What's the most difficult series/set to complete a full set due to rarity and availability?
Inspired70
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I am going to postulate that early(pre-1833) is the most rare and difficult. You can pick your denomination, but I will start with half eagles and am assuming I will get some push back on this point.
Curious others thoughts on which series/set you think is most difficult to complete a full set?
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CBH….there are some varieties where only 2 or 3 coins were ever made….
With CAC approval…. I’m going with Liberty Seated Dollars!
Proof Gold date set. Any date from 1858 to 1880.
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Since there is only one 1822 half eagle in private hands (the other two are at the Smithsonian), I think that would qualify for most difficult series to complete.
My pick as well.....$10 Gold
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
Rarity and availability are pretty much the same thing.
[Edit to add: In the long run, maybe pretty long!]
And there are a few sets with unique keys.
People don't usually attempt these.
Another dimension to a difficult set is the number of coins in the set.
Capped Bust Halves by die variety are one example.
Any Seated denomination by die variety also has a large number of coins.
Saints?
That was my first thought since there is only one 1933 Saint in private hands. There are three other series that have a single unique coin. Can you guys guess which ones?
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Can you guys guess which ones?
Two of them are Liberty Seated Half Dimes and Three Dollar Gold. I wouldn't count Liberty Double Eagles because the unique 1849 is not in private hands. You could say early $5 Gold because the 1822 is unique in private hands.
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Forgot to add - the other would be Liberty Seated Dimes.
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The most difficult set to build would be a set of the rarities named above. Imagine that, a set that had all the 'one of a kind' coins... or maybe only two or three.... What an amazing set that would be. Cheers, RickO
The early $5 gold pieces, hands down. If you want to get more specific, the run from 1813 to 1929 followed by the shorter run from 1829 to August 1834 are only for those with “a Harry Bass budget.” Many collectors and The Red Book lump the two together.
The 1822 half eagle gets all the press, but there are other dates and major varieties that are almost as rare.
I doubt if anyone will ever have a complete set of US coins. Eliasberg came close but he lacked the 1870-S half dime which wasn't discovered until after his death. I understand that one of his 3 cent coins turned out to be a pattern and not a regular issue coin. Does anyone here know the story about this coin?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I agree with the Capped Bust $5 (1807-1834). Quite a number of examples where fewer than 50 are known to exist... and of course the 1822...
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Well, a CAM 1936-1942 would be quite the challenge, and I believe impossible. I would bet that early proof strikes are extremely difficult to complete denomination sets (excluding those where none were struck) as well.
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The 1873-S Liberty Seated Dollar is rather difficult to acquire.
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MS65 full horn Buffalo five cent pieces.
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Early $5’s for sure- I totally agree!
But I love proof Morgans. How about an entire run of proof Morgan Dollars including all known branch mint proofs, Chapman and Zerbe 1921’s, and the ‘78 Reverse of ‘79. Not impossible but improbable. Not so much about the money as it is about finding the rare ones. If they could all be found it would likely cost you less than the 1822 $5.
Liberty Seated Half Dimes due to the 1870-S, which is a unique coin.
@Floridafacelifter I believe Wayne Miller got very close on Morgan's. Complete Unc. set.
Complete proof set including "78 Reverse of "79. Not sure about the Branch Mint Proofs.
He had a few patterns that included the design. There is Jack Lee 1+2, and the Coronete
collections. Not sure about Proofs or Branch Mint Proofs with these two collectors. I know
I'm missing several other superb collections.
$3 comes to mind.
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I’d love a set of gold dollars, not impossible, but a few a really tough for my limited means.
That’s why type collecting is so appealing to me. Although I am doing the type set, certain coins like Indian Head Cents and Gold Dollars I have multiples of because I like the series so much.
I guess if finances improve and rarities become available, IHC and Gold Dollars are two sets I would attempt.
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You could say the same thing about the 1964 Peace.
The 1870-S $3 gold is also a unique coin.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
The "uniques" depend somewhat on set definition.
These 9 are mentioned the 1996 Red Book:
Some of these could be called patterns or prototypes.
I'm just going by the 1996 Red Book listing here.
Liberty half and quarter Eagles. Long running series and lots of scarce and rare dates.
Putting a Large Cent collection together with every Sheldon variety will drive a man to drinking!
