Best Of

No (and I do collect medals and tokens, as well as coins). There is no real benefit to breaking up the U. S. Coin Forum. Most of the medal and token posts come from a couple of dozen members. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

In addition, there are numerous relationships between medals/tokens and coins: common designers, tokens struck over coins (vice-versa in at least one case), medals made at the Philadelphia Mint, etc. Coin collectors can learn a great deal from token/medal collectors, and vice-versa.

What the collector thinks he has:

What the collector really owns:

I love finding them too

Bob Simpson Upgrade #2

The Collection has updated a second coin from the first Bob Simpson Mega sale offered by Heritage Auctions. The results for the 2020 September 17 Important Selections from The Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part I has been posted on the Heritage website. The first sale grossed $14,600,000. There were 349 coins offered, so the price realized per coin was $41,833. This is an impressive start with five sales remaining.

We have discussed the buffalo nickel collection a few months ago. This set is a struggle for new collectors because almost all of the high end coins are in the top two sets. As I wrote in last update: The #1 Registry Buffalo Nickel Set is the HOF Forsythe Set. The set is a long standing set that has maintained the award of the best of the registry since 2005. The set received its HOF status in 2005. It will be difficult, really impossible for Hansen to overcome this set. To make matters even grimmer, JDG Trust Collection has an amazing set of Buffalos that is rank #2.

The Forsythe set has 50 finest PCGS certified in a 64 coin set. Of those 50, eight are PCGS POP 1/0 specimens. Amazing! This leaves a little meat on the bone. The JDG Trust set has 29 finest PCGS certified in a 64 coin set. Of those 29, three are PCGS POP 1/0 specimens. That leaves the Hansen set with 13 finest PCGS certified and only one PCGS POP 1/0 certified, 1928-D MS67. This new Simpson coin is the second PCGS POP 1/0 for this difficult set.

1918 Buffalo Nickel, MS67+, Ex: Simpson

Heritage described the coin as “Superior Registry Candidate, None Finer”. The coin is in one of Simpson’s new PCGS holders, so it is possible the coin was upgrade prior to the sell. I have not been able to make that determination. The coin is described as: With a substantial mintage of 32 million coins, the 1918 is a surprisingly challenging Philadelphia issue to locate in high grades, and the average certified assessment falls shy of MS61. There are only 13 Superb Gem submissions at PCGS and two at NGC, and neither service has seen a coin finer than this. Pastel shades of violet and powder-blue color the centers of this Superb Gem, while the outer areas show bands of gold, peach-orange, and rose patina. Eye appeal and technical quality make this an unsurpassed Registry candidate.

Expert David Hall comments on the 1918: The 1918 is about as rare as other early Philadelphia Mints in circulated grades. In Gem condition, the 1918 is the rarest P Mint Buffalo nickel. It is about equal in rarity to the 1913-D Type 2 and 1914-D. Strike for the 1918 is usually very sharp and luster is usually not a problem. While rare in Gem condition, when you do find one it is usually very nice. Th Simpson MS67+ coin replaces 1918 MS66+, Certification #38684977, POP 12/13 in the set.

It is not certain to me where and when the Simpson Collection may have purchased the coin. The new cert number on the Simpson coin makes it difficult to trace the provenance. If anyone can assist, please do so. There were six Buffalo Nickels in circulation strike offered in the sale. This was the best one and realized $55,200. PCGS Price Guide values the coin at $65,000. The coin sold below the price value. This coin makes the second PCGS POP 1/0 Buffalo Nickel in the collection. This is a nice addition to a set in progress.

1918 Buffalo Nickel, MS67+, POP 1/0, Ex: Simpson
Certification #40323107, PCGS #3937
PCGSGV: $65,000 / realized $55,200
Ex: Simpson

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