Best Way To Put Together High Quality Lincoln Cents 1959-Date?

This is a really easy task. There no expensive coins and I wouldn't recommend trying to get them from circulation unless you have LOTS of time.

Step 1 Buy a Dansco
Step 2 find a local dealer that has coins (not bullion)
Step 3 Buy what you are missing.
Step 4 put them in a Dansco
Step 5 buy what your dealer doesn't have on ebay

This is a low cost set.

I guess there's one other piece of advice I would offer. Collect the small date 1974 issues. All three of these ae widely ignored because of their high mintages but they do not appear in mint sets and will be tougher in high grade. This especially applies to the S-mint since these were mixed in with other production to keep them out of the hands of coin collectors. Solid BU rolls are harder to find and then the coins are usually scratched. All three of these are sleepers. The '70-S sm dt is very elusive in Gem and many won't collect it in their sets. 3 or 4% of mint set coins are Gem suggesting perhaps fewer than 8,000 were produced in Gem. Attrition on these is very high and those remaining in mint set packaging are tarnished. I believe you can still cherry pick them but with so few in existence they are hard to find.

There are great arguments for collecting the '74 sm dts beyond just that they are plentiful. These are the same variety that was used for the aluminum cents in 1974 and would have been the design on subsequent pennies if the price of copper hadn't dropped. This is the year that if common sense had prevailed the one cent coin would have been discontinued. The small dates are testament to the consumer society and waste that now exist.

This is so true!

Be careful with the Zincolns (after 1982) many look great but in a few years they get zinc zits. I wouldn't spend any real money on a zinc cent after 1982.

I've had MS/PF68 coins that get zinc zits. Spotless coins, even some of the proofs are spotting.The copper coating is so thin that oxidation of the zinc just breaks through. I've lost interest in coins after 1964, but Lincolns after 1982 are pure junk coinage. Happy the cent is going away.

I'm going to be using direct fit airtights so hopefully I'll get lucky and they won't go bad. I'll be spending more on the holders than the coins most likely

That is a good point to consider. I could see where a coin might be slightly too big or too small where they won't fit properly or loose enough that it turns in the holder with the direct fit.
What size 2x2 are you using with your Lincoln Cents?

I think the CAPS Albums themselves are made for just the Direct Fit Capsules if I'm not mistaken.

Edit: I guess they are the same the Outside Diameter for both A19 size is 1.218 for the Cent