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
If I can put together a set of IHC I'm sure you can
Just have fun doing it
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
If money was no object, the toughest obstacle is time. Would the all biggest rarities in private hands come to sale in a collector's lifetime? And what if something new and previously unknown comes to light, like the mythical 1870-S quarter or the missing 1873-S seated liberty dollars?
And maybe the most challenging collection to complete doesn't require an infinite budget to assemble but only because the series is so overlooked and displaced that locating an example of every specimen just becomes damn near impossible.
That being said, I think that one of the most challenging sets that can be completed by most any collector with a reasonable amount of patience and access to shows is the Indian Head Quarter Eagles by date and mintmark.
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It’s definitely easier than the gold dollars set. Did you complete the set?
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It depends upon someone's definition of a "complete" set. For date/MM circulation strikes it has to be Capped Head half eagles (1813-1834). If it includes proofs, any of the liberty head half eagles are close, especially since the date run is so long and so many earlier mintages are very low. I don't recall the exact number of survivors by date.
Several posts here are using more narrow criteria, like die varieties. There is nothing unusual in the difficulty of completing this type of set.
Another post mentioned that rarity and availability are (Mostly interchangeable). Not so with very rare and sometimes even scarce coins. Some coins even if cheaper have a noticeably higher preference by those who buy it using the holding period. 1804 dollar and 1913 LHN isn't that hard to compete for if you have the money, as it comes up for sale every few years on average.
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Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
Good luck with that.
Pete
The 70-S dollar is quite difficult as well! 12 known.
All great posts here. The diversity of opinion and wide array of choice between sets with rare examples is why this hobby is both so enjoyable and challenging at the same time! Cheers.
How about a complete set/series where all the coins are proof-like? I've never heard of anyone assembling a complete set, say.....a set of proof-like Jefferson nickels.
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
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My PCGS Registry Set of Liberty Nickel patterns is impossible to complete. Cant get any harder than impossible.
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Many of the coins mentioned here can only be collected by multimillionaires (if not billionaires). Makes me wonder which would be the most difficult for a simple millionaire with a maximum budget of $250,000 (or better yet, $100,000).
My favorite would have to be Liberty half eagles 1839 - 1908. 70 years, all seven "classic" mints and with the exception of the 1854-S and possibly the 1875 could probably be completed with enough money and time.
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Draped Bust Dimes?
🌺 I am learning some insight of this hobby just reading this thread. Thank you!
Anything to complete is difficult IMHO; I am not knowledgeable to point which's the most difficult.
There are so many beautiful rarities and very elusive ones even for the strongest hand.
Wow! Nice set! That's part of my problem is I want nothing lower than 63BN...
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They might not be the most difficult, but I don't ever see completing these registry sets I have going:
Capped Bust halves, Major varieties (79 coin set) - 1817/4 and 1839 small letters aren't happening.
Seated Liberty halves, Basic set (113 coin set) - 1878-S will be a no go.
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Variety is the spice of life, try a Everyman Mint State Complete U S Type Set. Now you can enjoy all the different coins that were made. It's a fun and changeling set and you decide how high you want to go, MS64 is the top grade you can insert.
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
Thank you
I would tell you that an MS65RB would be a nice goal for this set, CAC would really be an effort.
Have fun
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
In this day and age I am priced out of doing any classic set anymore, even most twentieth century sets in high grade.
I have done some of these in the past ,but have moved on too boxes of 20 collecting. Filling those up with misc. Coins , medals , tokens. Stuff I really like an has eye appeal, story behind it or historical. U.S. and world coins.
Enjoy the research, or just looking at them. Avoiding the competition of registry collecting and the increasingly higher costs of that chase
been there done that with numerous (9) PCGS number one award placks. Also numerous number one NGC certificates. Some well know industry old timers have shown me their circulated raw collections pretty cool.
No slabs " old school collecting" I have done this too and just as much fun but alot cheaper and you can actually handle your coins and use all kinds of albums to keep them as you like for display rather then in a slab box.
Just my evolution as a collector.
My first thought was how nice do you want them.
Many coins are rare but available if you have enough cash.
Good question. I'd have to think more.
Hardest set to complete is the Peace Dollars, especially getting the 1964 Peace Dollar.
My current registry sets:
20th Century Type Set
Virtual DANSCO 7070
Slabbed IHC set - Missing the Anacs Slabbed coins
It's also fun to say Patterns, but there are so many ways you can draw the boundaries. . .