@keets said: The member you are pigeonholing could write a new reference guide on early commemorative coins faster than you my friend can tie your shoes.
Frank, I am not at odds with that. read what I posted and you should understand I am in no way questioning RogerB's knowledge of Commems or his prolific skill as a researcher and writer. however, and this is where you are evidently blinded, I do take exception to his persistent habit of criticizing the value of coins and the prices others(and the market as a whole) place on them. my reason, and I gave a reason, is because I have never seen that member post about any coin, either that he owns or that he is trying to own. if you feel that is unfair, OK. I don't.
Roger has posted many times that he used to collect coins but stopped many years ago because the coins he's interested in are out of his budget. Now, he only buys coins for short term research purposes, which he sells when the research is done. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with his posts on coin value and suggesting collectors need to perform research to be worthwhile, but they seem somewhat related.
He also has strong opinions on TPGs and the ANA. He even initiated formal proceedings to get another forum member kicked out of the ANA, unsuccessfully.
Given that many of us have spent years here, over time, you learn to live with people's interests and pet peeves. He contributes a lot of knowledge, but he does have strong opinions that are expressed from time to time.
@Broadstruck said: @keets I have had no issue with you until just now when you decided to mount a very high horse with an extremely tall ladder. The member you are pigeonholing could write a new reference guide on early commemorative coins faster than you my friend can tie your shoes.
He has never bought, sold, or collected any meaningful coins that I can remember.
Research is one thing. Opinions on the market or coin values another.
I was admiring two of the coins and noticed that they are both pedigreed to the "San Diego Collection". This collection isn't currently in the All-Time or Current Finest list for the 144 coin set. Does anyone have any information on this collection / pedigree?
1938-D Oregon Commemorative Half Dollar MS69 pop 3/0
This is currently the sole MS69 in the set though there are a number of MS68+ coins.
@Broadstruck said: @keets I have had no issue with you until just now when you decided to mount a very high horse with an extremely tall ladder. The member you are pigeonholing could write a new reference guide on early commemorative coins faster than you my friend can tie your shoes.
And yet he couldn't be a coin dealer for 5 minutes because he doesn't understand market value
I just revisited the 2 coins I highlighted in the OP and noticed that all 4 of the coins that I chose to highlight are from the San Diego Collection. Do you know if all the San Diego Collection coins were acquired at once and were you involved in the transaction?
@Zoins said:
I was admiring two of the coins and noticed that they are both pedigreed to the "San Diego Collection". This collection isn't currently in the All-Time or Current Finest list for the 144 coin set. Does anyone have any information on this collection / pedigree?
1938-D Oregon Commemorative Half Dollar MS69 pop 3/0
This is currently the sole MS69 in the set though there are a number of MS68+ coins.
Those were part of Howard’s set. His 50 piece set was #1 for awhile. I think Mark Feld help put a lot of coins into the San Diego set if memory serves me correctly
m
Walker Proof Digital Album Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Zoins. They were acquired at different times. I consulted with the buyer on a number of them. I agree that Mark Feld may have had a strong role in building that World Class set.
Wondercoin
Edited to add... coins obviously lose their CAC stickers when they upgrade. And sometimes even possibly without upgrading depending upon the submission strategy.
Please visit my website at www.wondercoins.com and my ebay auctions under my user name www.wondercoin.com.
@Zoins said:
I was admiring two of the coins and noticed that they are both pedigreed to the "San Diego Collection". This collection isn't currently in the All-Time or Current Finest list for the 144 coin set. Does anyone have any information on this collection / pedigree?
1938-D Oregon Commemorative Half Dollar MS69 pop 3/0
This is currently the sole MS69 in the set though there are a number of MS68+ coins.
I have had the privilege to work with the owner of the “San Diego” collection for many years. His focus was on the 50 piece, rather than 144 piece set. In addition to superb quality, great emphasis was placed on gorgeous color - a number of his coins were the most beautiful examples I had seen. And those are words I rarely use.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
@Zoins said:
I was admiring two of the coins and noticed that they are both pedigreed to the "San Diego Collection". This collection isn't currently in the All-Time or Current Finest list for the 144 coin set. Does anyone have any information on this collection / pedigree?
