Empty Holes

I take a different direction.
I don't start sets that I KNOW I won't be able to complete (short of winning the lottery).

I don't collect vintage coins in albums, or even try to collect an entire set because of that very reason.

And that is why my sets are all modern silver proofs and ASEs, and some of those are quite pricey. Instead of paying $1K for a rare Morg I'd rather buy $1K worth of ASEs or modern silver proofs, which IMHO stand a much better chance of doubling in value than a single rare coin.

Rick

I don't care for looking at the same coin over the years (series collecting), I prefer major types (type collecting), there is a lot more flexibility collecting one of each type and I can focus on variety, condition, tone, etc...

It's your collection, it is ultimately up to you!

I was putting together a V nic collection w/my g-son. About 1/2 were from boxes.
I was frettin' over the '85. A few wks. later I scooped 1 up here on CC, for less than $100. While somewhat pitted & cororded. the date is very bold.

So much depends on the maker of the Albums or Folders. I've got an old Whitman Folder that has a slot for the 1913 Liberty Heaad Nickel. Not a chance of finding that one in change. Same for the 1894S Liberty Head Dime slot in some Albums. Also, one reason I don't care for Dansco Albums. So many have empty places at the end as if they didn't have enough CENTS to figure out how many coins were needed to complete the set. Then too, there are those DUMB coin slots in Albums. 1922 Plain Lincoln Cent as if it was a real coin. Also, my Lincoln Cent Whitman has slots for the 1955 Double, 72 Double, 95 Double, all the 82's and some of the large and small dated ones. So why not all of the error coins?
Same old question. Is a set complete in an Album if there are empty slots? Is it complete if you don't have a coin that really isn't a coin? One where only a few were made?
I too hate empty slots in Albums. Always makes it look like you never had time or money to complete.

I personally don't like - and have never used - the "gotta fill da holes" albums, for the reasons Just Carl and others have outlined. When you "collect by album", you are collecting the coins the album-maker thinks you should collect - not the coins you actually want to collect.

The other thing to point out is this: by the time you obtain all the "easy" coins and you're down into the big-bucks end of the set... are you really going to take your super-valuable coin you've just bought out of the 2x2, airtite or slab it came in, and place it in the album with all the other coins? You might do it once, so you can take a picture or something, but it almost certainly isn't going to live there permanently.

I concede, however, that some collectors find them helpful guides to knowing when their set is "complete". For these collectors, "completing the set" is their prime motivation. These folks need to be told, by someone in authority, exactly what constitutes a "set" so they have something to aim for. And the lists as prepared by the album-makers are as good an "authority" on what constitutes a set than anyone else. So long as these folks are happy collecting this way and they're aware that it isn't compulsory to collect this way, then I've no problem with it.

I don't agree with what he says either, but he is entitled to his opinion. and at least he kind of concedes, "to each his own"

I like albums, they look nice and they are great for displaying and organizing my coins. Do I like them because I need someone else (an authority) to define my sets for me ? Absolutely not ! I define my sets. I look for the album that is most inline with my definition of a set, and fill it. It is not hard to find an appropriate album as most collectors think alike. But as I said previously, I don't define my sets around financial terms either. Can I afford that $10,000 last hole now ? No, but I am most definitely not ready to concede, now or in the near future, that I never will.

If I only started things I could afford, I never would have gotten married ........ or had kids.