All Or Nothing

Not sure but an interesting speculation.

I am making a statement that when it comes to collectors who have a collection of Canadian coins that they tend to own every denomination and are on the lookout for pieces to fill holes in all series.

I know of only a couple of people who collect only large cents or dollars.

When I talk to those who collect USA coinage, they tend to pick a series, unless they are building a type set. I know people who only collect dollars or nickels or dimes. I do not know of people who collect it all - I think that's because it's too expensive to try to own it all and also difficult to learn how to grade the different types. Most of the people I know who collect US coins, start with wheat cents and then move on from there.

But with Canadian collectors, they amass collections of everything.

Now perhaps, it's because I am an American, living in the USA that loves Canadian coinage but is limited in what I can find. Therefore, when I come across something that is Canadian and it's within my budget then I buy it. As time goes by, I am collecting it all as finding Canadian coins in the USA is not like finding Canadian Coins in Canada. So a collector or US coins in Canada would probably find themselves in a similar situation.

Well... what I do is if I complete a date set, instead of starting a new one, I expand it. When I first started a date set on pennies, I started from 1953- now, then 1937, then 1920, now 1900- 2012.

Plus, if you look at the mintages of US coins compared to Canadian, the US has a LOT more. When a US coin is rare, be prepared to spend a lot! Ours aren't as much. That's just what I think though...