1938-D Oregon Commemorative Half Dollar MS69 pop 3/0
This is currently the sole MS69 in the set though there are a number of MS68+ coins.
I have had the privilege to work with the owner of the “San Diego” collection for many years. His focus was on the 50 piece, rather than 144 piece set. In addition to superb quality, great emphasis was placed on gorgeous color - a number of his coins were the most beautiful examples I had seen. And those are words I rarely use.
Good to know. These are certainly beautiful coins.
This may also solve the riddle of why Justin says this is the #2 ranked set. For the 50 piece set, "The San Diego Collection II" is the #1 ranked All-Time and Current set with the "Subway Tokens" set at #2 for both. The "Subway Tokens" set is #1 for both for the 144 piece.
@jmlanzaf You say "And yet he couldn't be a coin dealer for 5 minutes ..." as if being a coin dealer was a good thing.
Just kidding, just kidding!!!!!
That said, I think different people have different goals and clearly among Roger's goals is to be a world-class numismatic researcher. As someone who avidly reads his books, I'm very glad for this goal. Other people have the goal of being a world-class dealer. As someone who eagerly buys coins, I'm also very glad for people with this goal.
@Mark said: @jmlanzaf You say "And yet he couldn't be a coin dealer for 5 minutes ..." as if being a coin dealer was a good thing.
Just kidding, just kidding!!!!!
That said, I think different people have different goals and clearly among Roger's goals is to be a world-class numismatic researcher. As someone who avidly reads his books, I'm very glad for this goal. Other people have the goal of being a world-class dealer. As someone who eagerly buys coins, I'm also very glad for people with this goal.
Lol.
I could have gone with collector.
Note his recent statement that people should not be buying pretty baubles but should instead be researching history.
I tried that with the living room decor, but my doctoral thesis looked silly hanging there so velvet Elvis went back up
@RogerB said:
A small correction to "$1.6M Classic Commems Set for sale"
The set is not "worth" $1.6 million. That is the amount the owner's agent is asking. We do not know what anyone - at least any sane-one - has bid, or what the set will ultimately sell for. After the sale, if it occurs, we can say the set is worth $XXX.
All we'll know is that the buyer valued it at a minimum of the sale price at that point in time. Maybe he'll pay $1.6 and would have paid $3 million. Maybe someone else would have paid even more but didn't have the opportunity. And certainly other people will think it's worth a lot less. In fact, all "values" are opinions, and the most meaningful ones are rarely revealed to anyone else. In other words, you will never know for sure what anything is worth to anyone but yourself, at least not precisely. Not a coin, not a house, not even a share of stock.
Andy Lustig
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
@Broadstruck said: @keets I have had no issue with you until just now when you decided to mount a very high horse with an extremely tall ladder. The member you are pigeonholing could write a new reference guide on early commemorative coins faster than you my friend can tie your shoes.
He has never bought, sold, or collected any meaningful coins that I can remember.
Research is one thing. Opinions on the market or coin values another.
Maybe you missed his pattern WWII glass cent that was resold by Heritage or Stacks (I can't remember which) for mega bucks.
@Broadstruck said: @keets I have had no issue with you until just now when you decided to mount a very high horse with an extremely tall ladder. The member you are pigeonholing could write a new reference guide on early commemorative coins faster than you my friend can tie your shoes.
So what? Keets was right to call him out - his attitude generally sucks around here
Roger may be super critical of coins, but I don't usually see him attack other members like your business partner. By your logic, people would be correct to call her out too but when that happens you always come running to her aid.
There seems to be a lot of misconception about the value of complete coin sets; I was the seller of a #1 registry set of 144 undipped toned commems a few years ago.
Based on my interactions with several big dealers, the set was valued as follows :
The 94 nicely toned, original coins were were worth the same as it would cost to replace them from ebay or a retail sales list.
The 50 beautifully toned coins was each worth whatever a color coin of that caliber was fetching in Heritage auction.
There was 0 premium for the complete set; in fact, none of the dealers wanted the entire set because there was too much work involved in dispersing 144 coins when the fast money was going to be made in only 50 coins , and no one knew of a ready customer who wanted to purchase a complete set .
