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Do you have a "main" and "side" collection/set?
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18 posts in this topic

I have been working on Half Cents and a Type Set, and would categorize them as my "main" collections.  Those sets are tough, and have some tricky dates to get in the condition I want.  I love copper, but it can be very challenging.  I wanted something easier than old copper, and I wanted it to feel "different".

So, I decided my side project would be a set of Proof Mercury Dimes.  Proof Mercs are fun to collect. They come almost perfect, and are a relative bargain when one considers the mintages (esp 1936-38).  This short set of 7 coins is very attainable, and even the 1936 can be had with a little saving.  I am almost complete, with only the 36 and 42 outstanding.  This fun set provides a very beautiful, approachable entry point into the series.  I am no where close to the top of any registry - I just wanted a set of pretty dimes that had a little scarcity to study.

What is your main collection?  Do you have a "side" collection? What is it? 

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I think you'd be hard pressed to find a collector who doesn't have multiple "side" collections/sets. I won't bore everyone with the many, MANY side projects I have, but in general I like to go back and forth between coins and banknotes. I have "main" collecting interests, in both that keep me extremely occupied but on the rare occasion I find myself in a lull I'll just pick up something "shiny", usually a token, bond, stock certificate or some other exonumia that has ties to my area/region of the country.

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I am thinking like most.  i have most of the whitman folers for each denomination full back to the mid 1800's.  Most would call these collector coins complet sets that most will never want.  but i ahve collected them over time.  I think my main focus theze days are on Indian Cents and Buffanlo's.  then just about any early Proof i can cme across that i can afford......

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On 6/8/2022 at 6:35 AM, JT2 said:

I am thinking like most.  i have most of the whitman folers for each denomination full back to the mid 1800's....

That's the thing.  I don't, because I am new at this.  It's frustrating, because I always feel like I am trailing behind the other collectors (I understand this is not a race).  This is also freeing, because I do not duplicate coins. (note:  I have completed some very modern "beginner" sets - State and Park Quarters, etc. from change).

On 6/8/2022 at 6:26 AM, Fenntucky Mike said:

I won't bore everyone with the many, MANY side projects... 

 Not boring at all.  I am always interested in what other collect.  It gives me ideas and more things to study.

On 6/7/2022 at 10:59 PM, Lem E said:

I guess it depends on what you consider a “side set”.

I consider short sets, and even fairly comprehensive date runs to be "side sets".  Once I have 4-5 coins in a series, I start looking for dates and mints I need to make a "run", and then a short set. Short sets feel much less intimidating to me, so I am likely more lenient on the word "set" than most purist collectors.

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On 6/8/2022 at 12:22 PM, RWB said:

1. Pre-1834 US gold by variety.

2. Parking lot cents by tire tread.

One of those two has a winning record of exhibiting at an ANA show, and it’s not the one you’d think. 

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...i forgot to include...i do have a set that belonged to my grandfather, who started me in coins, that i have continued n finally completed n since passed on to my son...id have to say its my "true main" for personal n sentimental values not because of anything else....

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On 6/8/2022 at 2:56 PM, zadok said:

...it is a race, but not against other collectors, its against time....also coin collecting is not a sprint its a marathon...

I missed most of the race against time, and I am not wealthy enough to sprint.  So, I will just jog around the block a few times and see what I can find.  The beauty of being new is that I can buy almost whatever I want without duplication (nothing to duplicate).  Also, collecting later in life means that I have had more resources to collect than when I was younger.  But, time is the most precious resource and I think of what could have been had I started earlier.

It's super cool that your Dad started you in coins.  It adds that sentimental layer to your collection.  I have a coin my grandpa gave me when I was a kid - a worn peace dollar that has toned black.  It's my most prized coin.  Congrats on finishing the family set, that is a very nice thing to have for your son and generations to come.

 

Edited by The Neophyte Numismatist
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My main set is Puzzle Box Gold; an 1834 - 1933 US Gold Type Set, of which there is essentially only room in the puzzle box for 14 slabbed coins.  So, no variance coins for any of the coins beyond gold dollars.

To highlight the puzzle-box/strongbox aspect of the collection, I did create separate Registry subsets for each of the Mints involved so that I could include frontispiece photos for each of those sets, to portray the opening sequence of the strongbox.  That's the only reason I created those gold-coin Registry Sets.  Allows for eight frontispiece photos, in total.

I did find a way to include two other NGC slabbed coins in the puzzle box; they're adjacent to the two stacks of seven coins each:  one is the 2019 50th Anniversary Moon Landing gold coin, which adds the West Point modern day mintmark, and there is one other very early gold coin — an 1806 $5 pointed 6 gold coin of F15 CAC grade, which is just old and I've always liked it, never wanted to sell it.  (those two coins are stored in their own separate Coin Armor ziplock, resting on their sides, together)

There is absolutely no more room in the puzzle box for slabbed coins… no question about it.

Nice to be done with collecting, and now it is just perfecting presentation via Owner Comments for each of the Registry Sets.

My whole reason for collecting gold coins was to compliment my puzzle box collection, by being able to place something in the various puzzle boxes so that when someone finally solves a puzzle box there is a reward to be found within.  (I've given puzzle boxes containing a gold coin as wedding gifts twice; but they contain modern day gold coins, not rare gold coins.)

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It is a box that is a puzzle to open, that I keep coins in.

Mine is a 6 Sun created by Mr. Yamanaka, and what attracted me to it was the simplicity and symmetry of its lid appearance, which then — many years later — led me in the direction of the strongbox creation. Never did I think that I would have a US gold coin collection… and yet things have come to fruition.

Even I am amazed at the evolution process.

For example, a friend came by one day because he knew I had a casual interest in lock picking, and he had an old box of locks — junk really — but two of them were worthy of my attention. So, I purchased the old bicycle lock (Hoffman-Packard-Carter) and the brass heart lock from him for $5 each. Working them into the scheme of things kept me busy a whole winter, trying one idea after another.

Much more fun than just having a coin collection and a puzzle collection.

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