subject: Collecting US copper large cents [print this page] Today people are collecting US copper large cents anywhere they can be found. Some will collect random coins from all the different series without focus and abandon any logic in their acquisitions. This usually proves to create a collection without rhyme or reason and organization of the collection will be difficult this way.
Starting out fresh in this field of coin collecting, the average collector is usually limited by their financial situation. This will decide for you what you will be able to successfully collect without running out of available funds prior to finishing the collection.
Making sure we have the means, or will have the means over time to eventually acquire what we need to complete our collecting task, is our first step. Deciding on a series that all specimens are obtainable can be a challenge in itself.
Starting out, one of the best sources available today is the Internet. Websites from all over the globe offer collectors an easy method of collecting right from their home. The US postal service and other delivery services such as UPS and FedEx just to name a few, will bring your examples right to your collection. This will save countless hours of travel and visiting coin shows and shops all over, which can be very expensive.
EBay is a great place to find excellent examples in all price ranges and grades for most coins. Even therarest and most expensive coins can usually be found there in an auction setting or a buy it now scenario. Getting what your looking for at a great price is the benefit to online shopping.
Focus on one series or date range within the whole series andmake sure all the coins in this range are within your financial budget to acquire before you begin. It will do no good to collect all the inexpensive coins in a certain series, only to be stopped from completing the set because that one elusive rarity is beyond your financial means.
The earlier series such as the flowing hair cents from the late eighteenth century and the draped bust series from the early eighteen hundreds, can offer a financial challenge that many of us will fall short of. These coins have become so rare and high priced that completing a set could be to much for most of us.
The coronet large cents offer a much more affordable option being later in date and readily available in high grades and quantity. This will make completion of your set a much more attainable goal.
Braided hair large cents offer an opportunity for the average Joe to collect high grade specimens, at a reasonable price. This can be the answer for a collector who demands perfection and the highest of grades when putting together their set.
Take the time to decide exactly what your goal is before you start out. Getting the highest grade coins you can afford will protect your investment's resale price. Also keeping an eye on trends, can keep you up to date of any major finds that can reduce a certain coins value or rarity in an instant.
Once you've decided on what to collect, the next step is to budget out what makes sense to collect to stay within that budget. Start on EBay and research the available examples of each coin that your collection would require. Make notes for each year or variety and keep them all together. Taking these notes to shows or auctions, or having them handy as a reference while you shop online, can help you to avoid over paying.
There are many publications you can get, such as the red book and coin world magazine, just to mention a few to help you keep up with the rapidly changing prices. Use these and any other published reference to make sure your keeping in line with up to dateinformation and that you will have a little more knowledge then the person your buying from.
All US coins are listed in each publication out there and they also list mintage quantities from each year. This can give you a relatively accurate consensus of how many are left out there. After all we live in a supply and demand world and if there's no supply, there will be a high demand. People need these rarities to complete their sets and will pay exorbitant amounts of money to acquire them.
PCGS is a major online grading company. They have a website that you can join at a minimal cost. This site updates values of US coins daily and they list prices for coins in all grades. This is an instant reference guide when shopping online. Just open their site and look up the coin you are buying or bidding on. This site will quickly answer the questions you need to know about and give you rarity and and the prices that are being realized for the example in question.
This same website PCGS.com also has a population report which is a helpful resource when deciding if all coins in your collection will be obtainable. They will tell you exactly how many examples have been graded and the condition of these coins. That information is irreplaceable to the modern coin collector. How rare and your grade, are the two most important factors when deciding how much you should pay for each example.
The most important thing to remember from this piece should be focus. Collecting more of what you have will not make your collection more of what you want. Get only one example of each coin in your decided upon range and search for the best price in all available locations. Putting your collection together in this way, will maximize it's potential to go up in value over time. Sometimes the act of collecting all the coins in a series and then marketing them as such, a complete set, will bring huge returns. Sometimes the satisfaction of finally getting that last year or that last variety, will make the set priceless to us.
In closing, US large cents and collecting them can be a very rewarding hobby. Remembering that you have a means to an end, and focusing on that can also add huge financial gains to your hobby. Collecting US copper large cents is one of the most rewarding hobbys out there today, off you go and most important, have fun.