I suspect that this applies to any set of coins that can be assembled over time, although a set with several unique pieces might induce a buyer to pay for coins he doesn't want to get the ultra rarities.
And the value of a house, stock or coin is what a willing buyer will pay you for it, as was and always will be the case.
I sold my set of Peace dollars intact. In retrospect, I think the buyer did it to get five or six of the nicer coins. Many of the filler-dates have ended up back on the market. The value of the set was the additive value of each coin. Even with a #1 set I don’t think it will matter much. The fun for most folks is building a set more than owning a set.
@tradedollarnut said:
Very few sets bring a premium. My seated dollar set did the first time that I sold it.
I would guess that most of the sets purchased by DLH were purchased at a premium. I would also guess that Simpson's big pattern deal was priced at a premium. And I think that paying the premiums was probably seen as the cheapest way to acquire the coins, because building the sets one coin at a time could easily drive the market higher in the process.
Andy Lustig
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Last few comments touched on a question I had: Is selling this as a set REALLY the best way to maximize return?
Probably a tough call. You lose a lot of interested parties, (few have 1.6mil to throw around), but the chance to get 3 or 10 or 50 desirable, absolutely top end coins, might make 2 or 3 buyers pay up for the opportunity....
@CommemDude said:
There seems to be a lot of misconception about the value of complete coin sets; I was the seller of a #1 registry set of 144 undipped toned commems a few years ago.
Based on my interactions with several big dealers, the set was valued as follows :
The 94 nicely toned, original coins were were worth the same as it would cost to replace them from ebay or a retail sales list.
The 50 beautifully toned coins was each worth whatever a color coin of that caliber was fetching in Heritage auction.
There was 0 premium for the complete set; in fact, none of the dealers wanted the entire set because there was too much work involved in dispersing 144 coins when the fast money was going to be made in only 50 coins , and no one knew of a ready customer who wanted to purchase a complete set .
I suspect that this applies to any set of coins that can be assembled over time, although a set with several unique pieces might induce a buyer to pay for coins he doesn't want to get the ultra rarities.
And the value of a house, stock or coin is what a willing buyer will pay you for it, as was and always will be the case.
Pre Hansen aka PH thought process.
I wonder if others will follow this line of collecting.
@CommemDude said:
There seems to be a lot of misconception about the value of complete coin sets; I was the seller of a #1 registry set of 144 undipped toned commems a few years ago.
Based on my interactions with several big dealers, the set was valued as follows :
The 94 nicely toned, original coins were were worth the same as it would cost to replace them from ebay or a retail sales list.
The 50 beautifully toned coins was each worth whatever a color coin of that caliber was fetching in Heritage auction.
There was 0 premium for the complete set; in fact, none of the dealers wanted the entire set because there was too much work involved in dispersing 144 coins when the fast money was going to be made in only 50 coins , and no one knew of a ready customer who wanted to purchase a complete set .
I suspect that this applies to any set of coins that can be assembled over time, although a set with several unique pieces might induce a buyer to pay for coins he doesn't want to get the ultra rarities.
And the value of a house, stock or coin is what a willing buyer will pay you for it, as was and always will be the case.
I was admiring some more of these coins and looked up these two as the next ones of interest. Interestingly enough, these are both from Bruce Scher. Bruce's set is ranked #2 in the 144 piece All Time finest list and his "+era" set is ranked 5 in the 50 set All Time finest list.
1926 Sesquicentennial Commemorative Half Dollar PCGS MS66 pop 13/0 Ex-Bruce Scher
This was sold by Heritage at FUN in 2013. Back then the pop for MS66 was just 8/0.
1926 50C Sesquicentennial MS66 PCGS Secure. Ex: Bruce Scher. In an era where a number of commemorative half dollars were issued to mark seemingly minor historical events, the 1926 Sesquicentennial half dollar recalled a truly national event, the July 4, 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence. This premium Gem is an impressive piece that is tied for the finest certified at PCGS or NGC. Both sides have a base of delicate champagne toning that hosts remarkable variegated iridescence, exhibiting green, pink, and violet. Population: 8 in 66, 0 finer (11/12).
