Should You Prune Your Coin Collection Every So Often?

Mr. Click================

I probably have 400+

Mr. Click==================

When you have your required 90 day in on CCF

Put them up for Auction or Pocket it

I ditched a lot of stuff the last couple of years to buy Peace and Morgan dollars. Finished a Peace set and most of a Morgan date set. Enjoy them much more than the proof sets and junk silver that sat around never getting looked at. I'm currently selling or trading a lot of extra albums for the same reason.

I started out my coin dealing days with $5K in seed money. I could have bought a decent Gobrecht dollar for just under that at the time, and I almost did. Instead wanting to have an inventory I bought several hundred coins of various types and grades. Most of those coins I purchased were still worth about the same 10 years later. That Gobrecht dollar was probably worth $20K.

Yes certain coins will go up in value always. I suggest buying only the absolute finest you can find however. Don't settle for common expensive coins like 1955 DDO cents or 1909-S VDB's they are a dime a dozen in high grade, instead go for coins that you will enjoy owning and showing, and are very low population at the top TPGs. Things that still have a lot of collector interest say a 1914-S Lincoln Cent in MS66, certain key dates, while expensive are readily available, while top pop coins in series that are collected by date and mintmark will almost always bring a strong price - even in down markets. Remember the fastest way to turn a profit is to have what others want. Research auction records and ebay to see what is commonly available, for example I see 1955 double die cents in EF45 through MS63 posted almost every few days, but how many semi key early dates like the teen dates from San Francisco in MS65 or better do you find?

Not saying that is what you should be looking at, only using them as an example. Even so the key dates in a particular series will almost always hold their value at least, as long as you buy the right problem free coin in a good grade, with eye appeal. To really learn eye appeal on a coin, start looking at coins from the very upper echelon of coin dealers like Legend Rare Coins. Legend usually has some of the very best coins available others like John Albanese and coins from very old top collectors sold at auction (Garrett, Pittman, Pogue, Gardner, Newman) are good places to see what real quality is, though expect to pay quite a bit more for truly top tier coins, price guides are out the window on them, as these types of coins are only offered every few decades when collections are sold. The current Gardner and upcoming Pogue collections being auctioned are excellent examples of the best of the best. Many coins that have come out of the Simpson collection seem to also fit that category, and so far it is my understanding, Simpson is only selling off his seconds and thirds at this time, not even his best yet!

To me I just can't see any reason to either sell or get rid of any coins. IF I needed the money, maybe. Otherwise they just keep accumulating. They are not large enough to take up much room so I just keep them all.

I have been pondering the same question Mr. Click (I have many extra coins that just take up space), and I believe it is wise to prune your collection if you think it needs it. Personally I would not sell my own small amount of silver (I guess you never know what may happen in the future that might require hard money), but if you have lots of other common coins you don't want you should sell them to buy things you don't need. I wouldn't just go buy one expensive coin though, I would consider upgrading or completing any series you may be working on or start a new one! While an uncirculated 1909-S V.D.B. would be cool to own, that one coin doesn't IMHO constitute a collection. I hope that helps!

This same question has been bugging me for the past year or two.

At somewhere around 15K coins, I know my collection has gotten out of control. I think my plan was to open my own coin shop someday, as I get older .. not sure if that is something I still want to do. Most of what I have is Unc/Proof modern coins or common classic coins. My key/semi key coins are mid to lower grade. So for me I really should sell off a large amount of my collection and start buying better coins.

I understand what westcoin is saying, to get our collections to a higher level, at least for me, the focus should be on getting better quality coins.

The problem comes with what comfort level each person has when it comes to a purchase price for a single coin.

For some reason I always fall back to buying coins that are in the $30 to $100 range. I do have several coins I purchased in the $300 to $1500 range, but for me that is not in my comfort range.

When I do buy a better coin I find myself thinking I could have bought 25 Morgan's or a stack of ASE's for the same price I just paid... or something like that.

So I guess for me I need to find quality coins that have good potential to increase in value (what I think westcoin is saying) and hopefully purchase at a fair price.