is not considered cleaning... -from PCGS website
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
I would not suggest buying. Borrow it from the library or just go to the library to read it.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3167 Posts |
 with petersun. If you can get it from a library, you can probably get a newer edition, it'll cost less, and you can probably keep it for 3 weeks at a time.
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New Member
 Canada
42 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10047 Posts |
Here is an on line price guide for collectors. Although this is just the Franking Half page URL, you can find prices for every US coin there: http://www.numismedia.com/fmv/price...icesgd.shtmlThe pics of the coin you bought are small so it is hard to grade (and I am not an expert anyway) - but to me it looks like a nice coin and a nice deal. The most important thing is if YOU like it. The it is a good deal!
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2366 Posts |
You can also check this site http://www.bestcoin.com/united-stat...ng-guide.htm for lists and relative values. I don't buy a lot of US coins but I usually pay about 50-60% of these prices when I do so consider them a bit inflated. :-) http://www.coinsandcanada.com/coins-prices.php will give you information for Canadian coins included the pre-Confederation Newfoundland coins, a grading guide with pictures (unfortunately incomplete but still useful) and paper money. The list prices on this site are much more representative of reality but if you're buying anything then you want to try to pay less than list. For roll hunting, search for whatever you're interested in at the moment. Dimes and quarters hold out the hope of finding silver but there are many interesting finds in the pennies and nickels as well.
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Moderator
 Canada
10463 Posts |
I noticed in your profile that you are from Markham, Ontario - are you planning to pop down the 404 to the Coin Expo coin show next weekend (Sept 28-29)? http://www.torontocoinexpo.ca/You have to pay to get in, kids under the age of 16 get in for free. You can learn a lot from visiting a coin show, you can also see some pretty nice coins and flip through various dealer's inventories and junk bins to see what $20 can actually buy you. Most dealers are pretty good with younger collectors (I always give kids the best discount). I will be there, look for Sherwood Park Pennies and identify yourself to me (say who you are from CCF) - I'll give you something to sharpen your grading skills (for free)...
"Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
Edited by SPP-Ottawa 09/21/2012 10:30 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1411 Posts |
@Chinesehorse North York Coin Club at http://www.northyorkcoinclub.com/ is a local coin club which I have just joined. It would be nice to have another YN in the group!  @SPP I changed my flight plans by a few hours  so I'll be at the fair. I'll make sure to stop by!
Edited by Windchild 09/21/2012 10:56 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
632 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3167 Posts |
I wish I was close to a coin show to go, Vancouver is the closest on, been there once, but its still 4+ hours away :(
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
933 Posts |
I'll be at the coin expo! thanks for the reminder SPP, completely forgot about it lol
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Replies: 55 / Views: 5,145 |