“Is selling this as a set REALLY the best way to maximize return?”
It is the perfect way to market a set when the owner: (1) has absolutely no interest in selling some of the greatest coins in the set by breaking up the set, even at a great profit and (2) really doesn’t care all that much if the set sells or doesn’t sell (today) because he is having so much fun upgrading the set in the meantime.
But, the question was “maximize return”. A different question than what I just addressed. Here, I think there is a good chance to best maximize return by selling off the “pop 1” or monster toned coins for a crazy amount of money if offered to the owner.
My son Justin, when he was 17 years old won the “Young Numismatic of the Year” award at PCGS for his #1 Mint State Presidential Dollar set. This was a set that Justin added coins to by personally screening tens upon tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of fresh dollar coins. Better known as a modern “homemade” registry set. Four years into the collection, Justin had a perfect set of finest known specimens - every coin in the set was top pop including -7- pop 1 coins. The #2 set collector made Justin a super, super strong offer for the -7- pop 1 coins (through me actually as Justin was still a minor). Justin immediately dismissed the offer outright stating that he refused to break up the set that he had built and that the coins were not for sale at any price. I pleaded with him to please not make the same mistake his father made many times and pass on selling coins for tremendous offers due to some “collecting disease”. He listened to me, broke up the set and sold #2 collector his 7 special pop 1/0 coins. No question he greatly maximized return on the set by simply selling those 7 coins!
Wondercoin
Please visit my website at www.wondercoins.com and my ebay auctions under my user name www.wondercoin.com.
Offered here is the world-class “Subway Tokens” Collection of Silver Commemoratives (1892-1954). This 144-piece set is currently ranked as the #2 set in the PCGS Set Registry for this series and also holds the title of #2 for the all-time finest set in this series across all eras! This particular challenge of assembling these 144 pieces in top grade has been done by only several silver commemorative enthusiasts, two which made Hall of Fame status for the sets they built. “The Heller Collection” was the first to put together a monumental collection of 144-piece commemoratives and was awarded the Hall of Fame award in 2002. At the time Mr. Heller retired his collection, the set had a 66.84 rating. Then, in 2011, Bruce Scher also received the Hall of Fame award for his 144-piece set, with a rating of 67.42. The “Subway Tokens” collection eclipses both of these outstanding collections with a whopping 67.80 rating – truly one of the greatest showings of this series of all time!
This collection showcases some of the highest graded examples of these coins ever seen, boasting an extremely impressive five Pop 1/0 coins (you can see these coins marked below), eight Pop 2/0 coins (you can also see these coins marked below), and fifteen Pop 3/0 coins! In total, this 144-coin collection has 66 coins in top grade, with no examples graded higher! In addition, there are currently 59 coins with CAC stickers in this collection. Needless to say, it was no easy task for the owner of this set to assemble such an impressive group of coins!
A collection such as this does not come around every day. It is our honor and privilege to showcase such a special set of coins on MonsterCoinMart. If you would like to purchase or inquire about this collection, please do not hesitate to Contact Us!
You can see all of the coins listed in the PCGS Registry Set (with photos of each coin) here:
Some great new upgrades over the past year with a strong emphasis on beautiful color. As well as a few great lateral improvements as well. I love what I am seeing with the direction of this collection!
Wondercoin
Please visit my website at www.wondercoins.com and my ebay auctions under my user name www.wondercoin.com.
@Broadstruck said:
I hope they downgrade the Vancouver as there's far more attractive examples in non + 67 holders.
If the others are in older holders from before the plus, it may be that those should be upgraded?
Not everyone wants to loose a older holder for just a plus.
This set is just one of the top technical graded sets as beyond the grade although many are beautiful there's also a good mix of coins that are just meh in the term of toning or eye appeal.
Tough series right now as although the prices are down the right coins just aren't out there. As I haven't been able to add a single coin to my set since December 2018 and I look daily.
To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
@Broadstruck said:
I hope they downgrade the Vancouver as there's far more attractive examples in non + 67 holders.
If the others are in older holders from before the plus, it may be that those should be upgraded?
