Finished my Registry Walker Short Set - #17

bgrice · January 3, 2006 9:44AM

The goal of course was to put together the '41-'47 Short Set in the best coins I could without paying the premium for the Top Pops. I ended up picking MS66 as a baseline to attempt to put the set together and 3 years later I finished the set with 19 in that grade and the last coin to be added the sole one in MS65. The '41-S was the coin I was avoiding until the end as not only could I not find one that I wanted, but I really feel it is the most overhyped coin in the short set. Call it *paying for the plastic* if you want, but I decided that I wanted to finish that slot in a Green Label '41-S and was willing to pay a premium for it if I could find one that was really nice. I found such a coin last week from a dealer and it came in today at lunch. The "S" mints are really difficult to find with decent strikes even in the high grades, but this one is probably one of the best I have seen with excellent head details & left hand definition on Ms. Liberty and no ticks/marks. The reverse is just as nice.

Not amazingly enough... the set is #7 at NGC's Registry & #17 here. I take PCGS's Registry with more accord and know how difficult it is to break into the Top 20 without tossing out serious money to get there. It has been fun and rest the set as is with no plans of making any changes.

1941-S PCGS MS65(Green Label)

Edited part: I took a better pic of the '41S today and replaced it above.

DIMEMAN · January 3, 2006 9:49AM

Really nice, especially for a 41-S. NICE strike!!!

a039 · January 3, 2006 11:01AM

That's a great coin and a fantastic set, I commend you on your fortitude and determination on completing your set and sharing it with us! Happy New Year, Mark

garsmith · January 3, 2006 12:01PM

Congratulations on a nice set from #16 to #17. It would be great to see you get a fully matched set, good luck with finding 41S in 66.

Alergar- short set

by the way I'm looking for a 41S in 66 also

fcloud · January 3, 2006 12:09PM

Congrats on a nice set!

bgrice · January 3, 2006 1:15PM

Thanks for the replies to the thread everyone. It's enjoyable to follows these boards and see some of the nice sets that are being put together.

garsmith(Gareth)....

I just took a couple of shots of the '41S at lunch because I wanted to complete the set tonight with a picture. I took it with bright sunlight coming in the window and it really lightened the coin up to show the details and flaws. It's a nice white coin with just very faint toning around the edges under normal lighting. Not every 66 is in a 66 holder and I like the idea of having a 65.9 in the set.

ThatImpalaDude · January 4, 2006 9:09AM

Congratulations on completing the Walker short set. Your 41-S is really nice and it is very difficult to find a good head and a split thumb as you have done. Now if you could only find one with full skirt lines also, then you'd have an awesome coin. The prices on 41-S MS-66's have come way down in the past several months after Spectrum Numismatics bid up the short set coins and then pulled their bids, so it would be a good time to upgrade if you have the desire and the cash. I have the #4 late date set (33-47) and the #4 short set (41-47) and certainly can agree with you about the cost of reaching the upper levels.

Good luck in the future with your set.

Steve

bennybravo · January 6, 2006 7:39AM

Thats a SWEET 41-S! WTG.

bgrice · January 6, 2006 9:00AM

Steve(ThatImpalaDude),

The whole short set in 66 and above has been coming down in prices for months now. I picked up the '43S from Pinnacle & the '44S from Heritage within the last month at a discount of $300 from what was the norm for those coins until recently and even PCGS has dropped their fictitious prices just within the last week or so. I'm sure that it's just a matter of time that my set is bumped out of the Top 20, but I also foresee that I could easily move up 3-4 places just sitting pat as some collectors change their portfolio and part out sets. I've seen it many times. One thing about these sets is that it can discourage new entries when it takes an 80% in 66+ just to get on the first page. Granted.... anyone with some money can buy their way in at any time, but the set registrants in the Short Set has not changed more than 1 or 2 for a year now with some of the top sets falling out and only a few serious collectors getting in. Now that I finished this set I can set my sights & resources on a Seated Halves collection that I started. The low Pops of those coins makes it difficult to cherrypick and find bargains, but I doubt you will ever see any kind of Pop explosion that happened to the Walkers. Add to it that it is an impossible set to finish and some just don't want to partake in the venture. Less competition for when I am buying, so it works out well as far as I am concerned. Not a popular series by any means, but you never can tell.

By the way... I see that most of your Walkers came from Pinnacle, David Hall & Larry Whitlow. They only handle the best of coins, so I am sure they are all first class for the grade.

Barry

Parkekal · January 6, 2006 10:40AM

Parkekal · January 6, 2006 10:44AM

Really nice coin. I worked on walkers for a while and had a nice set. Had to let it go. Still working through the grieving process. You did a great job picking up this one. Congrats.

parke

ThatImpalaDude · January 7, 2006 1:41PM

Barry,

You are correct about Pinnacle, DHRC, and Whitlow selling nice Walkers. My experience, though, is that David Hall was a little less concerned about strike, especially hand/thumb strike, than Whitlow was. Mike Printz of Whitlow is a stickler for the hand and thumb strike.

I can't justify spending the money necessary to move up from #4 in both the late date and short set. So, I'm thinking of selling off the set, parting it out probably, this year. I'll let you know and see if you are possibly interested in any upgrades.

Steve

Finished my Registry Walker Short Set - #17

Comments