Collecting and Investing in Sets of Coins By Mike Sussman
Most
modern collectors got started by trying
to fill "penny" boards and other denomination
Whitman coin folders. They are still on
the market and make great gifts for grandchildren
along with some of the coins that go in
the folder. When they are brand new, the
individual coin holes can be very tight
and a younger child might need assistance
getting the coins into the book. Several
hours could be spent helping a child in
this low tech activity.
Some
collectors enjoy variations on collecting
every date and mint in a given set. One
way to do this is to collect one coin from
each date in a set. So for example a Lincoln
cent date set would begin with a 1909 or
a 1909 VDB followed by a 1910 and so on.
This set could be put together on a very
modest budget, assuming, of course, that
the collector recognizes that the 1922 cent
is a branch mint issue. In this type of
collecting, mintmarks are ignored except
if a coin were minted for that year only
in a branch mint. Such an example would
be a half dollar from 1968 to 1970 that
were branch mint only issues. On the other
end of the spectrum, a lovely Indian Head
eagle - double eagle date set could be assembled.
The most challenging dates are for the eagle
set are 1930 and 1933. For the double eagle
the most challenging dates are 1921, 1929,
1930, 1931, and 1932. (As this is being
written, only one 1933 double eagle can
be owned legally.)
There
are other ways to collect sets as well.
For example one could specialize in a particular
branch mint. Collecting Carson City dollars
is very popular today. Some collectors specialize
in Carson City gold coins as well. Coins
are also collected by date. A famous Large
Cent collection consisted of only coins
from 1794. There are approximately 70 varieties
of Large Cent coins for this date.
Coins
with historical connections have always
been popular. With the 150th anniversary
of the Civil War approaching, the coins
of the 1861-65 along with associated commemoratives
have been much in demand. It would also
be quite possible to put together a set
of coins that circulated during World War
I or II, for that matter. Another interesting
set might be an Allied Forces set from each
of the countries that fought together in
the war. One could make a similar set for
the Axis countries. (I suppose Russia would
have to be in both sets.) Also popular in
historical contexts are commemorative coins.
One could collect a set of 14 Oregon Trail
commemoratives, for example, that would
cover 1926 to 1939 or a Texas set from 1934
to 1938 in which there were 13 issues. A
type set of Classic Commemorative also makes
a nice collection. In this endeavor, one
of each design would be collected.
Other
coins are also collected by type. A type
set can include an example of each type
of coin for a period of time. Sometimes
these are limited by denomination. For example
a twentieth century type set of half dollars
would include a Barber half, a Walking Liberty,
a Franklin, a Kennedy, and a Bicentennial
Kennedy. Similarly one could envision a
type set of gold eagle coins. These would
include a Capped Bust Small Eagle; a Capped
Bust Heraldic Eagle; a Liberty Head, No
Motto; a Liberty Head, Motto; an Indian
Head, No Motto; and an Indian Head, Motto.
One
could collect all of the coins designed
by Christian Gobrecht or James Longacre
or, more contemporary, James Earle Fraser
and his wife, Laura Gardin Fraser.
Collecting
coins in sets is satisfying because it gives
the collector goals that can be achieved.
