Ikes in high grade are a fun set to put together.

Hi all,

I am so close to breaking into the top 25 in the Ike series. I have just put in my two newest coins for the Ike series. I will have to wait till monday to see me move up in rank. They are both PCGS coins and so they are in pending.

I am one of the new collectors to the hobby. By new I mean since the 80s. I have alway loved the classic coins, but have never been able to collect them, without paying a pretty price for them. I will buy a good example as a type coin here and there.

One of the coins that a modern collector can put together is the Ike series. This is not an easy collection to put together though. While they were being minted most people thought they were ugly. They were disregarded as a collectable coin if they were not silver or a proof. Most business strikes were weakly struck. These heavy coins would bang together and leave horrorable bag marks and scratches.

I started to collect Ikes in the 80s. My mother worked at a bank and would bring them home for me. Most were circulated but she would bring home an unc every once and a while. After puting together a set in a dansco album, I wanted to upgrade as I could. I found this was hard to do. I would look at every Ike, mint set, blue packs that the coin dealers had. Most had overstock of them at the time. Slowly but surely I started to put together a nice set.

Then came the gradeing companies. One of the first coins that I sent in was a silver 1973 Ike. Against the advice of my dealer of course. It came back M.S. 67. I remember thinking I had one of the best silver Ikes ever, as I had looked at thousands of blue pack Ikes to find this one. Just like then I am excited at what I have been able to put together. I will see for sure on Monday.

Just remember, we are all collectors! Some just collect a different series. Have fun doing it!