When did collecting by type become a serious thing?

TheCoinHound

Back in the day of the Chapman Brothers, Thomas Elder, ColonelJessup, and other old timers, were there any serious collectors building type sets? Seems to me that anyone who was serious about coins would have collected by date and mintmark back then, or at least by date. And I know that the likes of Bowers and Ruddy were marketing type sets and type coin collecting back when I started in the early 70's, but were they the first to play that game? The first major sale of a type set that comes to mind is the Jimmy Hayes Collection sold by Stacks in 1985, but was that the first one worth mentioning? 

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oldabe

I was collecting type in the late 50's but no idea how common it was. Seems like a natural for collectors, so would assume very early. Perhaps when kings and queens were assembling collections in the 18th century or earlier. 

Wabbit

oldabe said:

I was collecting type in the late 50's but no idea how common it was. Seems like a natural for collectors, so would assume very early. Perhaps when kings and queens were assembling collections in the 18th century or earlier. 

GoldenMan

Probably once the registry sets were created. More collectors trying to out do the other collectors. Does it really matter that you have a number 1 set or top 5 ? I’m sure back in the day dealers would shake there heads at what people spend on common junk in high graded plastic.  Who really cares, there usually someone that has more money and higher end coins. 

I collect type and could care less of the grade. It has to have eye appeal and make me happy. 

BillJones

I have two “Library of Coins” albums that Gimbels sold in the 1960s for the half cent to silver dollar type set. The concept was well established by then. 

I don’t think that type collecting has ever been an “Astro turf” part of the hobby as the OP implies. There are articles about coins by type that were published in The Numismatist in the 1940s and earlier. Type collecting has been around for many years, well before Bowers and Ruddy. 

Wabbit

BillJones said:

I have two “Library of Coins” albums that Gimbels sold in the 1960s for the half cent to silver dollar type set. The concept was well established by then. 

I don’t think that type collecting has ever been an “Astro turf” part of the hobby as the OP implies. There are articles about coins by type that were published in The Numismatist in the 1940s and earlier. Type collecting has been around for many years, well before Bowers and Ruddy. 

Hey Bill.  Do you have the original coins in those albums yet?

TheCoinHound

FWIW, I saw Jimmy Hayes at FUN and asked him the same question. The only name he could come up with was Dr. Judd, who built a great first year of issue type set that never went to auction, but was sold privately. Not coincidentally, some of Judd’s coins ended up in Jimmy’s collection. 

greatcollections

Collectors overseas generally collect by type. Only recently have more taken to collecting by date as their type sets have become complete. Quite the opposite compared to the U.S.

- Ian

ptolemyII

I got a VG Bust Half in change in 1955.
Can't say why it was passed on to me, but it was a candy store and the cashier likely never even thought about it. It's likely some kid ripped off his Dad and spent it as change. My grandparents spoiled me, I got a small-size Bust Quarter that year as a Hanukkah present. It lit a fire that got me past Whitman Lincolns. I discovered the Redbook. I mowed a lot of lawns and shoveled a lot of snow for a scrawny teen I can still remember my sister crying to my Mom because I tricked her (with a 2c piece) in a bet about "how many ways can you make change for a dime?"

I didn't recall that Bust Half at all in 1974 when my kids got into my 90% and bought Bazooka bubble gum, but I'm sure I didn't spend it.

My surviving album of pulled-from-change short-set Walkers is now likely under-graded, but not worth shipping