What to Collect?

[gmarguli]

I’m looking to start collecting a series of coins. Any suggestions on what to collect?

 

Here is my list of a million requirements (none are set in stone):

 

A nice design. Unique looking, something with variety – maybe a series that changes designs frequently or a circulating commemorative series. I’m not big on bland ugly people on my coins, but rather I like symbols of Liberty, animals, scenic pictures, historical events, etc.

 

I prefer silver coins. Gold is pretty much out of the question, and I’m not a fan of copper. A clad-type metal would be OK, but silver is by far my first choice.

 

I like coins at least the size of a US quarter, but I wouldn’t automatically exclude those smaller.

 

I’m looking for something a little more different than coins from Canada, Great Britain, or Mexico, but I wouldn’t automatically rule them out. Same said for countries ruled by them where their coins are very similar, i.e. Australia, British Africa, etc.

 

I’d prefer a series where the total number of coins is maybe 50.

 

I would like them to be old – preferably 19th century and before.

 

The coins have to be available. No obscure, only 30 minted, 1 comes for sale every decade type coins. No coins where they made a bazillion of them. Something that allows for some challenge and rarity, but not too much.

 

Reasonably priced. I’m hoping to collect them in solid mint state grade, and for the most part I’d like them to be under $100 each. However, I’d be willing to collect them below mint state.

 

Also, a big plus would be if the coins had words/letters in the English alphabet. Middle Eastern languages are too confusing.

 

So, anyone have any suggestions?

 

[crito]

I collect the 25 gram 90% silver coins of South America. They're about the size of US silver dollars and many were produced at US mints. Unfortunately, they're not so easy to find problem free, let alone mint state. The Venezuelan 5 Bolivares set I recently completed is a relatively short series, but can get quite expensive in the higher grades. My focus is collecting Peruvian Soles by die variety at the moment. Here's an MS63 I made at ANACS.

 

[TomB]

That's a really beautiful coin, crito. Is this a long series or are there hundreds of die varieties, similar to Capped Bust halves with Overton numbers?

[crito]

It's a long series by die variety. The Lima mint purchased Morgan/Orr presses from the US and some later dates were even minted in Philadelphia, though.

 

[crito]

This is the Venezuelan equivalent (5 Bolivares) and a short series. The 19th century coins are expensive in mint state though. The first one in the series (1876 Venezolano) is actually a different denomination that the rest, interestingly enough, due to monetary reforms

 

 

I'm also working on a set of Ecuadorian Sucres, another 25 gram 90% silver coin from South America and a short series. I don't collect the earlier 8 Reales coins since they're left-overs from Spanish colonial times. I'm looking for "native" denominations.

[EZ_E]

Gregory,

 

How about various crowns with different monarchs? They are larger than a quarter but definitely smaller than a bread box.