Have you ever wished...

[BROADSTRUCK]

that you had stumbled upon the current series your working on long ago?

 

It's a thought that comes to mind for me a lot when paging through older auction catalogs for research.

 

A few are sales that I actually attended but unfortunately just had no interest at the time as I was engrossed in other areas

 

 

[Walkerfan]

I've thought of this soooooooo many times. Even moreso, if I had been a little less careless with some of my money back then----I'd have more for now, too.

 

HOWEVER, I didn't have the knowledge and experience back then and I MAY have ended up with some good pieces (only on accident) but I also would have ended up with DRECK (non-NGC/PCGS slabs and messed-with raw coins).

 

So, I am glad, in a way, that it turned out like it did. EVEN NOW, I look back on some of the stuff that I bought not that long ago and I am pleased with it's quality and the price that I paid, so I don't REALLY have to look back THAT far (although if I did start earlier I'd be nearly done by now---but with some crummy coins, so it wouldn't likely have been worth it).

 

I am proud of my achievements and sometimes great buys (even a year or two ago) CANNOT be equaled in quality or price, especially in light of the new 17.5% buyer's premium!

 

Be happy for what you've got but I DO think about this and I get your point. Hindsight is always 20/20 and YES some mild planning back then would have made it easier today.

[Elbesaar]

 

I have always wished that I had focused on

Early Gold when I first started collecting...

but, what kind of a collection could an 8th Grader

ever have assembled ?

 

Turban Head without stars Obverse has always

been on my radar screen... But it's not on my Budget screen !!

 

 

[BROADSTRUCK]

I have always wished that I had focused on

Early Gold when I first started collecting...

but, what kind of a collection could an 8th Grader

ever have assembled ?

 

It should have been easy as wasn't early gold still circulating prior to you entering high school?

[Keigwin]

Elbesaar makes a good point. We all started out with what we knew, what we could afford.

 

Later on we drifted. And made mistakes. The funny thing is that today, we think we've settled into the right series.

 

Always learning.

Lance.

[Elbesaar]

I have always wished that I had focused on

Early Gold when I first started collecting...

but, what kind of a collection could an 8th Grader

ever have assembled ?

 

It should have been easy as wasn't early gold still circulating prior to you entering high school?

 

Oh, the "Kid" is a laugh riot ...

 

Remember one thing "Sonny",

Your parents and I are the same age.

 

[cpm9ball]

My biggest regret was buying a Corvette in the early 60's when I should have bought bags of Morgan dollars. It was stupid because I was collecting them at the time, but you know how kids can be. Today, it's iPhones and Beemers.

 

Chris

[newprepper]

If that corvette was in mint condition, i bet it would have kept up with the morgans

[cpm9ball]

If that corvette was in mint condition, i bet it would have kept up with the morgans

 

No way, Jose! Do you know what a bag of UNC Morgans would be worth today?

 

Chris

[newprepper]

http://www.auctionsamerica.com/events/feature-lots.cfm?SaleCode=AF12&ID=r1042&Order=alphabetical&feature=grouping=

 

Maybe if they were all good dates, and highly graded they might beat this. Of course I guess it would depr\end on the size of the bag also.

[Conder101]

Not even close to the Morgans. I'm not up on what that car sold for originally, maybe four bags of Morgans? (a bag is 1000 coins) Those four bags of Unc Morgans even common dates and grades would probably be pushing $200K today.

 

Oh yeah I wish I had gotten into my large cents and Conders back when I started. But even back then I could not have afforded nice large cents. The Conders on the other hand were running $2 apiece for Uncs, $3 for Mint red coins. Even on my tiny budget I could have put built up a nice hoard of them. Why didn't I? Didn't know anything about them and even back then the reference book was $100. Today the book is around $200 but you almost can't touch an Unc Conder for under $150, and the red ones will set you back $250. That's a 12% per annum compounded growth rate for 40 years.

[World Colonial]

I do not collect any US series but the answer is yes. When I resumed collecting in 1998, I intentionally decided not to collect US coins because I saw I could never afford anything more than what I would describe as a run of the mill collection while my money would go much further with "darkside" coins.

 

There are two primary mistakes I have made. One was to waste money on common stuff instead of buying the scarcer items when they were available. I knew it at the time but bought what I did anyway because it was (and still is) mostly unpredictable what will be available to buy at any given moment.

