One of the really cool advantages of being a coin dealer is you get to see a lot of coins... you get to buy and sell a lot of coins!

One of my favorite series to help customer with is building a type set.  Collecting by type is collecting by design.  For instance, in the Small Cent series you would have a Flying Eagle, Copper-Nickel, 1859 Copper-Nickel ( 1 year type), Indian and Lincoln.

You would decide what grade to collect.  Uncirculated is obviouly the best, however, I find the grade of choice original EF has more history.  The coins were obviously used (by whom? where? for what?) but held back somewhere so there was no more circulation (wear) and you have to wonder why.  Did a collector snatch it up for his collection?  Lost in a drawer for decades?  Saved for a rainy day the never came?

Back to the Small Cent series.  You can collect first or last year of issue.  You can put in key (better) date coins.  For the Lincoln the 1909-P VDB is $12, but a 1909-S VDB is $700.  For the Indian, the 1864 is $65, but a 1864-L is $230.  A 1857 Flying Eagle is $120, but the rare first year of 1856 is over $10,000!

You could put in only coins with mintmarks in the type that actually has multiple mintmarks.  In the Seated Liberty series a lot of "O" and "S" mints are common and easily found. Most "CC" coins are affordable, but a little tougher to find.

The possibilities are endless.

That is why it is so neat to go to a coin show and/or coin shop to look for your treasures.  Besides meeting up with fellow collectors to share stories with - you have the great opportunity to meet multiple dealers in one spot.  You can look over a nice and wide variety of inventory selections and browse at your leisure.  Ask the dealers questions - there is so much knowledge behind the bourse tables.  If you get to know the coin or paper money dealers better you can find out what the specialize in.  Ever dealer knows a "little" about everything related to numismatics.  And every dealer also knows a "lot" about someting in his/her field.

And where else can you get a cold burger and a flat soda pop for only $10.00? (Ha Ha)

Great times and great memories are made at coin shows and coin shops.  Savor the experience and come back for more!

Have a great time at the show and enjoy your weekend!