Hah I think our fearless leader was trying to help smoky do a bit of due diligence in research here. Cheers Joe, it's been an odd few months personally, unfortunately there's more to come but it's nice to be back.
I'm convinced NGC doesn't like me because I complained too much about the WSOD Bears I had to send in under their guarantee, lol.
In every collection there is always A key date, or a couple. In my limited experience get these 1st look around and buy them when one comes up in your range, you will need to be realistic. Then you need to decide, are you collecting the series and the grades don't matter, or are you going for a MS?? set etc... As example you may need to spend $2K to get the key date in MS69 grade but a MS67/68 may only be say $300+ so that can make a big difference in your budget and your set costs. Once you worked that out you look for the rare ones. As a few have said a MS67 was in top condition, if you don't care it being a MS67 as you want to complete the set. This is a perfect example of buy the coin not the grade as mentioned before. You will always find the common ones, the rare bears are what you need to watch out for. If one comes up in your price point and the quality is there. You have done your research. Buy it Good Luck.
Really great post Au. If you've established that the year is key, you've also kind of answered your own question as to what to do with regards buying one. By way of definition a key coin will be rarer therefore there won't be anywhere near the amount of 68/69's as in the more plentiful years. Buying that MS66/67 all of a sudden doesn't seem so bad, in fact, who knows, it may prove to be your shrewdest investment. This is pretty much badon-speak and it's a case of buying the coins not the grade but I'd never thought of it quite like that before, the Panda droppeed thanks Stacks! Can I have a do'over on my stack please??
