How did I change from one collecting goal to another?

I remember the first registry set I established when I joined Collector?s Society about a year and a half ago. At that time, I wanted to start a complete collection of uncirculated Silver American Eagles because I liked the design and could acquire the coins for a reasonable amount of money. In other words, completing a set of primarily MS-69 coins was a very achievable goal. With that in mind, I created the set and began purchasing the coins to populate it.

When starting a set, I first populate it with coins I already own. I remember the news of the first die variety in the series, the 2008 reverse of 2007 Silver American Eagle. Realizing that this could be hot, I purchased one for $215 on E-Bay a few short weeks after news of the variety hit the streets. The seller had five of these, and I could kick myself for not buying them all, since today the coin has a fair market value of $540. Oh well, with the heart of a collector rather than an investor, it did not occur to me at the time. I was glad to have this among the first coins to populate my set, since I usually like to acquire the more difficult coins' first.

I remember purchasing the first coins for my set with enthusiasm, until I was distracted away from my SAE set and onto my signature sets. Now after having not added any coins to my SAE set in a year, I am thinking that I might liquidate the set. How did I get from where I started to where I am now? If the reasons for starting the set are still valid, why am I discontinuing? I think the answer is that at the core of my collecting heart, I am primarily a type collector.

As a type collector, I love variety. Collecting a complete set of SAE?s does not offer me much variety, interestingly enough though, I love collecting Britannia?s, the United Kingdom?s version of the SAE. The reason I love collecting this series is that the reverse design changes every year. Furthermore, my signature sets give me the freedom to populate them based on themes of my choosing creating diversity with coins from around the world. Another series I collect with zeal is the ?First Spouse? gold coins; again, these coins offer lots of variety. As icing on the cake, I recently submitted three of these for grading and they all returned as PFUC-70!

This does not mean that I am adverse to series collecting, but that my collecting budget is focused on my collecting passion. I had fun assembling a set of low-grade Mercury dimes, and I have enjoyed plugging a Jefferson nickel folder with pocket change. However, neither of these will bust my bank, save the 1916-D Mercury dime of course.

As a type collector, I?ll probably end up hanging onto the ?Reverse of 07?, a MS-70, 2007-W, a newly purchased 2006-P reverse proof, and a 2003 PCGS, Jessica Lunch signed American Heroes Edition SAE. However, I will likely sell the others. Fortunately, I did not invest a whole lot of money in this set.

Pictured below are the 2006 reverse proof and the Jessica Lynch SAE. I bought the reverse proof simply because it is a cool coin and a one-year type that I got on the cheap. I bought the Jessica Lynch American Heroes SAE for my ?Inspirational Ladies? type set. Both coins fit well into my type collecting goals. You have got to love a hobby where your primary reason for collecting a coin is that you think it?s cool! Happy collecting all!

Gary