Not everyone wants to loose a older holder for just a plus.
This set is just one of the top technical graded sets as beyond the grade although many are beautiful there's also a good mix of coins that are just meh in the term of toning or eye appeal.
Tough series right now as although the prices are down the right coins just aren't out there. As I haven't been able to add a single coin to my set since December 2018 and I look daily.
I can't say I blame the holders of eye appealing PQ commemoratives. These were on life support before the market began to crash a few years ago.
@Broadstruck said:
I hope they downgrade the Vancouver as there's far more attractive examples in non + 67 holders.
If the others are in older holders from before the plus, it may be that those should be upgraded?
Not everyone wants to loose a older holder for just a plus.
This set is just one of the top technical graded sets as beyond the grade although many are beautiful there's also a good mix of coins that are just meh in the term of toning or eye appeal.
Tough series right now as although the prices are down the right coins just aren't out there. As I haven't been able to add a single coin to my set since December 2018 and I look daily.
I can't say I blame the holders of eye appealing PQ commemoratives. These were on life support before the market began to crash a few years ago.
Yeah I feel right now just to do a matched nicely toned 50 piece set like seen in the 1980's or 90's could take 20+ years.
A fully toned 144 piece set might not be recommended unless you know the secrets to long life as Eric Newman did.
To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
@Broadstruck said:
I hope they downgrade the Vancouver as there's far more attractive examples in non + 67 holders.
If the others are in older holders from before the plus, it may be that those should be upgraded?
Not everyone wants to loose a older holder for just a plus.
This set is just one of the top technical graded sets as beyond the grade although many are beautiful there's also a good mix of coins that are just meh in the term of toning or eye appeal.
Tough series right now as although the prices are down the right coins just aren't out there. As I haven't been able to add a single coin to my set since December 2018 and I look daily.
That might be, but there should be no reason to lower a plus grade because others don’t want to get old non-plus grades regraded. If the plus was removed for this reason, anyone that didn’t want to regrade could prevent plus grades and PCGS might as well end the plus grades.
Comments
Roger has posted many times that he used to collect coins but stopped many years ago because the coins he's interested in are out of his budget. Now, he only buys coins for short term research purposes, which he sells when the research is done. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with his posts on coin value and suggesting collectors need to perform research to be worthwhile, but they seem somewhat related.
He also has strong opinions on TPGs and the ANA. He even initiated formal proceedings to get another forum member kicked out of the ANA, unsuccessfully.
Given that many of us have spent years here, over time, you learn to live with people's interests and pet peeves. He contributes a lot of knowledge, but he does have strong opinions that are expressed from time to time.
He has never bought, sold, or collected any meaningful coins that I can remember.
Research is one thing. Opinions on the market or coin values another.
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
I was admiring two of the coins and noticed that they are both pedigreed to the "San Diego Collection". This collection isn't currently in the All-Time or Current Finest list for the 144 coin set. Does anyone have any information on this collection / pedigree?
1938-D Oregon Commemorative Half Dollar MS69 pop 3/0
This is currently the sole MS69 in the set though there are a number of MS68+ coins.
1918 Lincoln Commemorative Half Dollar MS68+ pop 2/0
Zoins... that amazing Lincoln is an MS68+, not an MS69+.
Wondercoin
I fixed it but not fast enough for you to see it. Good catch.
And yet he couldn't be a coin dealer for 5 minutes because he doesn't understand market value
@wondercoin
I just revisited the 2 coins I highlighted in the OP and noticed that all 4 of the coins that I chose to highlight are from the San Diego Collection. Do you know if all the San Diego Collection coins were acquired at once and were you involved in the transaction?
I also noticed that some of the coins mention CAC in the registry notes but also many coins are not beaned. Is there an effort to CAC this set?
Those were part of Howard’s set. His 50 piece set was #1 for awhile. I think Mark Feld help put a lot of coins into the San Diego set if memory serves me correctly
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Zoins. They were acquired at different times. I consulted with the buyer on a number of them. I agree that Mark Feld may have had a strong role in building that World Class set.
Wondercoin
Edited to add... coins obviously lose their CAC stickers when they upgrade. And sometimes even possibly without upgrading depending upon the submission strategy.
