Commemorative Half Dollars in AU to MS. Were they circulated?

[AlixTCat]

I've been getting interested in commemorative half dollars. It seems like something I would like to collect in AU-MS-62 grades.

 

Why would a commemorative be AU? Did people actually carry these and spend them? Were they circulated?

 

Something like this:

1925 STONE MOUNTAIN COMMEMORATIVE HALF DOLLAR AU-58

 

Why would this coin be in AU-58 condition? I would think they would all be in MS condition.

 

It looks like the commem halves can get pretty pricey in the mid MS conditions. I may be limited to the AU graded pieces or to getting one coin every 6 months or so.

 

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

Jonathan

[jtryka]

Many early commems did circulate, as there were far more minted than sold to collectors. You can even find Columbian halves in AG they circulated so much. Modern commems are different in that the mint destroys the excess production rather than release them into circulation.

[TomB]

Excess (unsold) Columbian half dollars were dumped into circulation after the World's Fair and many of these circulated extensively. Later commems circulated largely during the depression. Therefore, it is likely that commems issued before 1930 will be found in circulated condition at a higher rate than later issued coins.

[gmarguli]

I believe the unsold BTW & GWC commems were bagged up and shipped to banks.

[AlixTCat]

Thanks so much for the replies. This group keeps me on my toes with new information.

 

What would any of you recommend for someone on a TIGHT coin budget? Should I start a collection of AU halves and be able to possibly complete the collection in 10 years? Or should I save up and buy MS coins and have a collection that possibly takes a lifetime to complete? I think I know what your answers will be, but I just want some input from some experts.

(My coin budget is about $250 a month.)

 

Thanks again for all your input.

[gmarguli]

What would any of you recommend for someone on a TIGHT coin budget? Should I start a collection of AU halves and be able to possibly complete the collection in 10 years? Or should I save up and buy MS coins and have a collection that possibly takes a lifetime to complete? I think I know what your answers will be, but I just want some input from some experts.

(My coin budget is about $250 a month.)

 

It depends on several factors.

 

What is your goal? Is it a 50 piece set or a 144 piece set?

 

When the set is finished, what will happen to it? Is it a keeper or are you going to sell it once completed?

 

Is your $250/month coin budget going to be devoted 100% to this set or are you going to be spending a lot of it on other areas of coins? BTW, $250/month budget isn't bad. You can buy a lot of nice things on that type of budget.

 

Assuming that you are devoting your $250/month budget to this set and you are going for the 50 piece set, you can complete an AU set in about 3½ years. An MS60 set would take about 4¼ years. An MS63 set would take about 5¼ years. That's not a big difference and certainly not a lifetime.

 

My suggestion would be to do a mixed set. There is no reason someone should spend $50 on an AU Stone Mountain when they can spend $75 on an MS64. Why spend $200 on an AU Vermont, when you can spend $260 on an MS64. Why spend $12 on an AU BTW when you can get an MS65 for around $40? However, there are cases when an AU coin would be a better idea. The Hawaiian is a $1350 coin in AU, but $2100 in MS60 & $2500 in MS63. An AU would be a wise buying decision and is still a very desireable coin in AU. And some coins are low cost in nice gem especialy if the type was a several year/mint type. Consider picking up a nice example as mainly the better dates are expensive, but the common dates can be had in gem for lower cost.

 

Just keep in mind, the lower the grade, the less likely they will go up in value. Nice coins tend to rise in value first.

 

And before you start buying, you need to learn about what an original example will look like. This series has a wide range of original looks. Also, grading them is a problem since there are 50 different types - not even taking into account the 3 different mints. One type coin can be very free of marks and get an MS63 while another type can be beat to hell and get an MS65. It all depends on the coin. And there are a lot of average/ugly examples in ALL slabs out there with high grades.

[TomB]

I was going to give you my thoughts but I see that Greg has already given you a terrific response and has covered just about everything I could think of!

 

Here is some advice as to what I would do in your situation; attempt the 50-piece type set instead of the 144-piece complete set and buy attractive coins in MS63-66 first so that in case you change your collecting goals you may liquidate your collection rather quickly, easily and painlessly.

 

Good luck!

[Mozin]

You already got most all the advice I could give but there is one other area to consider. You might start by working on the Boones, Arkansas, Oregons, or Texas sets in MS grades. None of these sets would break the bank and it would allow you to learn to grade a specific issue rather than the entire 50 coin set.

[michael]

tomb greg jtry mozin

 

[AlixTCat]

Wow, such wonderfull advice from all of you. I really appreciate it.

 

Thanks to all who posted. I'm going for the mixed set, buying the best I can afford along the way.

 

Jonathan