Finally! Finished My Lincoln Cent Album!!

Excellent!

If only I could time travel back to 1984...

That is when I got my first Dansco albums and I started the journey to fill them up, every hole. The Lincoln album has that pesky hole for a 1922 "plain" in it.

As a side note, a good number of holes were immediately filled by transferring coins from my old Whitman folders. That journey started in 1980.

But back to time travel... I have no idea what I would tell my younger self to do, other than stick with 2x2 holders (which is where most of the non-US coins live).

When I was a kid, I contemplated doing a date set.
Then I realized: the stars of the set were going to be those in exceptional condition or rare coins, and those would be the coins I would point out to other collectors with pride and satisfaction..

So I figured: Why not just collect the stars of the set only? -but why?:
If the set was to be sold later on, it is the key and star coins that an intending buyer would concentrate their interest on.
That led me into doing a type set across all denominations made up of star or key coins only, at a price level that I could afford. I obviously knew that there were going to be gaps in such collection, but that was OK by me.

I have noticed that some collectors, if they have the opportunity, try to pick the eyes out of date set collections, just to save money. If they are date set collectors, they probably have most of the easier coins anyway.

That is why I am a typesetter. I try to get the hardest coins first, because they will take the most time to find.

I stuck a mint token from an uncirculated Denver mint set in the 22 Plain slot and called it done!

You're singing my song.

I wish I could do the same, but it would bug me.

I have considered is buying a (cheap) well worn 1922-D and use as pocket piece until the mint mark wears away.