detz Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 I figure, why not start something I know I can finish. Is there a run of coins that are relativly easy to get withouth having to spend thousands on 1 coin? How hard is the whole morgan collection, wheat pennies, quaters? Just a side note, I dumped our "penny jar" last night, well over $500 in pennys and I found four wheat pennies! FOUR! I thought there would be more than that since we've put ever penny in there for at least 15 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 The easiest quck sets are some of the modern coins. Statehood quarters make a nice collection. You can start with the most recent and work in both directions. No real rarities. Even in super-prisitine condition - MS66 and above they're not that hard to get. I'd stick to just general Unc. Some folks do the whole set - Unc, Proof, Silver. Kennedy Halves - pretty much available in circulated conditions by purchasing rolls from the bank. Only a few that you'll have to purchase from dealers. SBA's -- small run. Available in dollar rolls from the bank. Proofs are very available and rather inexpensive. SACs -- short run. .. Westward Journey Nickels - Jefferson Nickels in general. Still most Jeffs are available in circ from roll searches. A few items are purchase only. Of course if you go full set with proofs, you'll have more that you'll have to purchase. Have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detz Posted September 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 So should I just go to the bank and ask if they can get me rolls of Kennedy and SBAs, sort them and pick out the best ones and return the rest...rinse and repeat? I was thinking of getting from one bank, returning to another. Do banks have any limits on this or if you request things will they get them for you? What about $2 bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlueke Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 As Art was saying, the modern sets are realtively easy and some can be completed from change/postal vending machines. If you don't need registry sets, and can live with circulated coins some ideas: Jeffersons from circulation - See how many you find in a year or two. You can buy the few extras. Circulated Frankling Halves would be another series with no big money key dates. A world coin birth year set is another, usually inexpensive, option for those of us still living. Or, if you can, just ignore the key dates. They can be a pain and exist in almost every series from Lincolns to Morgans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dockwalliper Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 State quarters would probably be the easiest. Some banks are more accommodating than others. It helps to have an account with them. I would suggest spending the coins you don't save or returning to a differant bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grifter Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 Well, I'm working on a Cent collection 1900-Present, and it has been pretty decent. The IHC's will cost you about $2 a pop in G4, and then there are some key dates, only about 4 or 5 that cost quite a lot. Other than that, it's relatively cheap. I went to the coin shop last weekend and got all of the cents I needed from 1940-1959, about 25 in all, and it only cost about 3 bucks. The point is, it's a relatively cheap set to work on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detz Posted September 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 I don't mind paying <$100 for a coin to finish a collection, it's the collections that coins are $2500 where it's out of reach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ætheling Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 1943 Steel cents by mint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conder101 Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 Lincoln Memorial cents 1959 - date If you don't insist on MS and Proof 69's or better and you can ignore the 72 doubled die you can probably put the complete set together in mint state and proof for under $200 (More if you insist on slabs) If you are willing to do circulated and proof you probably have 80% or more of them in that jar you dumped. that will bring the cost down some. And if you want to skip the proofs you can get the cost down to under $10. You can do similar things with the clad dime and quarter sets as well. Every piece except the proofs are available in circulation. So you can build the sets for face value. The half and SBA dollar sets can be done the same way but they will be a little tougher since it can be hard to get those coins from circulation. The Sac dollar can be done but will cost you more becase only three of the 3 of the 14 coins were released for circulation and you would have to search thousands of coins to find the other none released business strikes in change. (Some people buy the bulk lots from the mint, pull the ones they want and spend the rest.) Plus like the halves and the SBA it is hard to get those coins in circulation or at the bank. So your only option there is to buy the coins and the 2001-S proof is pretty pricey right now. (I don't expect it to last long term though.) The problem with the cent dime and quarter sets is that they can be pretty much completed very quickly. Jefferson nickels is a tougher longer lasting challenge. It is still possible to get almost all of the coins, al the way back to 1938 in circulation. But it will take you a LOT of searching through bags of coins to do so. But if you wish to buy the coins you can't find the cost is still very reasonable. Even in mint state you can probably put together a set for three to four hundred if you don't insist on the very top MS grades and stay away from the full step coins. And that is for a set that spans over sixty years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detz Posted September 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 Silly question, when you guys say like 1971 D or 1971 S nickel, what's the letter and why is that important? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbycoin Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 Thats the Mint Mark (D = Denver, S = San Francisco...). It tells you where the coin was minted. -Bobby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 As far as getting coins from banks, it depends on your bank. My bank does not order the new quarters or nickels for customers and view doing so as a problem they don't want to deal with. Most of the tellers will say that they don't have any halves or dollar coins. I got over this by asking them to order them for me. There's usually a charge for this but because of the type of accounts I have I get all this extra services for free. Once I got to the head teller and became friendly with her, things changed quickly. Now they'll order pretty much anything that I ask for. I don't return the unwanted coins to them. I use dollars and halves mostly for tips and to give to the grandkids and such. It takes a little time and effort to get a good working relationship, but it's worth it. I now bring World Coins to the bank for the head tellers child. He's 5 and loves all the different size and shape coins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gxseries Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 I started out on trying to collect every single type of Russian coins and I realized I am on a dead end. Don't worry, if you are willing to try to collect foreign coins, they can be quite fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleBobo Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 How about a Sac dollar set? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiffibunny Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 Ike Dollars are fun too. Roosie dimes aren't bad either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burks Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 Lincoln cents are relatively easy to do (that I've found). Really I'm only missing the top 3 key dates and I'm not counting the die errors or "phantom" marks. Heck I just picked up 15 different wheat cents in AU/BU condition for less than $5. I'll second the Kennedy halves. Very easy to do and you can have a great set for little money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtryka Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 Kennedy halves are pretty easy, I've gotten every single one from circulation except the 70-D and the 2002-05 which were not released for circulation. Ikes are easy too, but they are increasingly hard to find at the bank (the last roll I bought was from a diner I used to eat breakfast at). Another fun set is 2-cent pieces, they are mostly available in low circulated grades for $5-20, and the only two that are more expensive are the 1864 Small Motto and the 1872. Since it only ran 9 years, the whole set is only 10 coins excluding the proofs of 1873. Roosies are good too, you can buy a complete BU set including all the modern proofs for less than $400 (so putting together a circulated set is much cheaper). Good luck and remember to have fun with whatever you collect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostDutchman Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 jeffersion nickels aren't too bad either a nice BU set can be had for around $200 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 50cents Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 Franklins Halves - Great set to start with, 35 coins..... $500.00 in BU $135.00 in Fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burks Posted September 13, 2005 Report Share Posted September 13, 2005 Another set you can do is the Silver Eagles. If you want the mint state ones (graded if you'd like) the whole set, not counting Jessica Lynch and First Strike, would run you a little less than $400 in MS68 condition. I'm going for the MS69 set but for the 1996 one I'll have to drop a grade or two to stay within budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monster110 Posted September 13, 2005 Report Share Posted September 13, 2005 Jeff Nickels and Franklin Halfs, but silver is going up in price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabone Posted September 13, 2005 Report Share Posted September 13, 2005 Jefferson War nickels. Easy set, fun to talk about with parents and grandparents, and a history lesson as well. Yeah, Jefferson War nickels... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monster110 Posted September 18, 2005 Report Share Posted September 18, 2005 Even more Nickels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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