New To Collecting

I would suggest collecting modern commemorative silver dollars. You would need to buy them (they don't circulate) but are very interesting, larger than the halves you have and will keep you on your toes learning about existing issues and keeping up with new issues. Of course they are more expensive than Kennedy half dollars but you will be building up a valuable collection over time, just don't expect to run out and buy them all at once unless you have quite a big coin budget. Take the time to learn about each one and show patience as you hunt for the best quality coin you can find (strike, color, any marks, etc) Maybe try to acquire all the new ones issued each year and fill in one of the previous issues so your collection grows over time. Choose whether you want to go for all proof or all uncirculated or both. In the long run you will end up with a very valuable, very interesting and very satisfying collection.

You can find them on ebay, coin shops, on this forum (just get 50 posts first then go to the "Buying" section of the forum and people will let you know what they want to sell), coin shows, dealers online, or possibly from the mint. They cost from $10 a piece to $50 a piece. Some even cost hundreds because of the low mintage. They aren't as popular as, lets say, the Morgan dollars, so you may find some for reasonable prices.

If you like larger coins you can collect Morgan dollars, Peace dollars, Ike dollars, Ben Franklin half dollars (I completed a full set for under $300), oh and American Silver Eagles are an excellent coin to collect. Every coin store has American Silver dollars and the majority of them wont cost more than $20. My father gave me a full set for a graduation present and gives me one each year to keep the set up to date. If you go to any coin store I think you will find some nice large coins that you can begin to collect. It's just a matter of how much money you wish to invest in the coins you buy. Kennedy half dollars isn't a great investment because you can get most of them from circulation still and they aren't very popular and most don't contain silver in them. Morgans are very popular, lower mintages, large silver coins that many people collect. It's all about the supply and demand, my friend.
Ty

thanks again for your help. are the franklins larger than the kennedys? btw, with my kennedy set, is it worth anything as a whole set? I even have the 70 and 87's that were mint set only. will it be worth anything in the future?

Welcome to the forum Jarrid.

I actually like the suggestion of building a set of modern commemorative. I think these are true sleepers in the collecting hobby. While they are still only commem's, there are some very nice designs. They have relatively low mintage's, and most if not all have UNC and proof samples. Some even have gold counterparts.

As for regular circulating coins, I would agree with the Morgans and probably Peace dollars as both of these you can still find in abundance. I think you may be able to find more "deals" on the Peace dollars because they are not as popular.

Most folks will also give you this piece of advice: buy the best example that you can afford regardless of what you are looking at. I believe this to be sound advice as well. Coin collecting is still increasing, and the more folks that start on this great hobby, the less the percentages on high grade coins there will be for each of us!!

I'm in nearly the same boat with Jarrid. I have the common collection: pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and just started Kennedy halves. I also have some random foreign coins, yes, I'm a partial Darksider! After the halves, I will also need something to collect and would like it to be more valuable than common circulated coins. Good luck with your next endeavour Jarrid!

Look around and see what you like. I collect cheap and pretty. Some areas of collecting are more expensive than others because of what the old timers value, thus driving up the price on rare/old/snazzy coins. If you are interested in intrinsic rather than numismatic value, you should collect the more common silver and gold coinage, old or new. Eventually you will get familiar enough with your favorite coins to realize a 'good buy' beyond intrinsic value and running into numismatic valuation.

I don't do it anymore, but searching rolls with a critical eye can be a way to create or discover numismatic value. An auction just closed on ebay for a Jefferson nickel stomped on a Lincoln Penny planchet. The ending bid was $550. Find others that are interested and get new rolls and go through them. Who knew?

Now for a test.


What is the difference between an Indian Head penny and a Buffalo nickel?




Give up?





Ask your banker.







You'll have to tell him/her.







Four cents.

Yup.

Not a bad idea just carl - I may have to do that. I was thinking about it last night while looking through half dollars. I just purchased the books, and they're nearly full already. They're quite easy to come across great examples of nearly every year.

I may work on actually finishing all my other books, as odds and ends are missing here and there. That would be nice to finish one and see it in all it's glory. My grandpa gave me the '09-'40 Lincoln book years ago before he passed away and that got me started. It's is the old blue whitman and I would feel great to fill that up for him.