Completed a set of three cent nickels!
Gonfunko
Posts: 1,480 ✭✭✭
We've all heard "buy the coin, not the holder", but this might be the first time I've bought the coins...because of the holder.
Years ago my dad WaterSport picked up this empty Capital Plastics holder on eBay. I noticed about a year ago that I had a few three cent nickels, looked into it a bit and decided it was a shame for such a cool custom holder to be empty. Clearly somebody must have really loved this series years ago to presumably have had it made - I don't think this was a regular issue board. Since the board omitted the proof-only 1877, 1878 and 1886, the proof vs business strike decision was made for me; were it not for that I would have given serious thought to completing it in proof. It would have been more expensive than the circulated set I assembled, but the PCGS price guide puts a complete set in MS-63 at $28,400, vs the complete set in PR-65 at $25,500! I've also considered trying to find circulated examples of the proof-only dates to match the rest of the set and really complete it, or just picking up a nice certified proof example since I don't have any 19th century proofs and have always been interested in them, but we'll see!
Assembling this set was a lot of fun! I had the 1865-1867, 1870 and 1881 when I began, and decided to go for a circulated set to keep it relatively affordable. I picked up a few more dates at the end of July last year, and the search was on, ultimately taking just a bit shy of a year to complete.
Other than the 1883-1887 issues, these are all sub-$300 coins, and through the 1870s they're more like $20-$50. I picked up the 1884 from David Lawrence for $1,900 as a PCGS EF-40, which was the most expensive coin in the set. The other key date, the 1885, was purchased raw on eBay for about $1600 from a seller who listed it with a BIN of ~2K Canadian. Based on the Allan Gifford reference (thankfully available on the Newman Numismatic Portal), I identified it as the P03/B05 die marriage; Gifford claims this die pairing was used to strike both proofs and business strikes, and offers as the only distinguishing feature the reverse die being rotated by 2 vs 6 degrees. If I had several examples side by side it might be possible to distinguish that, but even determining exactly what is straight up on the obverse to use as a point of reference is hard enough. If it's a circulated proof, I overpaid; OTOH if it's a business strike I got a great deal. Either way, it's a coin from an original mintage of 1000 business strikes or 3790 proofs, and that's pretty cool. Were this a series anybody at all cared about would easily be a 5 or 6 figure coin!
The 1887 was my final purchase, an ex NGC EF-45. The 1883 was cracked out of an ICG VF-30 holder, and all the rest were acquired raw. Grading on these seems more than a touch inconsistent, likely in part due to the wide variety in strike quality; ultimately I didn't worry about it that much and just went with what seemed to be like a nice VF-EFish set, trying to maintain the overall look of the coins. I may look into upgrading the 1868, which I had before starting and has an old cleaning, and the 1875, which has a bit more of a dig on the profile than I'd like that wasn't visible in the photos, but on the whole I'm really happy with how this set turned out.
Comments
Let me be the first to say I really like it! 👍🏻
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Wow cool set and unique holder!
Truly an awesome set! This is what collecting is all about!
Awesome holster and some nice original coins, congrats!
Super cool holder, and nicely matched coins. Well done!
Dave
Anyone who collects with consistency has my attention! Congratulations!
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
That’s awesome!
Mr_Spud
Nice set. You did a nice job. I also like your photo page with the flipping reverses.
Good looking set...any varieties?
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore...
What a cool set and a terrific write-up!
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Nicely done! Congrats! The 1885 rotated 2 degrees for the proof or business strike?
Not sure if my eyes would be able to distinguish a 2 degree rotation but I'm seeing rotation so maybe it's 6 degrees.
USAF (Ret.) 1985 - 2005. E-4B Aircraft Maintenance Crew Chief and Contracting Officer.
My current Registry sets:
✓ Everyman Mint State Carson City Morgan Dollars (1878 – 1893)
✓ Everyman Mint State Lincoln Cents (1909 – 1958)
✓ Morgan Dollar GSA Hoard (1878 – 1891)
Beautiful set! 2% is circ and 6% is proof?? How do you do that with pictures?
Nice well-presented set!
That's just damn cool.
Nicely done completing dads set.
Very nice set and display holder... Thanks for the history along with it. Cheers, RickO
Awesome holder and awesome story! Congrats on completing the set.
Custom album maker and numismatic photographer, see my portfolio here: (http://www.donahuenumismatics.com/).
Great looking set, contrats!
That's my son!
WS
Unique and very well executed!
Very cool holder and story!
A very slick way to display your set ... congrats
Thanks for the kind words! Regarding the 1885 proof/business strike distinction, Gifford says the business strike reverses are rotated 2º clockwise, and the proofs 6º. The images I posted are aligned straight up, so it's not possible to tell from that; the coin has to be in-hand and rotated about its axis. I could try to put together a video showing that, or if anybody knows of other diagnostics I'd certainly be interested!
As far as varieties, the 1875 does appear to be FS-301, with the serif of the 1 protruding from the neck. I haven't noticed anything else too dramatic; there's lots of clashes and Longacre doubling throughout the series though.
Great looking set to go along with a great looking holder.
Nice job on completing the set.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
way cool, i like it
Very cool! Congratulations.
I gave up on this series several years ago because of the difficulty.
Very impressive set if all the coins turn out to be BS.
I would also like to say that you have no coin that looks out of place in your set.
I love your set and its display! Those rare 1883-1885 dates are so cool! I've considered acquiring one of them. You have all 3, great!
Very cool set, with such a unique display.
Nice, some of those dates I've never seen while I was putting (trying to) a set together.
Nicely done.