Proof Halves at the FUN show, and Thanks to my friends

Parkekal

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..... or so it goes. I have decided to sell my proof half collection (1856 - 2007) at the FUN show in January. A number of you have written and asked about my decision. It boils down to a few things. It has taken years to build this collection. Approximately 190 coins, of which over 50% are top pop.... and now it is so hard to keep moving the set foward. I selected each of these coins for how I saw them.... my opinion only. Most are bright bright white and remarkable strike clarity. The few color editions are nice - and a small group of those coins with color are unbelievable. I always tended towards the brighter coins. Most of you know more about coins than I, but I have learned much. Some history, some numismatic fun facts, and some real characters in the collecting world.

I hope that my coins find wonderful homes in your collections. My intent is to simplify my life a little and spend some time working on my quarters.... this will help fund both... and I have so much to learn about quarters. Probably the most striking lesson I have learned is the code of honor and trust among collectors. I have gained so many friends through the years, from all over the world. Many have inspired me with humor, support, and just life's stories; so much so that I took some of my duplicates and sent them to YN's that needed the upgrades or slots filled. That code of honor I mentioned... for every coin I gave I received a very nice note in return..... not ever population of today's youth would respond in kind. It is a tribute to the families that house a collector and to the other things we value besides coins.

So to each of you.... if there is a coin you like in my collection; I hope you get it. For all of the friends I have collected, thanks, I will never let that part go... now teach me about quarters. A special thanks to BJ at PCGS for being patient with me and teaching me. Hopefully my lessons from the half dollar world will not have to be repeated as I work on my quarters.

Here is the link to my halves if you have an interest.

http://coins.ha.com/common/search_results.php?N=51+793+794+791+1577+4294961592+4294960214

thanks again..... sincerely.....

Parke

guitarwes

I'm just bumfuttled by looking through your set......

That 69-S Kenney is CRAZY awesome. As with every other coin in your set. All those Seated and Barber coins are just AMAZING!

An extreme accomplisment!

wes

TAClough

Good luck with your sale!

badger

Parke,

Good luck with the sale. I will need a few to upgrade my collection. Like you, I find the upgrades are difficult to get and are too long between filling slots.

I may be contacting you on a few to get your opinion.
Thanks
Dave

Wingsrule

Parke,

Best of luck to you.

I may have to check some of those out (again)...

Mark

DMWJR

Which one is your favorite and why?

Parkekal

I have to qualify that a little when you ask about favorites.....

Kennedy - The 69 is wonderful. I believe it is the nicest coin in my Kennedy run. It really should be 70DCAM. I guess distinction has to stay with EBL IIII for now.

Franklin - I like the 54 in 68DCAM. I believe it is accurately graded, but it features a depth of mirror that is very hard to find in the coins minted in the 50's. It really sets the portrait apart.

Walking Liberty - for white coins I would have to choose either the 36 or the 38. Both are very strong and have marvelous white contrast. The 38 would earn a cameo from other grading services. If you like color, the 42 has a nice rainbow appeal and wonderful detail in the strike.

Barber - I would have to go with the 1895 Deep Cameo monster. To me, my opinion... it is what the coin is supposed to look like. I used this coin to compare other coins quite often. There are a few sleepers in the Barber series that should be submitted for upgrade. Several were graded 1 or 2 points higher by NGC and I crossed them over to keep my set consistent. I believe if I could have pushed these coins they would have graded up at least 1 level. The folks at PCGS have always been fair and they know more about coins than I do, so that is just my opinion.

Seated - the 1882 Deep Cameo. There are very few deep cameo Seated halves around. This coin has amazing contrast and detail with a very clean mirror. The Seated run has 5 or 6 coins that are grossly undergraded but I never resubmitted any. They were just graded in a time when, for what ever reason, grades were tough to come by. My untrained I would rate them higher, but I liked them the way they were.

So, there are my favorites. Our of all the halves, I like the Walking Liberty obverse and the Seated reverse - but I never found that coin.

wondercoin

Parke - Best of luck with the auction.

I find it interesting (and refreshing) that in the greatest assembly of PR70DC Kennedy Half Dollars on the planet, Parke's most favorite coin is a PR69DC!

This particular coin will be quite instructional to the question of how much premium a "modern" coin can achieve above and beyond the assigned grade.

Consider that a typical 69-S PR69DC is worth hundreds of dollars and a PR70DCAM ten or twenty thousand(?) Should be interesting to see what this super quality PR69DCAM gets bid up to.

Wondercoin

LindeDad

Parke good luck in the sale. And I hope that I am lucky enouph to add one or two of your jewels to my Half Dollar type set.. I have admired your set of proof Half Dollars since coming here and am glad that they will stay in the all time best listing and they will allways IMO be "Hall of Fame".
A link to his fantastic set.
Kallenberg Collection - The Number One Finest Set of All Time

And for those that need it a link to his auctions.
Featured Collections: The Kallenberg #1 PCGS Registry Set of Proof Half Dollars

Casabrown

A great accomplishment and a great set from a great gentleman!!!

