A 43-year experiment ends

Whit

The quick backstory; back in the early 1980’s, I was a young math professor whose salary could not easily support a wife, a house, and a taste for classic commems. I kept the wife and the house, and thus struggled to pick up even 2 or 3 commems per year. Then fate intervened. One day at the Connecticut Manchester show, I spotted a brilliant uncirculated 1938 cent in a dealer’s case. It had screaming luster, no spotting, satiny fields, virtually no marks, and even a shoulder on Mr. Lincoln that was pristine. It also had a thin crescent rainbow on the reverse. Two dollars. I was hooked. Ever since then, up to this year, my visits to regional shows would be devoted in large part to searching 3-ring binders for gems in the Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln series, pre-1965. If I found one, I would buy it without any regard as to whether I already had a specimen. In fact, I soon lost track of what I owned and what I did not own, since all of these inexpensive coins were in the bank at my wife's insistence. A couple of weeks ago, I took inventory for the first time to determine if I had completed a pre-1965 set in any of those series. Nope. Here is a list of the coins that I never found to the standard I was wanting (by my eye, MS66-67, full or slightly mellowed red in the cents and blast white in the dimes. Light lavender ok on the nickels):

Lincolns: 36d, 36s, 41d, 43, 46, 46d, 47, 47s, 48, 48d, 49, 51, 52, 52s, 55, 56, 57, 58
Jeffersons: 44, 44s, 47, 47s, 48, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61d, 62d, 63d, 64
Roosevelts: 47d, 52d, 54d, 55d, 60d

It’s true that I go to only about 6 – 8 small-to-mid-sized shows a year. And it's also true that I would not buy a coin with even a single spot, discoloration, or eye-catching mark. Many coins were close, but I’m patient. So I guess the long lists are not too surprising. But still … not even one 1958 cent?

I’m beginning to think I may have to start looking at slabs, which themselves frequently contain coins I would not buy from a binder. Oh well, the hunt is the fun.

Cheers.

Whit

TomB

Great post and I imagine your collection is absolutely awesome!

Sanddollar

Why is the hunt/experiment ending?

EastonCollection

thats exactly how I started collecting coins a bunch of years ago. The only difference is I bought and sold some coins for profits that allowed me to get those that I wasn't able to afford or find.

MrEureka

If you had paid more attention to what you had and didn’t have, do you think you would have completed the sets? Would you have had more fun?

AngryTurtle

On the other end of the spectrum, what are the top dates per series where you have the most?

jmski52

This is what collecting is all about!

oldabeintx

Not sure I get the title. Sounds like the hunt goes on. Me at it for 70 years and will never be completed.

Whit

Thank you TomB et al all for your replies.

To Sanddollar: The hunt continues!! The experiment was to see if I would complete any set by happy accident. Of course, I didn't purposely set the clock at 43 years. But I'm entering retirement, and am expecting to focus more on coins and woodworking. So I simply decided it was time to take stock. Plus curiosity has been eating at me for years.

To MrEureka; no, I don't think I would have completed any sets or had more fun. Whether I passed over coins I already had or not, I still wouldn't have found the quality I was looking for, all other things equal. And the fun was in finding that elusive overlooked gem, whether I had the coin already or not. (And at typical 3-ring binder prices, I could never not buy.)

To AngryTurtle's question: I have 10 1938 cents and 14 45s cents. I have 7 38s nickels and 4 48s nickels. In dimes, I have 5 of each of 46s, 51, 55s, 57, and 59.

To EastonCollection: every blue moon or so, I'd buy a 3-figure item that I'd be happy to own long-term, but would flip at the right price. One of my earliest was a pine tree shilling with an anacs photo certificate that cost me 325. at auction. (This was about 1985.) It was a bit bent (to ward of witches, I've read) but I did sell that for a price that bought me a LOT of 3 dollar to 10 dollar coins.

Off to gas up the snowblower. Happy hunting.

Ebeneezer

I applaud your strict critera and what it takes to acheive the goal. Many of the listed dates are going to tough in 66 plus outside of an encapsulation but they are out there. Price is a whole other issue when they appear. Best of luck.

oih82w8

Some images would be nice to see in comparison to your descriptions.

rmpsrpms

I had a similar experience about 35 years ago. Local coin shop had a bunch of Cents, but one stood out for me. It was a 1950 marked as "MS65", which meant a lot back then. It looked perfect, with a satiny finish and beautiful light toning. That coin got me interested in searching for gems, and I was hooked. But I chose a different method, and searched BU rolls instead of dealer stock. OBW have yielded the best results, since many (but not all) tubed rolls have already been searched for gems. I've put away many superb coins found over the years. Unfortunately, the BU roll market seems to have completely dried up in the last year for some reason, and I've had little success finding nice rolls to search.

Ultimately I did realize that 1950 was an early proof, which explained why it stood out from the rest of the Cents in the dealer display.

Whit

Whit> @oih82w8 said:

Some images would be nice to see in comparison to your descriptions.

Hello to oih82w8; yes, photography is another to-do item. I've read the Goodman book several times, but the camera setup awaits. I'm thinking that an iphone with macro might suffice.