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 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,408 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
580 Posts |
I am wondering who would buy a complete set of something like Franklin half dollars or Mercs on ebay. Or, for that matter, why would anyone buy ANY set? If you were a collector, it kinda defeats the purpose of the hobby. It takes all the fun of "the hunt" away. If you were an investor, I would think sinking $500 to $800 into a single third party graded coin would be more feasible if you were looking for a decent return. Maybe dealers like to buy complete sets and break them up to sell individual pieces. That's the only thing I can think of. Any thoughts? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2520 Posts |
One reason comes to mind. A person who more money than time who wishes to acquire a complete set of all series of coinage. He may be more interested in chasing down a particular series or two "coin by coin" but the sets that he has little interest in other than owning a complete set he may take the easy way out since his free time is limited. I can imagine a high level executive trying to fulfill his collecting desires in the little free time he has (demanding job, after hours meeting with clients, keeping wife happy, kids, sons ballgames, daughters dance recital, etc). There are alot of jobs out there where you are expected to work 60, 70 or 80 hours a week because they are salaried positions, which deeply cut into any recreational time.
Edited by ratman4762
06/20/2009 3:35 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1931 Posts |
hmmm not necessarily true. At least not from my perspective. I have bought partially completes sets LOTS of times. I have certain types of coins that are just my faves and I will buy sets if I see them. Not really out of laziness or lack of time but because I love having them. I don't see a difference of buying a bunch of coins in 2x2s or buying them already in an album that I just have to complete or upgrade. I also buy sets as gifts for my mom sometimes too.
Sometimes there is nothing wrong with collecting a bunch at one time. I dont believe it defeats the purpose of collecting at all as I am still buying them, loving them, inspecting and drooling, and COLLECTING them.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2520 Posts |
I've bought some partial sets also, because they were a good deal. Now I have multiple incomplete sets of a couple of series. I'm with you, there is nothing wrong with buying lots of a series that you really like. This post is about why somebody would purchase a complete set...I just offered one possibility...and I'm sure there are more.
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Valued Member
United States
183 Posts |
Another take is more pecuniary in nature. Buying a complete set is a great way to have stock on hand if you are selling coins. I bid on a complete (complete!) Washington quarter set just to break out the keys and offer the others for sale as time goes on. Just another perspective! Bruce EDIT: I didn't win it lol it went for ~$600 as I remember, AU/EF's mostly, with later coins mint state. A nice album set. Edited by Electric_Op_Ltd
06/20/2009 4:17 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1682 Posts |
How about collectors who don't live in the country where the coins are minted?
They might be tempted to buy a complete set.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2520 Posts |
Oh yes! A complete set of Mercs would be a very nice gift!
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Valued Member
United States
155 Posts |
I bought a complete lincoln memorial set to complement my wheat set (which is alomost complete. I had no intrest in hunting for the memorials and at the price it was a no brainer for me.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19948 Posts |
1) To cherry-pick for upgrades
2) A gift
3) Easy to complete a collection
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
At coin shows I see Lincoln Memorial sets for sale all the time. And they do sell. Not so many of other types of coins but I've seen many others also and they too sell. Lots of reasons for this. No time to search for each coin and want a set. Want a coin set and just don't want to run around looking. Nice gift for someone. Live in an area where there are few or no coin shows and/or stores. Hate ebay and other on line coin dealers so that one chance for some coins is the way to go. Have lots of money and not sure what to do with it. Look through a set for the missed error coins. |
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Moderator
 Australia
16826 Posts |
Why buy a completed set? Here's one hypothetical situation for you: Suppose someone has a half-to-three-quarters-completed set of their own that they've been lukewarm about completing - they just never "caught the fire" and got motivated to go hunting for the remainders. One day they find their incomplete set while rummaging through their collection and say, "hang it all, I'm going to get this thing finished and done with". They've got the money, so they go out and buy a completed set - it's cheaper and quicker than hunting down the remaining coins one by one. They might then compare the contents of the two sets, keep the best example of each coin, and sell the duplicates. They might even get back as much if not more from selling the individual leftover coins than what they paid for the full set. For me, this scenario isn't entirely hypothetical - I've just finished doing pretty much this exact same thing with my Australian predecimal coin series sets. Except for the "getting your money back" part. My original set wasn't complete enough to allow that.  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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Valued Member
Finland
294 Posts |
Quote:
How about collectors who don't live in the country where the coins are minted?
Here in Finland State Quarters are quite hard to get and not cheap at all: http://huuto.net/fi/showitem.php3?itemid=104381926So I may bid on some of those completed sets on ebay, just because of cheaper prices and easier hunting. I have one bad example of doing this too. Once I bought all the Finnish coins 1963-1990 as a lot and my hole interest in coins almost went away  As mklpatrick said, buying that completed set took all the fun of "the hunt" away. |
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Moderator
United States
188213 Posts |
I was thinking along the lines of what Ratman was saying. Do not discount the possibility that there are people that collect complete sets, especially if they have more money than time. I have been tempted to buy another complete Eisenhower dollar set several times, just to have another set.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1840 Posts |
One time I bought a fairly extensive (but not complete) collection of modern coins from Singapore from a forum member because he was selling them at their exchange value. If I remember correctly, several other forum members also expressed interest in these coins if I didn't close the deal. I guess my point is that sometimes deals present themselves that are too good to pass up.
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Replies: 14 / Views: 1,408 |
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Posted 06/20/2009 3:37 pm
