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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,294 |
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New Member
Argentina
33 Posts |
Hi! Ricky from Argentina here. This is my first post on this forum, and I am very excited about joining CCF! I have a question that may seem dumb, but it is important to me as a new collector. I started collecting Latin American silver coins that were... On the larger side. I mean weight/size. I did not like smaller coins, the ones the size of dimes and quarters for instance. But now I started a collection of smaller coins, mainly Argentina 10 and 20 cents, 1882 and 1883 and Uruguay 20 and 50 centesimos and 1 peso 1942 and 1943. And I am starting to like them! A lot!
A thing I noticed is that a larger coin is easier to grade, because everything is bigger and easier to see. Could you comment about larger vs. smaller coins, both from personal taste and from a practical perspective?
Thanks!
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Moderator
 Australia
16816 Posts |
Hello and welcome.  Larger coins tend to be more popular with collectors, for various reasons. Besides what you've already described, one reason they are popular is that they were usually a country's "flagship" coin - the one they were most proud of, and hence tended to be the one that received the best, most appealing designs that "told the story" of the country. Also too, since economies of scale means it is "cheaper" to make larger silver coins, the larger sizes tended to retain their silver content for longer than the smaller coins. Germany, for instance: the "flagship" 5 marks remained silver up until 1974; all smaller denominations lost their silver content during WWII. We see this same effect in France, Australia and others. Even the US shows this effect, where the half dollar retained silver content up until 1970, with other denominations losing their silver in 1965. On the flip side, the larger coins were often less popular with the general public for actual use as money, simply because of their size. British crowns were generally regarded as "too big and cumbersome" to actually use as money, and even halfcrowns were considered inconveniently large. Which in turn means that crown-sized coins were generally restricted to commemorative designs only. Those who prefer to collect coins that actually circulated, will be unable to collect the largest coins in the series. As a collector, the British crown is the largest coin I'm comfortable in collecting. "If it doesn't fit in a 2x2, I don't really want it" is something I've said numerous times in the past. And storing larger coins in albums can be more expensive, since you can fit fewer coins per page so you need to buy additional pages and albums to fit them all in. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
  to the CCF! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3848 Posts |
I collect primarily US coins, specifically larger diameter half dollars. I enjoy the larger silver because of the heft, large and easy to see design, and the low corrosive material. I see people put die marriages of Half Dimes together and I don't understand it because they are just so darn small!! Suffering from bust half fever. Want to learn how to attribute early half dollars by die variety? Click Here: http://goccf.com/t/434955Shoot me a PM if you are looking to sell bust halves. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4233 Posts |
In my observation, graders go easier on large coins because more surface area = more dings. A US dime might get MS63 and have way fewer marks than a dollar coin in the same grade.
I like them all, but it depends on the series. Love Canadian Voyageur dollars but don't collect Morgans, for example. Welcome to CCF!
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New Member
 Argentina
33 Posts |
Thank you all for the answers and your warm welcome!
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Valued Member
United States
240 Posts |
yep, I like the larger coins, I collect US half dollars and 1 oz american eagles, maple leafs, britannias etc
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New Member
Argentina
33 Posts |
And which option you'd say it's more popular among collectors? Are there more large coin collectors, or small coin collectors? Or it can't really be calculated like that?
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7936 Posts |
I collect medieval coins, so the size of the coins in my collection is less a personal choice, than a reflection of what types of coins were being produced. Some places mostly made VERY small coins of 13-mm - 15 mm in certain time periods (Low Countries 1150-1250; Silesia in the mid-15th century). Large coins were not common except in a few places (Low Countries 1360 - 1430, for example). So my collection has a broad range of sizes. |
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Moderator
United States
95450 Posts |
I collect US coins of all sizes and denominations, but I prefer the larger ones as they are easier to see and. |
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Moderator
United States
188110 Posts |
to the Community! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4233 Posts |
I wonder what size @jbuck prefers...
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Moderator
United States
188110 Posts |
Quote:
I wonder what size @jbuck prefers...   |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
25095 Posts |
Quote:
Dearborn said:
I prefer the larger ones as they are easier to see As I've aged, it seems that I've gravitated towards larger coins for this very reason. Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,294 |
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Posted 07/28/2023 08:24 am
