How many coins . . .

[IGWT]

do you purchase for your collection on average in a given year; and, if you collect by series, for how many different series?

[Oldtrader3]

It really varies with the market and what type of material is available. Right now there is a lot of overgraded junk on the market. This condition will curtail my spending until the situation improves. I try to buy needed coins as good material becomes available, within reasonable limits. This month, I bought a MS63 half eagle. Last month nothing. The month before that (4) MS63/64 Barbers and another half eagle. I need a '10-S Barber half. When a decent MS63/64 is available, I will buy it. Heritage has had a couple dogs, but I have not found a decent one.

 

When I complete a couple sets that I am building, I may not buy anything for several months.

[midijab-migration]

I try to get one nice coin for the grade at every Long Beach Expo. It's held here 3 times a year. Although, I missed a few shows here and there due to travel for work. It may either be at the auction or on the bourse based on the amounts, look, value, etc. I really haven't concentrated that hard on any one series because there are just way too many cool looking coin types out there. It's nice to get a few different coins for type and migrate into a series based on what really grabs you from there. Unfortunately, a lot of series has 'key' dates which can really put a dent into the pocketbook if you're trying to match the high grade common dates in your set. If I were to count how many series I have multiple coins for I would have to say probably 6 or 7. I try not to rush to complete them and I would even sell/trade off parts of one series to prop up one of the more desireable series.

[nwcs]

I am very impulsive so some years I've acquired hundreds of coins and some years a couple. This year I have bought 5 coins and sold 10. My personal collection consists of 12 coins, 1 I'm going to sell, and a bunch of stuff I could probably just donate en masse to YNs.

[Hoot]

Pretty slow with accumulation these days. Choosiness plays a significant role and my attention to most series has waned. I'd say on average that I have more coins going out than coming in. I've been fairly busy streamlining all of the coins I collect. This has also allowed me to look outside of the series I collect and simply consider great coins from any series. It's revitalized collecting for me to a large extent. I'm also collecting more raw coins than ever now. I've probably added 20 or so pieces this year that have no rhyme or reason to how they fit into my collection other than they are great looking pieces.

 

Hoot

[michael]

hoot fantastic way you have started to collect!!

 

think of it hoot as the beginning of a type set all these different coins!!

[michael]

and all A+ eye appeal coins to boot

 

you know i love your current collecting idea

[EZ_E]

Although my main interest is completing my type collection in the highest grade possibe (proofs preferably), I've been accumulating my share of medals recently.

 

Here is one that I won today:

 

1876 Americal Centennial Medal H-K 21

[IGWT]

Very nice, Victor! The Centennial Medal would, I think, enhance any collection of mid-19th century coins.

 

How many coins would you say you add to your type and medal collections on average in any given year? I currently have two sets underway (one just started), and I'd say that average 10-15 coins per year. Like others mentioned, I seem to find coins in spurts -- a run followed by 2-3 months of inactivity.

[midijab-migration]

Although my main interest is completing my type collection in the highest grade possibe (proofs preferably), I've been accumulating my share of medals recently.

 

Here is one that I won today:

 

1876 Americal Centennial Medal H-K 21

 

Very Nice EZ!

 

I finally scored the silver variant of the Fugio Restrike. Now, if I can only get my hands on the gold restrike . The silver was tough in that I've probably only seen around 3 of these in the last 7 years, two of which were beat up bad. Here's a pic of the copper and silver restrikes side by side.

 

I guess you could say I'll add more coins if the situation warrants it.

[EZ_E]

Although my main interest is completing my type collection in the highest grade possibe (proofs preferably), I've been accumulating my share of medals recently.

 

Here is one that I won today:

 

1876 Americal Centennial Medal H-K 21

 

Very Nice EZ!

 

I finally scored the silver variant of the Fugio Restrike. Now, if I can only get my hands on the gold restrike . The silver was tough in that I've probably only seen around 3 of these in the last 7 years, two of which were beat up bad. Here's a pic of the copper and silver restrikes side by side.

 

I guess you could say I'll add more coins if the situation warrants it.

 

Awesome! I've never even heard of the restrikes, let alone in silver. What is the story and era of those?

 

I have the 1962 Bashlow restrike of the Continental Dollar in three metals. Never hear much of those anymore. The Silver was quickly sold out at the time according to The Numismatic Scrapbook advertisement of the time.

[EZ_E]

Very nice, Victor! The Centennial Medal would, I think, enhance any collection of mid-19th century coins.

 

How many coins would you say you add to your type and medal collections on average in any given year? I currently have two sets underway (one just started), and I'd say that average 10-15 coins per year. Like others mentioned, I seem to find coins in spurts -- a run followed by 2-3 months of inactivity.

 

Well, it varies depending upon my financial commitments elsewhere. Let's see:

 

I've bought about 6-8 high grade types for close to a grand or more this year. Three or four 2-300 dollar purchases of types but, lately, I've been e-baying for so called dollars. I've probably bought 10 in the past 6 weeks. Can't recall totally off the top of my head. It's hard to find nice coins anymore unless they are ten grand or more. My biggest purchases have been my PR 65 Barber half for $2400 and my PR 66 RB two-cent piece for $1850. Probably too much information than most would be willing to share but I don't give a heck.

