I went to my first coin show of the New Year this weekend, and it was a strong indicator of the intense activity in the coin collecting hobby. The parking lot was filled to capacity, forcing many people to park illegally on the grass. I always like to observe, by listening and looking, in an effort to see what people are interested in buying. The State Quarter program successfully created a renewed interest in the coin hobby and the interests has been further promoted by the new U.S. Mint programs: the Lincoln Centennial and the “America the Beautiful” quarter program. Based on a few people I talked to, dealers and collectors, I determined modern gold and silver to be number one on most lists, lists which included Silver Proof State and Territorial Quarters, Proof Silver Eagles, and U.S. Mint gold. The top of the gold lists was occupied by Eagles and Buffalos. In addition, there was a keen interest in old type coins of every variety. I talked to a collector as I was leaving about the recent lower metals prices and he said, “It’s just more reason to keep buying.” As indicated, precious metals prices have dropped during the last week or so but at $1080.00 an ounce, gold is still beyond the budgets of many, collectors. However, silver is still very affordable and offers an opportunity for collectors to have fun buying coins and invest in silver at the same time. Obviously, collecting silver coins is an excellent choice, for there are many interesting silver coins to collect, old and new. Silver has been used as a metal for coins since ancient times. The coinage act passed by the government during the early 1960’s changed dimes and quarters to a clad composition in 1964. Half dollars maintained a 40% silver content through 1970, but in 1971, the half  dollar composition was also changed to clad. The only silver coins struck by the U.S. since 1970 have been special collector editions. The first were the 40% Proof and Uncirculated Eisenhower dollars and the Bicentennial Commemoratives.
Beginning with the 90% silver Washington halves in 1982, the mint began a long line of silver commemoratives, from half dollars to gold. These have continued until the present and have included a wide variety of topics. Many of the large commemorative coins are priced near bullion values and offer an excellent chance for collectors to build an interesting collection while accumulating an investment in silver. As the circulating silver, the U.S. Mint also offered mint and proof sets included 90% silver coins through 1964. Of these, those minted, 1960 - 1964 are sometimes encountered with prices reflecting only a small percentage above the spot silver prices and thus are an excellent choice for collectors who wish to collect and invest. Personally, my old silver proof sets begin with 1954 and continue through 1964.  These are beautiful sets which are fun to collect, sets which occasionally exhibit a “Cameo” affect similar to the modern proofs. The same is true of the modern 90% silver proof sets which began in 1992 and have continued to the present. Moreover, the silver proof sets sold since 1999 have included the State Quarter issues and more recently, the Territorial and “America the Beautiful” pieces. The quarters are a substantial addition to the silver weight of the sets. With the modern proof sets there are other, Special Proof Sets, which include commemorative silver dollar pieces containing .77344 ounces of silver, thus further increasing the silver investment. The topics commemorated are practically endless and offer excellent potential for future price increases. Certain issues commemorating popular historical events and subjects, as the U.S. Civil War, World War Two, and the various Olympics, have seen very impressive price gains. This especially applies to the Buffalo Silver Dollar and more recently, the 2009 Lincoln piece. With the old silver coins, probably the most popular are silver dollars, beginning with Morgan dollars, minted 1878 – 1921. Most dates and mintmarks are available in grades Good to Uncirculated, and there are many ways to build a collection, by year, by condition, and by mint mark. Although some collectors combine the year and mintmark and attempt a complete collection, many others concentrate on all the Morgan dollars from a single mint, as New Orleans or Carson City.
Of the two branch mints, the Morgans struck at New Orleans are an excellent choice and the least expensive. The New Orleans dollars include the key dates: 1893-O, 1895-0, and the 1903-O and many other interesting varieties. Two of my personal favorites are the 1900- O/CC and the 1888 “Hot Lips” variety. All are scarce coins, with the 1893O posting a mintage of just 300,000. The strange coin of the group is the 1903-O, which is more common in the higher grades and rarely encountered in circulated condition. Obviously, collecting New Orleans minted silver dollars is fun and a great way to acquire silver.
Whether the choice is old or modern silver coins, obviously there are plenty of ways to have fun with the coin collecting hobby while accumulating a potentially profitable hoard of silver coins.
As a coin dealer once said to me, “Coin collecting is a hobby which doesn’t have to cost anything, for if the collector is careful with his purchases the hobby will pay for itself.” This idea definitely applied during the early 1980’s when silver was speculated to approximately $50 an ounce. At this time many collectors sold their coins for very impressive profits, a payoff for a lifetime of fun in the coin hobby! |
