0311/Guest Editorial2

GUEST EDITORIAL Ⅲ MARC ROSNER Building a U.S. Style Collection Looking for a reasonably priced and attainable challenge? Try assembling a representative, historical set. UST THE OTHER DAY, a budget may want to begin with the I bought a newspaper 20th century and work backward. with a $50 bill and If you assemble coins according to got one of those 1933 this list, you’ll likely hit all the major double eagles in change. circulating grades (Good, Very Good, On top of that, it was in Fine, Very Fine, Extremely Fine and nearly mint-state condition. About Uncirculated). A modern proof If you don’t believe me, then believe set will take care of Uncirculated and this: Coin collecting has become ex- Proof examples and provide some pensive. Building a complete set of Three of these coins, marked by an strong type examples to highlight U.S. coins by denomination, date and asterisk, are hard to come by for less your holdings. mint is, in all practicality, impossible. than $20 each, but you should be able Completing this collection for un- COIN PHOTOS: ANA MUSEUM/JOHN NEBEL Louis Eliasberg Sr. achieved this feat to get the trio for under $100. Find der $1,000 is a surmountable chal- over a lifetime (1896-1976). But even the common ones in pocket change lenge. Once you’ve done that, you can his collection has not stood the test of and save your money for better condi- develop your own style list for U.S. pa- time, having been sold at auction over tion, older coins. Young collectors on per currency and start anew. O the past two decades. Assembling a type set is a challenge, as early coins are increasingly hard to find. U.S. Style Collection So what’s a collector to do? Why not create a “U.S. Style Collection”? The 1. “Bust Right,” copper or silver, early 18. Twenty cents,* 1875-78. goal is not to obtain every variety of 1800s. (Draped Bust half cents can 19. Standing Liberty quarter, 1916-30. each denomination, but rather to ex- be purchased for in About Good con- 20. Washington quarter, recent. hibit the broad patterns of U.S. coin- dition for less than $20.) 21. State quarter, recent. age. For example, one Seated Liberty 2. Early “Head Left” (Classic, Coro- 22. Walking Liberty half dollar, 1916-47. piece represents all silver coins bearing net, Matron or Young), copper, first 23. Franklin half dollar, 1948-63. that design (half dime, dime, quarter, half of 19th century. 24. Kennedy half dollar, clad, modern. 20 cents, half dollar and dollar). The 3. Flying Eagle cent, 1856-58. 25. Trade dollar,* 1873-85. set would have an example of each 4. Indian Head cent, copper-nickel, 26. Morgan dollar, 1878-1921. major U.S. denomination, stylistic de- 1860-64. 27. Peace dollar, 1921-35. sign, alloy and condition (or grade). 5. Lincoln cent, steel, 1943. 28. Eisenhower dollar, 1971-78. By assembling such a collection, 6. Lincoln cent, clad, post-1982. 29. Anthony dollar, 1979-99. you’ll have a beautiful representation 7. Two cents, copper, 1864-73. 30. Sacagawea dollar, modern. of U.S. numismatic history. Best of all, 8. Three cents, nickel, 1851-73. 31. Commemorative half dollar, early it can be built for less than $1,000. 9. Three cents, silver, 1865-89. 20th century. (The Columbian Expo- (The whole is greater than the sum of 10. Shield nickel, 1866-83. sition issue is easy to come by.) its parts.) House the collection in a 11. Liberty nickel, 1883-1912. 32. Bicentennial quarter, half dollar custom album, and you have a desir- 12. Buffalo nickel, 1913-38. or dollar, 1976. able investment. 13. Jefferson nickel, wartime silver, 33. American Eagle bullion coin,* 1 Here is the short list to follow as 1942-45. gold, ⁄10 ounce, modern. you begin a hobby adventure. To learn 14. Seated half dime, 1837-73. 34. American Eagle bullion coin, sil- more, I suggest you read R.S. Yeo- 15. Barber, silver, early 1900s. ver, 1 ounce, modern. man’s Guide Book of United States 16. Mercury dime, 1916-45. 35. American Eagle bullion coin,* 1 Coins (the “Red Book”) and any of the 17. Roosevelt dime, modern. platinum, ⁄10 ounce, modern. fine titles by Q. David Bowers. www.money.org NOVEMBER 2003 • NUMISMATIST 1.

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