 

I basically follow your pattern, too. I'll occasionally go through lulls in my buying like I am now on buying types. My goal for my next type acquisitions will be a PR 65 cameo Barber Quarter and a Proof 64 cameo [if possible] Seated Liberty Half with motto.

[midijab-migration]

Awesome! I've never even heard of the restrikes, let alone in silver. What is the story and era of those?

 

As rumour has it, those were struck around 1858-1860 from dies found in New Haven at the site where the original coins were made. I had a discussion at one of the shows with a gentleman who studies Fugios and he seems to think that the dies used to coin the restrikes were actually either proof and pattern type dies. The silver restrike according to Breen is very rare. I would have to tend to agree with him as I mentioned before, I've probably seen only 3 specimens in the last 7 years (including auctions). As far as the restrike in gold, it is believed there's only 2 extant.

[EZ_E]

Awesome! I've never even heard of the restrikes, let alone in silver. What is the story and era of those?

 

As rumour has it, those were struck around 1858-1860 from dies found in New Haven at the site where the original coins were made. I had a discussion at one of the shows with a gentleman who studies Fugios and he seems to think that the dies used to coin the restrikes were actually either proof and pattern type dies. The silver restrike according to Breen is very rare. I would have to tend to agree with him as I mentioned before, I've probably seen only 3 specimens in the last 7 years (including auctions). As far as the restrike in gold, it is believed there's only 2 extant.

 

Thanks for the story. No BS! Very intriguing to me. I'll have to keep my eye out. Please, PM me for price averages if that is ok with you. Thanks.

[EZ_E]

Although my main interest is completing my type collection in the highest grade possibe (proofs preferably), I've been accumulating my share of medals recently.

 

Here is one that I won today:

 

1876 Americal Centennial Medal H-K 21

 

Very Nice EZ!

 

I finally scored the silver variant of the Fugio Restrike. Now, if I can only get my hands on the gold restrike . The silver was tough in that I've probably only seen around 3 of these in the last 7 years, two of which were beat up bad. Here's a pic of the copper and silver restrikes side by side.

 

I guess you could say I'll add more coins if the situation warrants it.

 

 

Here is medijab's outstanding PM to me on these restrikes. With or without permission, here it is:

 

 

From: midijab

 

Hi Victor-

 

Here's some excerps concerning the Fugio New Haven Restrikes:

 

From the Red Book:

 

"So-called New Haven "restrikes" are believed to have been made dies created in the 1860s. A story circulated at the time that these were old dies found by 14-year-old C. Wyllis Betts in 1858 on the site of the Broom & Platt store in New Haven, where the original coins were made."

 

However, here's a more accurate account of how the restrikes came to be which most numismatists nowdays somewhat watered down from Breen's Book:

 

"Some Fugio dies were produced in the 1850's probably at the Scovill mint in Waterbury, Connecticut and probably at the request of the numismatist and lawyer, Charles I. Bushnell. The Scovill Manufacturing Company had been a major supplier of Hard Times Tokens as well as a producer of various buttons and small metal objects. Their is no evidence as to the origin of the Fugio dies but it is known that Bushnell had the Scovill Company produce several fantasy colonial items for him in the 1850's. According to a notice in the American Journal of Numismatics from January of 1873 (on p. 72) three sets of Fugio dies were acquired by Horatio N. Rust in 1858, one die was acquired in Bridgeport and five others were from New Haven. These were, of course, the dies created at the Waterbury mint. It is not known if Rust was part of the deception or if he genuinely thought the dies were original Fugio dies. According to the journal notice Rust used these dies to strike off three to four hundred copies of the Fugio cent in copper as well as some in silver and gold at the Scovill mint in Waterbury. In the past these copies were incorrectly associated with some fantasy tokens created by the teenage C. Wyllys Betts in New Haven. It was thought Betts had located some original dies and used them to make some restrikes. From this mistaken attribution the Fugio copies have become known as the "New Haven Restrikes." However, they had been minted in Waterbury, from new dies created in Waterbury. Thus they are not restrikes from the original dies, nor are they from New Haven! Related to this is an item thought to have been a pattern used in the creation of the Fugio hub. This is now considered to be a fantasy piece created by Bushnell in the 1850s."

 

Breen also considers the Silver restrike as Extremely Rare.

 

As far as the Gold restrike, Breen listed the the following examples:

 

1) Ex Yale

 

2) Norweb Specimen.

 

Supposedly there is a third discovery piece in 1946 by a person named James Kelly.

 

What's puzzling is Horatio Rust had admitted to striking only one example in gold, so he was either lying or a later owner of the dies struck extras, or both. If that is the case there may be more examples extant. However, only under chemical testing can you be certain which were struck at the same time Horatio Rust struck his example.

 

As far as pricing for New Haven restrikes, these are all over the map. Copper speciments run around $800-$1000 in an AU58 to MS63 range. I've seen AU's go for more than MS 63's! A lot of it has to do with color and when the pieces were struck. Early strikings tend to not have severe die rusting on the reverse and die cracking on the obverse around the word Fugio. Later striking varieties do. Silver restrikes are closer to $3500 for a nice mint state piece.

 

Hope this helps.