Front Half Year in Review

Boosibri · June 27, 2025 6:06PM

Every time I sit down and reflect on the year, or the half year, my initial feeling is that overall it has been light in terms of meaningful acquisitions, and then I look at what all I added, and feel a bit more positive around the progress made.

The front half of 2025 is no different, though with the ANA lots posted, I expect the year end review to be an “A” for the year. And without further ado, here are the adds to the collection:

Coins in the Top 10 of the set, the Superstars:
NONE, but hope to add one or two this year still

Core coins needed for the set:
1838-AREQ 8R: The Arequipa 8R’s are so hard to find and even harder to find nice. I added this 1838 Sunface in May to pair with my 1839 Standing Liberty.

The coins which the collection could be fine without, but they fit and add a bit of depth:
1862 Chile Peso: The final issue for the type and damn hard to find nice. When I opened the package from Rumnicoin I was very pleasantly surprised!. I have found 4 examples in 25 years being sold in public auctions. I am building my Chile set out to be as great as it can be, and this was a good addition in that respect.

1879-YJ Peru Sol: A short lived type, slightly different from the later designs. During this period Peru was at war with Chile making the survival of this type less than the later dates.

Impulse purchases:
I just loved the color on this AU58 Pillar

Back to the Future:
I lived in Ireland for 3 years and @MrEureka introduced me to the rarity of Irish moderns during that time, and especially the Irish VIP Proofs. When this 1931 set came available I was thrilled to add it. A Few examples exist in the British Museum, some farthings are graded, but on the whole, very very rare in private hands.

anthonythecoinman · June 27, 2025 6:51PM

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Thank you for sharing. I love the Sunface 8R!

pruebas · June 27, 2025 10:25PM

@Boosibri said:
… though with the ANA lots posted, I expect the year end review to be an “A” for the year.

Don’t be too cocky, cowboy. I’ve been prepared to stretch greatly for coins this year, and in many instances have come away disappointed by others stretching even further than I felt comfortable doing. It’s rough going out there!

coinkat · June 28, 2025 8:49AM

There is something to be said for reducing to writing what has transpired along the way. It can help identify where you are and where you have been. Further, the reflection gives a collector the opportunity to contemplate larger questions in terms of the ultimate satisfaction of what it is that you are seeking and collecting.

Great coins and some wonderful additions. I was going to ask about the Superstars... but that can be entertained in the yearend review.

My back door collecting philosophy seems to work for me. It helps manage expectations with a somewhat unconventional multi-prong discipline that amplifies the challenge of collecting. I am contemplating a box of 20 concept for certain countries and/or regions of the World. Seems this would be more of a self-imposed discipline that could limit opportunities.

These two were impulse buys purchased raw and submitted to our host. These are French patterns that resonate well at various levels - The history, design and overall artistic merit that captures a period in time and principles that hopefully will endure.

Hopefully the remainder of this year and those that follow will be productive for everyone.

If not... well... there are always reruns of Gunsmoke to watch.

Euclid · June 30, 2025 7:27PM

I've only acquired two big coins this year and they were both early on. While they're not particularly tough dates for the series, they are both difficult die varieties as far as I can tell. The 1835 has some die chips that look like a semicolon in between CRESCA and FECUNDO, which first appeared on coins of 1834.

The 1839 only has two possible reverses. They can be told apart by looking at the S in "10 Ds". It is either directly above the dot, or slightly off to the side. Almost every example you will see will be off to the side. In the auction archive I've only seen one other example where it's directly above the dot, on a details coin. So when I identified it on this AU 50, I bought it.

PhilArnold · June 30, 2025 7:59PM

I don’t think there’s going to be a second half of the year after the first. My 1937 matte set came together quickly after scouting for the right pieces for ages.

Now that I have the 37 set I need to decide where to go in my Canadian type set. More specimens? 19th century? Focus on the maritimes? Colonial tokens? Maybe fun moderns? It’ll probably take me another 6 months to decide. Until then I’ll enjoy my set… and try to upgrade one or two pieces.

Front Half Year in Review

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