I received my monthly issue of Coin Values and there was an article for collectors of all budget ranges including what they called those on a small budget. With rising fuel prices, utilities, inflation, etc… money has been tight for many people so I thought this was great timing for the article.
The article started off with collectors on a low budget and interviews with various dealers on what they deemed good buys. What was disappointing was that they assumed a low budget collector ALWAYS has a $100 in their pocket ready to spend on coins. This may have been true a few years ago but many collectors have reduced their budgets to more like $20 to $50 on a trip to a coin shop, show or on-line auction and sometimes even less. And what about kids?
There is always talk in the hobby that there are not enough young people in the hobby and almost every article in any coin magazine typically talks to coins that no way in heck a kid could afford to buy. I really shouldn't be shocked by this as the articles have to reflect items that their advertisers are selling but a continuous flow of articles about coins you CANNOT afford can really discourage a kid or make them think that their collection is worthless. Alright, I said my piece on this so let's get back to the article.
As you read through the article, what you discover is that what dealers are recommending for a $100 budget is nothing except common year coins which they try to sell you on high grades as being a separator and very low grade common 1800's coins. Again nothing unique or special here for a collector that has only $20 or $30 dollars in their pocket. What about world coins you may ask? Nothing, nada, zip…it pretty much sounded like dealers were offering up ideas only on inventory that they can't normally move quickly.
Needless to say, the article got a little under my skin so I have some recommendations for collectors on a low budget:
- Late 19th and Early 20th century coins in a grade of Very Fine (VF) - at this grade you get the best balance between coin design and wear. I personally like any coin from 1901 to 1930.
- Unique Sub-varieties - Learn about a specific coin series and you'll discover over-looked varieties. Some coin series have die designs slightly modified over the series and many times these special varieties are rarely annotated by a dealer.
- Cherry Picking - For just under $30 you can pickup the latest copy of the Cherrypicker's Guide that will help you search for gems in many dealer junk bins.
- Roll Searching - Go to your local bank and buy a few rolls of your favorite coin and crack'em open for any hidden gems, error coins, or older coins.
- World Coins - A dealer near me sells 100 different world coins for $5. Granted it's all modern material but the designs, shapes, and compositions are different.
To prove this out I set out onto e-bay with a goal of not spending more than $10. I ended the search by picking up a 1901 Liberty Head Nickel in VF30 for $8.75. Most people not familiar with the series would call this a common year but it's not.
1901 was not just a transitional year for the new century but also a transitional year for the reverse design of the Liberty head nickel. Prior to 1901, nickels had a reverse design what was referred to as a high leaf variety (or reverse style c). Initially in 1901 nickels were coined with this design but in late 1901 reverse dies were modified where the leaf just above the left top of the "V" almost touches, this is referred to as a low leaf variety (or reverse style ca).
| Reverse Style c - High Leaf | Reverse Style ca - Low Leaf |
|---|---|
 |
 |
The coin I bought happened to be the low leaf variety so for just under $9 I now have a coin that looks good and has a unique annotation (low leaf variety) and the seller never mentioned the variety or knew this variety existed.
With such a good experience for just $10, now I'm on the hunt for a 1901 high leaf variety and I think I'll stay with this low $10 target :)))
