Republished from Pinnacle Rarities

These strategies were composed upon considering the true case of two collectors, who in 1996, two collectors decided to assemble a million dollar collection of high grade United States coinage. Seven years later, both decided to sell. One now has a collection that is worth upwards of $2 million while the other individual’s coins are worth $600,000. What did collector #1 do that was so much smarter than the other? In the end, the difference was the way that they bought coins; there were a number of important purchasing strategies employed by the first collector that were ignored by the other.

Collector #1 did the following: he was patient, he chose his coins carefully, he was loyal, he was not a slave to published bid levels, he reached for the best available coins and he assembled a true collection as opposed to an accumulation. Collector #2 made rash, impulsive purchases, bought coins from a wide variety of sources (some reputable, some not), would never purchase a coin unless it was priced at a “bargain” level and wound-up with a strange, disconnected assemblage of coins rather than a true collection.

It is a good idea to look at some of these points more carefully to understand why one collector did so well while the other did not.

1. For the collector, patience is a virtue: One of the key reasons for the success of collector #1 was his patience. Instead of wildly charging out into the market and buying whatever looked interesting, he was highly selective. In fact, he typically purchased just a few coins each year. Collector #2 was extremely impulsive and purchased some coins that, in retrospect, made no sense. As an example, he bought at least three five-figure coins that he didn’t really like and which he knew, even at the time they were bought, that they would have to be upgraded. And he purchased some other coins that had absolutely no thematic tie-in to what he was collecting. These were quickly jettisoned at a significant loss.

2. Always buy the best coins you can afford: If you care about the financial returns provided by your coins (and if you are buying coins that are more than $1,000 each you should) then it is important to buy the best you can afford. A collection should be centered around quality instead of quantity. This means that you will have to tailor your collection around your budget.

3. Both collector #1 and collector #2 had the same budget but collector #2 wound-up buying dozens of coins while his counterpart only purchased a few. The result was that the first collector had a small collection of superb pieces with enough of a synergistic tie-in that it was more valuable as a whole than as a sum of its parts. The second collector had an assemblage of expensive coins that, because of the presence of a number of “dogs”, would have to be broken-up and sold piece-by-piece. (more…)

By Kathleen Duncan of Pinnacle-Rarities

This is the place to start learning if you’re unfamiliar with US Commemorative Coins.

What are commemorative coins, you ask?

Commemorative coins are coins issued by the US Mints to recognize the achievements of the Nation. The are coins, and not medals or medallions, because they are monetized, they have a face value and can be used as money, for example a half dollar coin. They differ from regular issue US Coin because they are are struck primarily for collectors, rather than to circulate as money although they are legal tender. Most commemorative coins were struck in conjunction with a large exhibition and festival where they were sold for collectors. The legislation allowing for the issuance of these coins normally also assigned an agency to oversee the distribution or sale. These coins were sold to collectors at a premium to their face value, say $1.00 for a half dollar coin. The two main uses of the proceeds of sale were to raise money for a monument to be built or to defray the costs of the celebration.

How to collect commemoratives.

Between 1892 and 1954, there were just 50 different silver commemoratives and nine different gold issues authorized by Congress and produced. Because many of these coins were issued for multiple years, were struck at the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco Mints, and were issued with subtle design variations, there are a total of 144 different silver coins and 13 gold commemoratives.

When collectors buy one coin of each design, they are assembling a Type Set. This is the most popular way to collect silver commemorative coins, the 50-coin set. Most collectors of gold commemoratives will purchase the nine gold dollars and two quarter eagles ($2.50 gold coins) and build a set of 11 coins. Excluded are the two scarce Panama-Pacific $50 issues - visit the Panama-Pacific Gold Commemoratives page by using the scroll-list above to learn why. With that said, there is no one way or best way to collect US commemorative coins. Collectors owe it to themselves to take ownership of their own collections. They should buy what they like and what is interesting to them. Many advanced collectors choose to buy only the five issue related to the Civil War, to buy the ten coins with ships on them, etc. There are nine issues that relate to the western United States, and this has always been a particularly interesting yet overlooked subset. (more…)

By Kathleen Duncan - Pinnacle Rarities

The silver commemoratives produced between 1892 and 1954 are remarkably adaptable in terms of collectibility. Most collectors assemble a standard fifty piece type set which includes a single example of each basic half dollar type plus the Isabella quarter and the Lafayette dollar. This set can then be expanded to fifty-three coins with the addition of the basic major varieties: 1921 Alabama 2×2, 1922 Grant With Star and the 1921 Missouri 2×4. Taking this a step further, the collector can assemble a complete 144 piece set which contains an example of the branch mint and multiple year issues, where applicable.

What about the more casual collector who likes silver commemoratives but who doesn’t have the resources (or perhaps level of interest) to delve this deeply into these issues? We recommend thematic (or topical collecting) which is very popular in the field of stamps and which can be very well adapted to silver commemoratives.

In a nutshell, a thematic collecting of silver commemoratives takes a group of approximately four to six coins which are tied together by a basic theme. Four examples which we find appealing are as follows:

(NOTE: Because of the relative availability of these coins in lower grades, we suggest the collector stick to PCGS or NGC graded examples in the Mint State-66 to Mint State-67 range. The values listed below are for attractive, nice quality coins.)

I. Civil War Issues

There are a number of commemorative half dollars that are related to battles or great leaders of the Civil War. Listed alphabetically (along with the year in which they were issues), these are as follows:

* Antietam (1937). This issue was produced to commemorate the 75th anniversary of this epic Maryland battle. It is a very affordable coin with nice MS-66 examples currently valued around $750-1,000 and MS-67’s at $1,350-1,650. (more…)