My coin collecting philosophy is simple because coin
collecting is a secondary hobby to stamp collecting
for me. I still wanted a collection that had some semblance
of inclusiveness, but also provided the opportunity
for completion. Like many, I started with a Lincoln
penny collection as a child and collected some mint
and proof sets as an adult. I though about pushing the pennies back to Indians,
but then discovered the Dansco Type Set album. What
a great way to show examples of earlier coins without
breaking the bank! That was it until I saw a Dansco
Jefferson nickel album that went through 2005. I had
an old Whitman folder with nickels through 1964 my father
collected and then neglected. The silver war nickels were out of his pocket from when he served in World War II. He died in 2005, so it
seemed a fitting tribute to move the coins into a nicer
Dansco album and complete the set through 2005. I was
able to fill almost all of the holes by noodling them
from circulation! After completing pennies and nickels, I couldn't help add dimes, quarters, and halves. I picked the series that was current in 1958 (when Wheat Pennies ended) and pushed back to the beginning of each series. That led me to Roosevelt dimes, Washington quarters, and Franklin halves.
After a lot of thought and
research, I settled on these parameters for my collection:
All proof sets starting in 1968 when the S mint
mark was used.
Fill in production coins missing from those sets
OFEC (One For Every Country) set based on the world circa 1980
I do NOT collect modern precious metal NCLT like silver proofs or bullion coins.
There were a few dilemmas, such as whether I needed
a Mint AND Proof 1970S small date penny, but for the
most part the decisions of what to include were fairly
straightforward. (I finally decided to include the 1970S
Proof set with small date penny since there were other
S mint coins in both the Mint and Proof sets, such as
1968 nickel, 1970-74 cents, and 1980-81 Susan B Anthony
dollars).
Here is what I added to the Mint and Proof sets to
make a "complete" collection:
Mint Sets
1960P and 1960D large and small date pennies
1965 Special Mint Set
1966 Special Mint Set
1967 Special Mint Set
1970S small date cent
1971P and 1971D Eisenhower dollars (not in mint
sets)
1972P Eisenhower dollars (all 3 types)
1972D Eisenhower dollar (not in mint sets)
1979P Susan B Anthony dollar - wide rim / near
date
1982 pennies (7 different)
1982 Souvenir Mint sets (P & D)
1983 Souvenir Mint sets (P & D)
1999P and 1999D Susan B Anthony dollars (not
included in mint sets)
TBD: May need to include 1994P and 1997P satin
finish nickels!