I have had the privilege to work with the owner of the “San Diego” collection for many years. His focus was on the 50 piece, rather than 144 piece set. In addition to superb quality, great emphasis was placed on gorgeous color - a number of his coins were the most beautiful examples I had seen. And those are words I rarely use.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Good to know. These are certainly beautiful coins.
This may also solve the riddle of why Justin says this is the #2 ranked set. For the 50 piece set, "The San Diego Collection II" is the #1 ranked All-Time and Current set with the "Subway Tokens" set at #2 for both. The "Subway Tokens" set is #1 for both for the 144 piece.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/commemoratives/commemoratives-major-sets/silver-commemoratives-50-piece-type-set-circulation-strikes-1892-1954/103
@jmlanzaf You say "And yet he couldn't be a coin dealer for 5 minutes ..." as if being a coin dealer was a good thing.
Just kidding, just kidding!!!!!
That said, I think different people have different goals and clearly among Roger's goals is to be a world-class numismatic researcher. As someone who avidly reads his books, I'm very glad for this goal. Other people have the goal of being a world-class dealer. As someone who eagerly buys coins, I'm also very glad for people with this goal.
Lol.
I could have gone with collector.
Note his recent statement that people should not be buying pretty baubles but should instead be researching history.
I tried that with the living room decor, but my doctoral thesis looked silly hanging there so velvet Elvis went back up
All we'll know is that the buyer valued it at a minimum of the sale price at that point in time. Maybe he'll pay $1.6 and would have paid $3 million. Maybe someone else would have paid even more but didn't have the opportunity. And certainly other people will think it's worth a lot less. In fact, all "values" are opinions, and the most meaningful ones are rarely revealed to anyone else. In other words, you will never know for sure what anything is worth to anyone but yourself, at least not precisely. Not a coin, not a house, not even a share of stock.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Maybe you missed his pattern WWII glass cent that was resold by Heritage or Stacks (I can't remember which) for mega bucks.
Roger may be super critical of coins, but I don't usually see him attack other members like your business partner. By your logic, people would be correct to call her out too but when that happens you always come running to her aid.
Eh. She’s a jerk sometimes. Call her out for being one all you want.
Wow! Quite the collection there.
On this forum, you have to be careful even saying, "Noice."
There seems to be a lot of misconception about the value of complete coin sets; I was the seller of a #1 registry set of 144 undipped toned commems a few years ago.
Based on my interactions with several big dealers, the set was valued as follows :
The 94 nicely toned, original coins were were worth the same as it would cost to replace them from ebay or a retail sales list.
The 50 beautifully toned coins was each worth whatever a color coin of that caliber was fetching in Heritage auction.
There was 0 premium for the complete set; in fact, none of the dealers wanted the entire set because there was too much work involved in dispersing 144 coins when the fast money was going to be made in only 50 coins , and no one knew of a ready customer who wanted to purchase a complete set .
I suspect that this applies to any set of coins that can be assembled over time, although a set with several unique pieces might induce a buyer to pay for coins he doesn't want to get the ultra rarities.
And the value of a house, stock or coin is what a willing buyer will pay you for it, as was and always will be the case.
Commems and Early Type
I sold my set of Peace dollars intact. In retrospect, I think the buyer did it to get five or six of the nicer coins. Many of the filler-dates have ended up back on the market. The value of the set was the additive value of each coin. Even with a #1 set I don’t think it will matter much. The fun for most folks is building a set more than owning a set.
Very few sets bring a premium. My seated dollar set did the first time that I sold it.
I would guess that most of the sets purchased by DLH were purchased at a premium. I would also guess that Simpson's big pattern deal was priced at a premium. And I think that paying the premiums was probably seen as the cheapest way to acquire the coins, because building the sets one coin at a time could easily drive the market higher in the process.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Last few comments touched on a question I had: Is selling this as a set REALLY the best way to maximize return?
Probably a tough call. You lose a lot of interested parties, (few have 1.6mil to throw around), but the chance to get 3 or 10 or 50 desirable, absolutely top end coins, might make 2 or 3 buyers pay up for the opportunity....