 

The second mistake resulted from just not knowing enough about the coins I collect, partly because there was (and is) almost no reference material available. Almost everything I know has come from trial and error and just observing what coins are and are not available. This meant that I did not buy quite a few really scarce coins at what are now really dirt cheap prices.

 

The ones I did not buy that I regret the most, I can still remember exactly which ones they were.

[Hard Times]

Not even close to the Morgans. I'm not up on what that car sold for originally, maybe four bags of Morgans? (a bag is 1000 coins) Those four bags of Unc Morgans even common dates and grades would probably be pushing $200K today.

 

Oh yeah I wish I had gotten into my large cents and Conders back when I started. But even back then I could not have afforded nice large cents. The Conders on the other hand were running $2 apiece for Uncs, $3 for Mint red coins. Even on my tiny budget I could have put built up a nice hoard of them. Why didn't I? Didn't know anything about them and even back then the reference book was $100. Today the book is around $200 but you almost can't touch an Unc Conder for under $150, and the red ones will set you back $250. That's a 12% per annum compounded growth rate for 40 years.

 

Conder, I will buy every single uncirculated, problem-free red Conder you can find for $300 - I'd make a killing, they are getting more popular and the price is going up up up. Gary Groll and other dealers are doing pretty darned well......

 

Having said that, buying Apple in 2001 at $18.50 a share (it has since split 2 for 1) when the company was said to be on the edge of demise, I wish I put every single penny I had into it - then I could buy as many Conders as I could find!

 

Best, HT

[mkman123]

I collected coins as a kid, buying wheaties, etc and never sticking real long. I wish I did and bought stuff like numismatic gold for cheap back then like $500 saints, etc.

 

Oh well, we all needed time to grow and learn

[Walkerfan]

I collected coins as a kid, buying wheaties, etc and never sticking real long. I wish I did and bought stuff like numismatic gold for cheap back then like $500 saints, etc.

 

Oh well, we all needed time to grow and learn

 

Yes, I remember the $500 Saints and that really doesn't seem like that long ago, either. I definitely should have bought about 10 of THOSE!

[PerryHall]

I collected coins as a kid, buying wheaties, etc and never sticking real long. I wish I did and bought stuff like numismatic gold for cheap back then like $500 saints, etc.

 

Oh well, we all needed time to grow and learn

 

Yes, I remember the $500 Saints and that really doesn't seem like that long ago, either. I definitely should have bought about 10 of THOSE!

 

I remember $50 Saints back in the 1960's. I must be getting old.

 

 

[mkman123]

Golly $50 saints, perryhall you are really old! Jk haha

[Conder101]

Watch that, I don't remember $50, ones but I do remember $60.

[Nutmeg Coin]

I remember the ANA in NYC in the late 90s I think. Tons of Saints in MS63/64 for under $500. Boy has that market gone through price spikes way over spot. Not so much now.

[BillJones]

I collected coins as a kid, buying wheaties, etc and never sticking real long. I wish I did and bought stuff like numismatic gold for cheap back then like $500 saints, etc.

 

Oh well, we all needed time to grow and learn

 

Yes, I remember the $500 Saints and that really doesn't seem like that long ago, either. I definitely should have bought about 10 of THOSE!

 

I remember $50 Saints back in the 1960's. I must be getting old.

 

 

I remeber they used to advertise them for $49.95 in the trade publications. I never bought them because I afraid I'd end up with a counterfeit. It was just as well because the $49.95 examples tended to have bag marks. I've always had an eye for smooth coins. When I did buy a Saint I paid $75.00, which was high retail. I still own one of those coins. You have to remember that $75 was a lot more money in the mid 1960s than it is now.

 

Here's my $75 Staint. It is now in an MS-64 holder.

 

[PerryHall]

Golly $50 saints, perryhall you are really old! Jk haha

 

I bought my first Saint in 1965 for $47 from a mail order company that had a small ad in either Numismatic News or Coin World (don't remember which one). It was a 1927 and would probably grade at least MS63 using today's standards. I sold it and a few other gold coins a few years later to buy a car. Wish I still had it. I've got many nice gold coins now but I will always remember the first one.