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Buying Full Sets Of Coins

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 Posted 05/05/2026  09:00 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Humanist1287 to your friends list
I've personally found the thrill of trying to find cheaper albums with a portion of the coins included. This way, I can continue the set.
Finding a Dansco for a good price with coins included IMO is a good bargain, depending on the price obviously.
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 Posted 05/05/2026  09:17 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add panzaldi to your friends list
I've never done it, however, collections seem to be less expensive than the coins individually. if you are attempting to build say a buffalo set and dont want to spend years doing it, buy a partial set and then concentrate on the keys/semi-keys. for true collectors, its the hunt and its much more satisfying filling in each hole.

i think a lot of folks today call themselves collectors but in essence, they are accumulators. they rarely know anything about the series or history of the coin.
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 Posted 05/05/2026  12:26 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Greasy Fingers to your friends list
Pryer to the rise in silver prices (silver was @ +/- 20$/oz) I used to buy albums/folders (25 & 50¢) from mom and pop ebay sellers just for stacking silver. Checked for varieties/errors than stacked. Cent albums/folders were great for rpms and some upgrades.
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 Posted 05/05/2026  1:31 pm  Show Profile   Check Brandmeister's eBay Listings Bookmark this reply Add Brandmeister to your friends list

Quote:
I think a lot of folks today call themselves collectors but in essence, they are accumulators. they rarely know anything about the series or history of the coin.

I think that has always been true. Typically accumulation burns people out pretty fast, because if they aren't being selective, their appetite outpaces their budget. That type of mindset seems particularly prevalent in comic book and trading card collecting.

In all fairness, there are coin series where I have a deeper knowledge and appreciation (ex. Jefferson nickel varieties), but I also occasionally buy world coins and medals just because I like how they look. Even collectors can accumulate.
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 Posted 05/05/2026  1:48 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jbuck to your friends list

Quote:
I used to buy albums/folders (25 & 50¢) from mom and pop ebay sellers just for stacking silver. Checked for varieties/errors than stacked. Cent albums/folders were great for rpms and some upgrades.
That sounds like fun.
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 Posted 05/05/2026  5:03 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add I6609 to your friends list
I've done it one time with a Franklin 1/2 set. Don't think I would do that again. Unless it was for the bullion aspect of it. What I found was some of the more common dates that are not hard to find in pretty high grade where AU. Which someday I will do an upgrade on the commons. For what that's worth.
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 Posted 05/05/2026  6:36 pm  Show Profile   Check Vector Ze's eBay Listings Bookmark this reply Add Vector Ze to your friends list
Not so much full series (Lincoln Cents, Jefferson nickels, Franklin Halfs, etc), but I have bought year sets of Quarters in Mint Cellos; examples Statehood, National Parks, American Women. I have an extensive collection of US Mint Sets, but don't want to break them up to fill my albums.
And I plan to do it further for the completion of MS condition coins for those series.
Edited by Vector Ze
05/05/2026 6:38 pm
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 Posted 05/05/2026  7:41 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add samoth to your friends list
I don't think I've seen full sets for sale other than 20th century coinage.

I'd love to see what a full set of large cents or half dimes would realize at auction, though.
Edited by samoth
05/05/2026 7:42 pm
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 Posted 05/05/2026  8:29 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Sap to your friends list
Lots of people will buy such sets, with the intent of breaking the sets up, perhaps pillaging the nicest coins out of them for their own sets, and then dumping the unwanted coins back on the market. For many coin dealers, I suspect this is their bread-and-butter source of income when PM values are down. But "set-pillaging" this way is actually a disincentive for collectors who want to assemble their own sets but don't like / aren't experienced at selling, as having to go tot he trouble of selling the unwanted/duplicate coins gives those unwanted coins a negative value.

Very few collectors, I suspect, are interested in buying completed sets with the intent of keeping those sets intact for themselves. Most of the "fun" in coin collecting is doing the set-assembly yourself, rather than paying someone else to do the assembling for you.

All of which means that a "complete set" is expected to fetch less on the open market than the sum total of all the coins if sold individually.
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 Posted 05/05/2026  8:51 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Marv65 to your friends list
Only if it's a good deal and I can flip them for a profit.
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 Posted 05/05/2026  9:03 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add tdziemia to your friends list
No
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 Posted 05/06/2026  3:24 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Petespockets55 to your friends list
Everyone brings up some valid points why people may buy a complete set.
I don't usually buy complete sets but I have bought two over the years. One was "intentional" and the other was a very nice accidental surprise.
The intentional one was a complete set of Ikes that I put a bid on to watch out of curiosity, that I ended up winning.
The second was complete set was part of a lot of Lincoln cents I won at state of Florida unclaimed property auction. It was a complete set of Indian cents!
(It was put together in about 1964, based on the copyrite date on the folder).
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 Posted 05/09/2026  09:40 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add seamonkey5150 to your friends list
If I had the extra funds or if I thought I could get it by the spouse I might. Closest was just a series of coins, like the Innovation P&D set and the ATB Quarter S Mint coins, it was cheaper to buy them as a set versus individually.
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 Posted 05/09/2026  09:54 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add hfjacinto to your friends list
I purchased a full set of cents (1909 to 1942) for $100 a few years ago it was missing the 1909 S VDB snd 1914d but had everything else in circulated grades. Just the 1909 S, 1911s and 1931S were worth the price. That set coupled with a high end set (1917 to 1959) let me leapfrog the early Lincoln wheat dates. Combing both I had almost 2 complete sets. I still have the 1909S, 1924D and 1931S from the original set but sold off or gave away the rest. Buying the whole sets can be good, but there will awaits be compromises in quality. You might eventually upgrade the coins.
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