What Would You Buy Within The Following Budgets?

Any silver coin and save it from melt, and help preserve part of our history. Pretty soon they will be like the buffalo.

Absolutely correct Sel. Often have to remind myself of that. Doing so will keep me out of trouble and always the best I can and like or want. Too many temptations. But for quite some time now I have no trouble passing on alot of very nice coins. If it's not calling, I don't answer and I'm very picky.

Not an easy question since all people like different things and all coin shows are different too. At many of the coin shows I go some dealers have Albums of not so expensive coins and the more valuable ones in glass cases. Some have junk or bargain boxes too. You could run into a dealer that is trying to go out of the buisness and willing to sell coins real cheap. Then too there is the opposite where a dealer thinks he has to jack up the price by about 25% even over the Red Book.
There are many other situations at coin shows, your preverences, the grades of the coins from dealer to dealer. Sometimes your appearance can make you get more for your money too. Same if you frequent the same shows and get to know certain dealers.
I know many people that do go to coin shows with a specific budget and most tell me what they do is to either buy exactly what they like, need or want. If not, they put that money aside for the next show. If you did that for several or even a few shows, your budget is now far greater.
One person I met at a coin show got to know a dealer so well that the dealer took small abounts on a retainer sort of deal and when enough had accumulated he purchased a really expensive coin. One person I met was on a really tight budget and finally talked a dealer into letting him work off some of the purchases by helping him set up, sell, put things away, etc.
I know I'm not really answering your question but so much of questions like that are going to give you only answers from people that tell you what they like. What you like may well be just the opposite.

Of course you could just rob a bank so you could go to coin shows with a lot of money.

1st budget amount is $100 - As many Canadian Large Cents I could find in VF or XF prior to 1914
2nd is $150 to $200 - 1978 S Trade dollar in XF
3rd is $200 to $250 - 1850 O Seated Liberty dollar in Fine
4th is $250 to $300 - 1914 D Lincoln Wheat cent in F to VF ( I should be able to get a purty one. )

That's what's nice about the half and large cent series. Since the start of the "classic head" design, there really aren't any 16-D like keys that are unattainable,

Disagree about hoarding silver. I believe what we're seeing now is a result of gold speculators realizing that the gold market is approaching it's bubble burst, and turned to silver in the meantime. Expect gold to pull back significantly within a year, followed by silver shortly thereafter.

I agree though with the other commentors about buying ultra-high grade common date coins, especially pre-1965 silver. MS67 Mercs can be had for $50-75 right now, and most Washington 25c MS65 or better are cheap as well. Wouldn't go for Roosevelt dimes though.

KenRingold silver 90% and 40%, U. S. coins are not currently being melted. When these are sold to a coin or bullion dealer they are either sold to a walk-in patron or sent to a smelter or refinery where they are bagged and sold to investors in $1,000.00 face value bags. The reason they are not melted is that there is too much demand for silver coin by people who would rather stockpile their silver in that form versus bars, rounds or ingots.