Collecting Choices - Opinions Please

[MidLifeCrisis-migration]

I started collecting coins again about six years ago after about a 20 year break. This time I focused on collecting the popular key dates in the federal US series - mainly Lincoln cents, Buffalo nickels, etc. I collected as many key dates in decent grades as I could afford. Along the way I started collecting colonials as well and they have become my favorite coins to collect. Now I am at the point where the remaining key dates on my want list are pretty much out of my price range. So I have a difficult decision to make and would like your opinion.

 

Should I sell or trade my key dates to focus on collecting only colonial coins?

 

If I do, I would be able to get some pretty rare colonial coins and build a pretty nice collection. However, it would mean getting rid of the very popular key dates that will probably increase in value more than the colonials.

 

I know the short answer is to collect what makes me happy....but I like colonials and key dates both and I can't decide what would make me happier.

 

What would you do?

[TJ'S Coins]

Really, the decision is yours to make and only you know what will make you happy.

 

What are your collecting goals? Is collecting mainly a hobby? Is it primarily an investment? Do you enjoy US history? If so, what era? With an eye to key dates that you have collected you appreciate rarity and difficulty in collecting. Are you looking to collect as many colonials as possible? Do you have a plan in mind? Are there specific coins that you really want to have that would be affordable to you now and in the near future? Can you afford to keep some of your key dates as well as collect some colonials?

 

These are just a few questions that popped into my mind. Hope they help you!

[michael]

by all means sell the key dates and collect the colonials

 

you can make some good money and no one ever lost money taking a profit

 

and who says colonials are not going to be more collected or popular as 20th century key dates??

 

if you buy rare items WIN with great history WIN and many colonials are undervalued WIN and not fully appreciated and so you might be doing yourself a favor also if you really love the colonials WIN!! then collect what you love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

a win win win WIN situation for you in my opinion

[MunkyMan95]

Another option for your collecting might be to actually finish a series around your key dates. Once you get those out of the way, a complete collection is a piece of cake.

[zrlevin]

Once you get those out of the way, a complete collection is a piece of cake.

 

Financially? Yes. Asthetically? No.

[James_OldeTowne]

... I focused on collecting the popular key dates in the federal US series - mainly Lincoln cents, Buffalo nickels, etc. I collected as many key dates in decent grades as I could afford. Now I am at the point where the remaining key dates on my want list are pretty much out of my price range.

Here's my take. What I quoted above tells me that you have achieved some goal - you've bought every key coin that you could afford. So you are at a crossroads: put the collection away for posterity, or cash it out.

 

It sounds to me like you have already opted for the second option. After all, you are considering "selling" them ("Should I sell or trade my key dates"). This leads me to believe you are not committed to them as a life-long endeavor, and you have reached the conclusion of that project.

 

On the other hand, you said "I would be able to get some pretty rare colonial coins and build a pretty nice collection." This tells me that its Colonial coins that are tugging at your heart.

 

Finally, I would caution you about this: "it would mean getting rid of the very popular key dates that will probably increase in value more than the colonials."

 

So what? Is the "increase in value" going to outweigh your grading passion and satisfaction? I doubt it. You already make a comfortable living and can afford to enjoy life outside of coins.

 

So this is a long version of the "short answer" that you already stated: "collect what makes me happy"

 

And contrary to what you said here: "I like colonials and key dates both and I can't decide what would make me happier.", I think you HAVE already decided what makes you happier. What you haven't decided is whether you care more about the "value increase" or the "happier" aspects of collecting.

 

Aesthetically and numismatically, I personally would dump the key dates and go for the Colonials. Millions of collectors are collecting "key dates" as investments, but only a few hundred (at best) are pursuing Colonial coins.

[World Colonial]

Only you can make this decision but what I can tell you is that colonials are a much better relative value than the key dates in the series you mentioned. (I consider them to be among the best values of any US coins.) I do not know what quality you have but at today' prices, key dates from the 20th century do not necesarily have a better appreciation potential. This is a typical opinion because they already have appreciated. A few of the key dates are rare such as the 1916/16 Nickel but most of them are readiliy available but just expensive, at least in most grades.

 

If your goal is not to keep these coins, you would probably be better off setting a new goal for colonials, sell your current holdings and go after the key coins in this series.

[BillJones]

Key dates have never had a huge attraction for me in and of themselves. If they were part of set that I was trying form, I went after them. But I’d never build a collection of the nothing but key dates. That has certainly worked for some as an investment strategy, but I can get as much enjoyment from a cheap old coin as from an expensive one.

 

In some ways I think that the price of the key dates has been artificially run up because of your type of buyer. In the past, the market for these coins was mostly made up of set collectors. Today it seems to be collectors who only collect key dates and investor-speculators. And I’ll tell you right now if you go down the road with speculators, you run a good chance of getting burned. Coins that have out priced their collector base are coins that are ready for a market melt-down.

 

If colonial coins interest you more than the better date stuff you have, by all means go for it. When it comes to colonial and post Revolutionary War coins, my taste runs to the good stuff. I’d stay away from pitted, damaged and corroded stuff UNLESS you get into die varieties. In some cases low grade is all there is. You can survive in the low grade, very rare coin market financially, but you have got to know your stuff to do so. You have to learn whether the item really is rare, and if most if not all of the survivors are low grade. Once you confirm that, AND get to know the dealers who market such coins, you will be ready to get involved. with them.

[MikeKing]

My feeling is that colonials, if held long enough, will far outrun a collection of 'key dates'. Key dates sounds nice, but it just doesn't do anything for me, even within the series I collect. Finding sleepers WITHIN the series you like can be real exciting however. But I'm biased against collecting key dates, period. Not that I hadn't fantasized when 'looking' for something to collect. The thing about collecting is that when something, some interest, falls in your lap....there you have it.

 

I'm kind of going through something similarly in that I'm thinking of selling off my type collection to support my other interests. I just reviewed my coins today, in hand, and I found them much nicer than I even remembered and from the photo's I've taken and I'm having a harder and harder time even considering parting with them. Ouch!

 

But I was explaining to another board member, that I did a count on my coins, and I think it might not be a bad idea to not let that number increase. Rather, sell off what I've got for coins within a stronger sphere of collecting interest. But darn...I just can't part with those Seated Libs...damn it...

[MidLifeCrisis-migration]

Thank you everyone for sharing your opinions. I think the consensus is to sell the key dates and go with colonials, which is what I'll probably do.

[MikeKing]

Just realize one thing, the coins chosen have to be quality coins, otherwise the investment value drops precipitously, which means lots of study (note, I said study, not acquisition), perhaps over a period of years. In buying a 'key date', you could be just buying a 'date', not necessarily a high quality coin that happens to be a key date. You need to understand this lest you be doomed to failure or success by chance alone. Similarly, in buying colonials, quality is even more paramount, there is no guarantee of investment success, but over a long period of time, if done well, should do you well.