What Are Your Numismatic Goals For 2019?

I'm 50 years old and have been collecting ever since I can remember. I was born in Portugal and my dad used to work in the merchant marines so I would get coins from all over the world and a few I picked up from my grandmother. This is the oldest Portuguese coin I have.


My mom was in Portugal this year and this was a coin I had collected when I was 7, I had a good eye, this is 65% AG.



When we moved to the US, I was given a few silver and old cents. I saved all of those. In my 20's I got serious for a few years and picked up small cents and completed a few coin folders (I still have those). Same coins but I got new folders.





I never lost interest but never was super serious about collecting so I picked up a few coins here and there, mostly for how they looked.

Since I was always interested in Astronomy, I took that up as a hobby. And started taking Astrophotos. I got pretty good and had several gallery showing, was published and sold a large number of prints. Last year, I wanted to get some silver so I picked up a few ASE and got a few coins to complete some of the series I had like a small set of Mercury dimes (from 1937 to 1945) and got a few IHC, pretty much 1880 to 1909 (less the 1908 and 1909 S). Talking to my mom she said my dad had a few coins and since she had no interest she gave them to me. Most weren't in great condition, so I sold these as bullion and decided to revisit what I had started but not finished.

The small cents was my first revisit, and other than 2 key dates (1914-D and 1909 S VDB) I had them all. This was one of my folders with the missing ones.



So in 2019 I took the best and picked up a few more sets and completed the small cents. A lot of what I did was take the best I had and just put them in new albums. I did pick up a lot of albums this year though. Coins just look better in albums.



I then went to the IHC and picked up what I was missing (and remember I buy raw coins, so what most people for an MS state slabbed coin I get a lot more). With the that I completed the full small cents.



As I was into it now I also got the remaining Mercury dimes and I finished the 20th century type set but 90% of the coins I had.


BUT the one set I started as I had none and completed in 2019 was the Peace dollars. But again, I have a local coin shop that sells coins at VERY VERY good prices. Most of the Peace dollars are from the AU bin and other than the 1928 and 1921 all were under $40. Only the 1928, 1921 and 1935 cost more than $60. These are what AU Peace dollars look like, at $17 each, I can't go wrong:


With a small budget going to the LCS once a week, I can get a few raw coins and add to my collection. The Mercury dimes was with the money I wasn't spending on lunch (I would take my lunch to work instead of buying it)



Some people want the best, I have no interest in the best of anything I buy what I like at a price I feel comfortable. So while it may look like I did a lot this year, I did but what I really did was complete what I had started a long time ago.





Thank you :)

hfjacinto- Very nice!!

Very nice hfjacinto.

@hfj, you've made tremendous progress on those sets, and I like your attitude. Sometimes we get the coin we dream of, sometimes we settle.

5 weeks ago, I gave an update on my 15th/16th c. Kingdom of Poland OFEY:

. I got lucky in an auction over the weekend, and landed one of the coins I thought might take much longer, this 1573 denar from the interregnum year 1573 (Sigismund II had died in 1572, and a new king would not ascend the throne until 1574.


So, for my 16th century OFEY, I started 2019 at 40/83 and am now at 78/83.
This is VERY good news, because somebody in my house is making big travel plans for 2020, which is NOT compatible with my coin buying habits from 2019.

hfjacinto- (or anyone)

I'm just wondering what kind of Whitman type set album that is? No slots for type II Buffalo, Shield nickels or No Cent Liberty? Aren't those type coins?

Oh, okay. Thanks!

My goals were on 12/12/18




Turns out I didn't sell or photograph the Jefferson nickels, I did bring my Jeffersons, Canadians and Australian 5 cent issues up to date and instead of picking up one or three numismatic medals I was after, I may have picked up a couple/few hundred instead and did photograph all those Exonumia newcomers and cataloged them.
That turned out to be the most fun and educational experience I've had in collecting in many years.