| Author |
 Replies: 42 / Views: 3,584 |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
520 Posts |
As you may know, I am a 20 year old college student and ask many questions on the forums. Not to annoy, but to educated myself to one day be an avid collector! My question is, How can I make a good Silver Classic set on a budget and roughly how long do you think it will take to complete. I am open to all suggestions, help, spreadsheets..whatever you may have to aid me in my quest! Thanks guys, you are great!
|
|
|
|
Valued Member
United States
209 Posts |
Im on a budget as well, I'm sure alot of people are but what I do Is I buy key date coins, not in high grades but low (what ever I can afford) also I buy coins that are inexpensive now that ill no they will gain value in the long run, when I first started coin collecting I started off with alot of diffrent variety, for example I had 20 Mercury dimes (late common dates) about 6 years ago they were pretty cheap to buy, last week I sold the 20 dimes to invest in something worth more $ in the long run. Start off small and gradualy get bigger, sell a coin for a better coin, this is just what I do, hope this helps! |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1143 Posts |
You could collect by type choosing one of each design of about the same grade. Buy what appeals to you and you will be happier for it instead of going for quantity.
Edited by cointagous
11/17/2011 02:15 am
|
|
Valued Member
United States
209 Posts |
Also I forgot to say is that are you looking for a nice set to enjoy or a set that will gain money? Some people like to collect just for fun and not worry about money and value of what they have, and some like to collect for long term investment and for fun, a good start for a silver set would be the jfk half dollars, affordable silver coins that are very nice!
|
|
Valued Member
United States
123 Posts |
There's a few ways to do this. The big question is what is your ultimate goal. If you were to put together a set by major type in vf or xf this could be done quickly and possibly within your limits. Select years that are common on the market and thus priced well. An alternate approach is to focus on quality and only buy one or two coins a year. This will take much longer and require more money per coin, but the end result will be much nicer collection. Me personally am opting for the later, but everyone has their own preference.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
212 Posts |
Sets that are not so hard to assemble are the Mercury dime Short Set, Roosevelt Silver Dimes, Walking Liberty Short Set, Franklin halves and Kennedy halves. Seems like every set one trys to put together, there's always one or two coins that you need that hurts the pocketbook some. But I have found these sets very do-able and fun. |
|
Pillar of the Community
1028 Posts |
I'm going to approach this questions a bit differently. Don't collect a silver classic set, collect one that isn't silver like Buffalo nickels and Indian Head cents. They are both pretty fun and can be put together on a budget if you go low grade enough. You can get all the key Buffalo nickels with restored dates for super cheap. Some people, me included, think restored dates are unacceptable, but you are technically getting the genuine nickel. The most expensive Buffalo nickel restored can be bought for about $30. IHCs are a bit more expensive, but if you get your keys damaged, cleaned, porous, et they can be cheap too. I've personally sold a porous and cleaned 1872 for something like $35 with an easily readable date and that's the 3rd most expensive coin in the set. The 77', you might have to settle for one that looks like it was run over by a train. The 09-S will also be tough because those are extremely hard to find in grades less than F-12 so finding a cheapie is a problem. Quote:Sets that are not so hard to assemble are the Mercury dime Short Set, Roosevelt Silver Dimes, Walking Liberty Short Set, Franklin halves and Kennedy halves. Roosies and Franklins are not really classic sets and Kennedys certainly aren't. Edited by hesgut
11/17/2011 04:35 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
520 Posts |
Thanks for all the help guys..If I could put together any set at all, I would LOVE to build an XF Morgans set. I know it will be pricy but I have always wanted one so bad. I know that its not only a good collection, but also has nice silver value. I doubt that the value of morgans will ever fall below what I invest.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
642 Posts |
Building a set of Morgan's is shooting for the moon  Don't worry, it's a great set to build. Even if you only added a few coins to it a year. It'd keep you busy for a while. Just realize there are some keys in the end that will have to wait til after you're out of school and you become successful in your career and then some. |
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:I'm going to approach this questions a bit differently. Don't collect a silver classic set, collect one that isn't silver like Buffalo nickels and Indian Head cents. I'd go along with that one. For someone in school, 20 years old, limited monitary abilities, Attempting to acquire Silver or Gold coins of any type are rather on the tuff side of collecting. Not only that, but one more thing to consider is are you in College or at home and going to College. I ask that since regardless of what you collect, you need a place to store them. In a College Dorm that would have to be the last place on Earth to have a coin collection. May as well try that in a prison cell. If at home, hopefully your parents have a place for such a collection. The above is why I too suggest something a bit less costly and easier to obtain. |
|
Valued Member
United States
212 Posts |
I know you're on a budget and all, but if it were me, I would stay away from damaged or cleaned coins. Once a coin has a problem, it is a problem and always will be a problem. When I first started collecting, I had purchased coins with the above mentioned issues for sets. Everytime someone looked at what I was putting together, a comment was made as to the huge rim ding, or that scratch or "Gee, looks like this coin has been cleaned." Seems like no matter how good or nice the coin was for the most part, the problem stuck out like a sore thumb and all attention was focused on that. The more comments I heard, the more I disliked my set. Not that others were dictating what I should do or think, but they were right. I looked at my Walker Short Set and felt I really had something once it was complete. Now I look at it and ask, "What do I really have?" Made alot of mistakes back when I first started collecting. Still do make some. Not trying to tell you what to do. But good luck on what you decide on. And remember, keep having fun whatever you do.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
968 Posts |
Don't assume that silver will stay this high forever. Most common date silver coins are going for melt or slightly above melt right now. When silver eventually drops so will the value of those coins, even if they have a small premium over melt. The high value coins aren't affected by melt values, but if you are on a budget you probably won't be getting those anytime soon.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
If you want the XF Morgans consider a date set rather than a date and mint set. it will take awhile but the entire year set should be possible (with the possible exception of the 93,94, and 95. Even these may be possible with a little time or by dropping grade some and then upgrading later when you are financially better off.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
209 Posts |
If you cant afford some XF Morgans then drop to a grade where you can afford, maybe Fine or VG, I feel that a collector has to start somewhere and Morgans are a great place to start, Since allot of people cant afford Carson City Morgans to complete there whole collection maybe start to collect all the Philadelphia "P" Mint, there are allot and more affordable. Having Morgans in high grades can get pretty pricy but if you want a nice set you don't have to have high Ms coins, again its pretty much what you can afford but for Morgans on a budget I'm sure you can find nice "p" mint ones
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
520 Posts |
Well, I just want to make a uniform set. Where everything matches well and goes together. I mean I make about 6k a year doing landscaping that includes the price of my gas, food, clothes, gifts etc that I have to buy. So Lets say I spend about 2k a year on coins. I would love to make a BU/AU set of Morgans but thats unreasonable..and you can buy many BU/AU Morgans for under 100 right now pretty easily. But XF is a more idealistic point of view for me to take on this set. I dont want to have a bunch of BU morgans in my set and then randomly all keys and semi keys(which there are quite a few) are XF or lower..That is where it will look odd and off?
|
|
Valued Member
United States
209 Posts |
ok I understand what you mean, so if you spend $2,000 on coins in a year, then you can make a set containing Xf-Au Morgans, what I'm saying is the Philadelphia mint Morgans are more affordable so you can easily get them in high grades for a good price, once you have all the Philadelphia then try to buy all the New Orleans and etc...then you will have a complete set, In my opinion I would do it this way because then you can say I have a complete Philadelphia Morgan set or San Fransisco, instead of having all misalliance dates
|
| |
Replies: 42 / Views: 3,584 |
Posted 11/17/2011 01:48 am
