help in sending coins 1 1

[J P M]

Most of the members will say a coin should be worth $150 to $200 before sending it in for grading. Most mint sets are not worth grading. 

[ghenadi]

There is so much criticism directed at me, they say that I collect modern garbage, it would be better if I spent my money on rare coins from 1800-1950. Now I'm confused, maybe I'm really doing something wrong?

[J P M]

On 5/21/2024 at 9:06 PM, ghenadi said:

There is so much criticism directed at me, they say that I collect modern garbage, it would be better if I spent my money on rare coins from 1800-1950. Now I'm confused, maybe I'm really doing something wrong?

If you like it, then it is not Garbage. If you are collecting for a profit, then that would be different. I have many proof sets I only paid a small amount like $5 each and yes, they are not worth much more than that. I see some of the prices your coins are marked and that is ok. There is no profit in these coin sets, but they are good looking anyway. I say enjoy what you have and if you find a coin type that you like the best work on building that set type. I like Nickels and Morgans, but I have other coins also. I buy coins already graded to save money. I have never sent a coin in to be graded. I know what my ungraded coins are worth I do not need to send them in for an opinion. 

[JKK]

On 5/21/2024 at 6:06 PM, ghenadi said:

There is so much criticism directed at me, they say that I collect modern garbage, it would be better if I spent my money on rare coins from 1800-1950. Now I'm confused, maybe I'm really doing something wrong?

Everyone has different collecting preferences. There's no fundamentally wrong way to collect. If for example you wanted to see if you could amass the world's largest collection of 1964 US nickels, every last one of them worth exactly 5c, that'd be up to you. I wouldn't understand it, but I don't need to. Only you do. However, some people will keep warning you that what you're collecting isn't worth much and never will be, and you should understand this habit of warning, because we have so many new collectors who come here thinking purely of the profit motive. We forum regulars become conditioned to assumptions which might or might not be justified in each person's case. Imagine how it looks to us, with a steady parade of people confidently braying that they have Rare Mint Errors, and us having to give bad news nearly every time. We get into a rut. Those among us who are intellectually honest will admit that.

There are two basic motives in coin collecting: interest and profit. Sometimes a collector follows a combination of the two.

With modern US coins, it's like this. If you collect them because you like them, and you expect minimal profit, then you won't be disappointed because they're cheap and easy to find. If you expect profit from them, you will almost surely be disappointed because they are common enough that demand is not high. You would expect that from how cheap they are. Demand drives pricing. That's why older US coins can be so spendy--demand is high, for example, for bust half dollars and seated half dimes. This is one reason I grew fairly bored with US coins of any age, and turned to ancients as well as coins from the rest of the world. (I love those huge 5 kopek pieces from around 1800. Oni ochen prekrasnii.)

With non-US coins from the modern era, there is far less demand overall. I don't think coin collecting is as popular in some other countries, and for a good percentage of the world coin collecting would be a hobby for the few who could afford such a frivolity. I am sure there are collectors in Bangladesh, but per capita I suspect there are fewer than here. One reason I like modern era world coins is that they're relatively inexpensive for the interest level they offer me (well, that, and I read enough writing systems to have a natural advantage). But I'm never expecting that my world coins will someday be worth large amounts of money. Neither will most of my ancients, so my own goal is not so much profit as to avoid overspending while mostly enjoying the fact that they fill albums of history.

Collect what you want. Not everyone will understand it. On slabs/professional grading, if your goal is eventual profit, you're really throwing money away because you are never going to make back the cost of grading. If you are doing it because you like them, and you would literally rather spend $40-60 on plastic than on the coins you could buy for that $40-60, that's your choice. I also will not understand it, but you don't need anyone's permission to collect what you want the way you want.

I would point out that nearly any modern coin you elect to clean, you will likely harm irreparably, but the good part there is that they probably weren't worth much so at least you didn't lose much money. I have cleaned some world coins that I literally could not identify as they were, because there was nothing to lose. Ancients often come in huge coin clods (someone buried the bag in antiquity and didn't come back for it) that have to be soaked and cleaned just to get them apart safely and to see what they are. That's a sort of cleaning I do understand.

 

[ghenadi]

THANKS - JPM and JKK for the support !!!

[Halbrook Family]

1959 proof set should have only cost you about $55. They should be left in their original package. 1959 Unc set should be about $40 or so. You need to get a red book. The 1976 3 coin set is nice but it's about $25. The other non silver sets  go for about $4 to $6 each. I'm just finishing up buying up the Proof and unc sets. 1955 proof set I got for $100 and the 1956 one I got for $50. 1957 to 1964 should be about $30 $40 tops for a really clean set.

Find a local coin store and shop there. 

You should keep the 1959 set in the original envelope. Take the $153 you were going to spend on grading and buy a few more silver proof sets.