Well this thread has been labor intensive. Thanks for the replies everyone.
I hope (notwithstanding the fact that the photos of the coins have not been cropped) that those of you who have viewed this thread have gotten a little pleasure out of looking at a set of coins that has taken me about 18 years to locate and assemble.
Most of the coins are raw acquisitions [Cameonut sold me the 1952 and 1954 dimes which I released from slabs to put into Capital holders and the 1950 half was previously in a PCI holder]. Most of the coins have been found in OGP sets, aftermarket sets and singles. Rarely was a premium paid for the sets/individual coins.
As I have devoted time, energy and money to this project I have enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. I have hunted and snagged these coins throughout the Western USA, mostly in California. Coins I bought early on thinking they were nice examples have turned out to be so so examples as upgrades were found that are much better. Initially I was filling holes as many of the dates and denominations I did not have at all, or I only had brilliant examples of same.
Eventually I was able to find coins of all dates and denominations that have frosted devices and mirrored fields (thus a Cameo appearance). At that point the collection acquired a similar look for all coins. However, some coins were/are better than others. Over time further upgrades were found and the collection began to look even better.
Upgrading continues and will do so into the future for some time (last month I found the 1953 and 1957 cents pictured in the thread and those coins are major upgrades over the previous same two coins in the collection).
Upgrading is interesting because one has to curb your desire to "upgrade just to upgrade". Instead of upgrading with a coin that is just "slightly" better than your current best coin, a collector is best served by being patient and waiting for the upgrade that "blows away" your current best coin.
For me a few of the best times in hunting for and finding these coins have been:
finding the 1950 half at the 2005 San Francisco ANA;
finding the 1957 nickel (after 10+ years of looking) at a local Bay Area shop;
purchasing the 1959 half on Ebay in an OGP flat pack that had a photo of a hazed over coin hiding inside cello packaging that was cloudy (I saw a hint of frost and was surprised);
finding SMS Cameos in OGP sets at shops and shows where they just stand out among the run of the mill SMS coinage;
finding the OGP proof set containing the 1963 half dollar in 1999 at a local Bay Area shop and buying the set for $10.00 (that half dollar caused me to get started on this collection);
finding the OGP proof set containing what I thought was a moderately frosted half dollar for $25.00 only to realize that the half dollar is the big 1961 ddr; and
finding the 1953 and 1957 upgrade cents last month.
While hunting for these coins, I have also found and picked up some gorgeous toned proofs, including a few that would likely garner a Cameo designation.
This niche area of the hobby is somewhat pedestrian. However, it has been an area that has been loads of fun to play in. A few other forumites have played in the same area and together we have had some fun.
After looking at the photos in this thread I think I will redo the photos of the coins from 1950 and 1951 using the set up I used for the 1952 - 1970 coins. It will be interesting to see the differences in the two sets of photos for these 1950 and 1951 coins.
Comments
1970 half.
1970 quarter.
1970 dime.
1970 nickel.
And finally, 1970 cent, large date.
@SanctionII
Very respectable/impressive/beautiful set you have assembled there
Successful transactions with : MICHAELDIXON, Manorcourtman, Bochiman, bolivarshagnasty, AUandAG, onlyroosies, chumley, Weiss, jdimmick, BAJJERFAN, gene1978, TJM965, Smittys, GRANDAM, JTHawaii, mainejoe, softparade, derryb, Ricko
Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Well this thread has been labor intensive. Thanks for the replies everyone.
I hope (notwithstanding the fact that the photos of the coins have not been cropped) that those of you who have viewed this thread have gotten a little pleasure out of looking at a set of coins that has taken me about 18 years to locate and assemble.
Most of the coins are raw acquisitions [Cameonut sold me the 1952 and 1954 dimes which I released from slabs to put into Capital holders and the 1950 half was previously in a PCI holder]. Most of the coins have been found in OGP sets, aftermarket sets and singles. Rarely was a premium paid for the sets/individual coins.
As I have devoted time, energy and money to this project I have enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. I have hunted and snagged these coins throughout the Western USA, mostly in California. Coins I bought early on thinking they were nice examples have turned out to be so so examples as upgrades were found that are much better. Initially I was filling holes as many of the dates and denominations I did not have at all, or I only had brilliant examples of same.
Eventually I was able to find coins of all dates and denominations that have frosted devices and mirrored fields (thus a Cameo appearance). At that point the collection acquired a similar look for all coins. However, some coins were/are better than others. Over time further upgrades were found and the collection began to look even better.
Upgrading continues and will do so into the future for some time (last month I found the 1953 and 1957 cents pictured in the thread and those coins are major upgrades over the previous same two coins in the collection).
Upgrading is interesting because one has to curb your desire to "upgrade just to upgrade". Instead of upgrading with a coin that is just "slightly" better than your current best coin, a collector is best served by being patient and waiting for the upgrade that "blows away" your current best coin.
For me a few of the best times in hunting for and finding these coins have been:
finding the 1950 half at the 2005 San Francisco ANA;
finding the 1957 nickel (after 10+ years of looking) at a local Bay Area shop;
purchasing the 1959 half on Ebay in an OGP flat pack that had a photo of a hazed over coin hiding inside cello packaging that was cloudy (I saw a hint of frost and was surprised);
finding SMS Cameos in OGP sets at shops and shows where they just stand out among the run of the mill SMS coinage;
finding the OGP proof set containing the 1963 half dollar in 1999 at a local Bay Area shop and buying the set for $10.00 (that half dollar caused me to get started on this collection);
finding the OGP proof set containing what I thought was a moderately frosted half dollar for $25.00 only to realize that the half dollar is the big 1961 ddr; and
finding the 1953 and 1957 upgrade cents last month.
While hunting for these coins, I have also found and picked up some gorgeous toned proofs, including a few that would likely garner a Cameo designation.
This niche area of the hobby is somewhat pedestrian. However, it has been an area that has been loads of fun to play in. A few other forumites have played in the same area and together we have had some fun.
WOW! Great set. What a fun way to collect and preserve!
That 70 proof...Oh my!
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
After looking at the photos in this thread I think I will redo the photos of the coins from 1950 and 1951 using the set up I used for the 1952 - 1970 coins. It will be interesting to see the differences in the two sets of photos for these 1950 and 1951 coins.
P.S.
Attached are photos taken by Todd of the 1967 SMS quarter. His photos of this coin have been posted before.
Here are new photos of the 1950 and 1951 quarters.