I wonder if others will follow this line of collecting.
Ego has its price.
I was admiring some more of these coins and looked up these two as the next ones of interest. Interestingly enough, these are both from Bruce Scher. Bruce's set is ranked #2 in the 144 piece All Time finest list and his "+era" set is ranked 5 in the 50 set All Time finest list.
Here is his remembrance thread:
1926 Sesquicentennial Commemorative Half Dollar PCGS MS66 pop 13/0 Ex-Bruce Scher
This was sold by Heritage at FUN in 2013. Back then the pop for MS66 was just 8/0.
1935-S Arkansas Commemorative Half Dollar PCGS MS67+ pop 7/0 Ex-Bruce Scher
“Is selling this as a set REALLY the best way to maximize return?”
It is the perfect way to market a set when the owner: (1) has absolutely no interest in selling some of the greatest coins in the set by breaking up the set, even at a great profit and (2) really doesn’t care all that much if the set sells or doesn’t sell (today) because he is having so much fun upgrading the set in the meantime.
But, the question was “maximize return”. A different question than what I just addressed. Here, I think there is a good chance to best maximize return by selling off the “pop 1” or monster toned coins for a crazy amount of money if offered to the owner.
My son Justin, when he was 17 years old won the “Young Numismatic of the Year” award at PCGS for his #1 Mint State Presidential Dollar set. This was a set that Justin added coins to by personally screening tens upon tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of fresh dollar coins. Better known as a modern “homemade” registry set. Four years into the collection, Justin had a perfect set of finest known specimens - every coin in the set was top pop including -7- pop 1 coins. The #2 set collector made Justin a super, super strong offer for the -7- pop 1 coins (through me actually as Justin was still a minor). Justin immediately dismissed the offer outright stating that he refused to break up the set that he had built and that the coins were not for sale at any price. I pleaded with him to please not make the same mistake his father made many times and pass on selling coins for tremendous offers due to some “collecting disease”. He listened to me, broke up the set and sold #2 collector his 7 special pop 1/0 coins. No question he greatly maximized return on the set by simply selling those 7 coins!
Wondercoin
Sets that bring a premium are "turn-key" assembled as a painstaking labor of love with minimal upgrade possibilities.
Patiently executed from the beginning assuring each example is as fully matched as the next.
When you encounter such a set in which every single coin as you glance is mind blowing it's not a technically graded top pop set.
The collector who built it knew to back down on the TPG label grade to find overall coins that just fit better.
As an example just think about the Barber Quarter or Morgan set by collector Sunnywood.
This set is now available on eBay for $1.75M with the following great pic:
Some great new upgrades over the past year with a strong emphasis on beautiful color. As well as a few great lateral improvements as well. I love what I am seeing with the direction of this collection!
Wondercoin
I hope they downgrade the Vancouver as there's far more attractive examples in non + 67 holders.
If the others are in older holders from before the plus, it may be that those should be upgraded?
I’d love to see this collector’s collection of subway tokens. I bet it would be a treat!
Ten - twenty years ago you could have probably added a zero to the sales price.
Those are awesome! Just eye candy here. Lol
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Not everyone wants to loose a older holder for just a plus.
This set is just one of the top technical graded sets as beyond the grade although many are beautiful there's also a good mix of coins that are just meh in the term of toning or eye appeal.
Tough series right now as although the prices are down the right coins just aren't out there. As I haven't been able to add a single coin to my set since December 2018 and I look daily.
I can't say I blame the holders of eye appealing PQ commemoratives. These were on life support before the market began to crash a few years ago.
Yeah I feel right now just to do a matched nicely toned 50 piece set like seen in the 1980's or 90's could take 20+ years.
A fully toned 144 piece set might not be recommended unless you know the secrets to long life as Eric Newman did.
That might be, but there should be no reason to lower a plus grade because others don’t want to get old non-plus grades regraded. If the plus was removed for this reason, anyone that didn’t want to regrade could prevent plus grades and PCGS might as well end the plus grades.
My favorite has to still be the Lincoln in 68+. I love the coin to begin with and the grade is simply amazing!
Wondercoin
That one stands out for me as well. Love the look and color!