Parkekal

someone asked about my favorites, and I responded with the expected answer regarding various coins in my collection. There are a few more favorites too.... in no particular order and I will probably forget some important ones....

1. Larry Brown: my first PCGS Registry luncheon and I found myself at a table listening to people put down "modern crap" (their words). A few minutes later I accepted the award for my Proof Kennedy set and their expressions were pretty funny. A wonderful gentlemen came up to me after that and engaged me in a delightful conversation... Dr. Larry. He made me feel welcome and made me want to participate even more. Definitely one of my favorites.

2. Rick Tomaska; sitting at an auction and having a gentlemen tap me on the shoulder and introduce himself.. and then graciously give me a few tips about the auction. He still got the coins he wanted that I had on my list.... but he did it with a smile. Rick has helped me tremendously in locating some very special coins. Jackie is a wonderful lady at R&I that can be very helpful with spending my kids college money too.

3. Wondercoin: a fine source for many modern coins, he has always helped me find good coins. I retired #1 sets in proof Ikes, Sacs, and SBA dollars... most of which he helped me find.

4. Kathleen at Pinnacle found me some strong mid 1900's coins and understood what I wanted in brightness and strike.

5. Nick Shelton: a up and coming YN with a strong Proof Kennedy collection that will be #1 eventually. A fine gentlemen.

6. Edson Santos: taught me much about halves and allowed me to purchase his collection to merge his coins with mine, so I could hand pick the ones I wanted to keep.

7. The Heritage team for helping me buy and sell coins over the years, which I will continue to do. Charles is a very patient man with a good sense of humor.

more to come later, but these are certainly some of my favorites....

wondercoin

Thanks Parke.

You built an incredible collection of Half Dollars and I know many will set record prices levels next month.

Wondercoin

Twincam

My son, Nick, and I have looked at Parke's proofs in the registry many times. It's an outstanding collection...many pop tops... and some of the coins are unbelievable lookers. We will be sorry to see the set retired.

Nick was one of the fortunate beneficiaries of Parke's generosity with his duplicates...a jesture that Nick, at 13, nor I will either soon forget. I hope my son learns more from his days of collecting than coin facts...and interaction with collectors like Parke that hold high values is, in my opinion, one of the greatest benefits of this hobby.

I am looking forward to seeing some of these coins at the FUN show and auction next month. Parke, congrats on assembling such a fine set...and best of wishes for the auction.

Russ

<< <i>Consider that a typical 69-S PR69DC is worth hundreds of dollars and a PR70DCAM ten or twenty thousand(?) >>



A typical 69-S in 69DCAM is $150 or less. His should, of course, bring significantly more.



<< <i>So to each of you.... if there is a coin you like in my collection; I hope you get it. >>



Parke,

There's several I like, but no way in hell I can afford them! I hope your early date Kennedys set new sales records. I've had them all bookmarked since the minute they showed up in auction preview. Good luck on the sale!

Russ, NCNE

Parkekal

Russ, thanks for your kind words... obviously I hope they bring as much as possible, but I also hope that several collectors get coins that really help their sets. Some are very difficult to find and a big part of the fun for me was finding the "next" coin.

I found some in unexpected places. I bought one coin on Ebay 4 or 5 years ago from Lou DiCoccio (sp) and happen to be travelling to his home town. We decided to exchange coin and funds in person. Ends up he has a tremendous collection and is a great guy. He helped me obtain most of my top pop MS walking liberty halves over the years. The same home town boast another huge collection under the name of "SLUGGO". Mark Slotkin has one of the top 5 collections on the NGC registry and has been a good source for quality coins.

But like I said, the hunt, the search is a big part of it.... but the new friends along the way.... that is the value.

scher

Good luck to you Parke..hope it all goes right for you..Bet ya miss a few when the dust clears..and about those quarters you are plannin on...save the seated stuff for last....i need a few more.
Bruce Scher

Russ

Reserves posted for the big Kennedys - and there aren't any! Kudos to Parke for having the stones to let the market decide! Considering how rarely these come up for sale, I think that was an excellent decision that will be rewarded with strong prices.

Russ, NCNE

Parkekal

Russ, what can I say. I truly believe in a free and open market where natural market forces rule. I overpaid for some of these coins because I (let's see, what did i tell my wife???) liked them. Some of the coins I got real deals on. I still believe the 1969 is the sleeper in the whole group. I know the 65 - 67 series should fair very well because they are so difficult to find in top condition. Each of the Kennedy halves were hand selected out of at least 2 and sometimes 3 of the top pop coins made possible by building my own complete set and purchasing the Edson Santos collection. Obviously I hope buyers pay a fair price and are blown away by the coin they purchase.

As far as stones... well, it took more courage to make the decision to sell in general. Sometimes I still want to race down to FUN and pick them all back up.

There are still some tremendously underpriced coins in the Seated and Barber proof runs in my collection, so for any of you considering upgrading or starting those series, this is a good opportunity.

It won't hurt my feelings if any of you bid more than once. Best of luck to all of you.

TAClough

I'm with Russ, there are several upgrades in Parkekal's set that we can only dream of. But my eleven year old boy likes to look and drool over Parke's set