@MEJ7070 Thanks for the kind words regarding the 1860! That was previously in Eugene Gardner's collection, and the color is phenomenal in hand, as is the luster. A superb seated half and how it managed to survive 165 years is a miracle.
2025 saw a surprising number of updates (often numeric downgrades for eye appeal upgrades) to my buffalo set, and I started a Mercury short and date set with some pretty little pickups. I did pickup one of the last two large copper pieces I needed to complete the non-gold portion of my 7070, which I marked as an accomplishment. If I had to pick one crowning coin/achievement, it was making the stretch to complete my PCGS Liberty Nickel set, finally acquiring the super key 1885. Graded PCGS 50, it has a lot of eye appeal for the grade IMO.
I found it at David Kahn's table at last years Winter FUN show in January, so I've owned her almost the entire year. And of course, considering the source, I had to pay for it! Oh, and fight for it ... because @Pnies20 was circling my shoulder like a vulture.
I think a lot of numismatists don't realize how rare (and somewhat valuable) that Jim Thorpe medal is.
They were produced by the US Mint in relatively small quantities, and even the type with the highest mintage seems unavailable most of the time.
You wouldn't think that a 1.5-inch bronze medal made in 1973 (with an official mintage of 4,821, by far the highest of the series) would be hard to find. But it is. The last one sold on Heritage went for more than $300.
Some of the larger 76mm bronze and silver medals have sold at auction for over $4,000.
2025 was a good year for me, numismatically speaking. I was able to acquire quite a few coins that I couldn’t be any happier to have added to my collection. But by far, the best one was this 1817 Punctuated Date Capped Bust Half PCGS MS62 CAC. It happens to be a very tough Redbook variety to find in MS condition (pop 3/4) so I was beyond thrilled to have acquired one, and even more so one with eye appeal! And of course the cherry on top was the Eliasberg pedigree.
Many of the Eliasberg coins were acquired from John Clapp’s estate, but a lot also were not. This coin happens to have been part of the Clapp Estate, so I guess that’s the second cherry. 😉
@dcarr I’m comfortable that the medal is the gold plated bronze with a mintage of 200. Sold my 3 inch silver a few years back for big money. Finding these medals takes patience for sure.
Commemoratives are pretty much out of favor these days. Back in the early 2000s when I first considered resuming collecting coins, there were several dealers recommending them - Q. David Bowers, David Hall, Harry Laibstain, Larry Shepherd, Anthony Swaitek, & Larry Whitlow. As a boy I always admired the Hawaiian and that was the first coin I bought to restart collecting. I put together a commemorative type set and then I sold it. But the controversial 1935/34 - D has always stuck in my mind as having the lowest mintage of all the 144 commemoratives. A MS66 reached a high point of $1,750 in 2005 and dropped in value after that. There were 2003 minted with 1377 graded by PCCGS and NGC and 130 with CACs.
In 2025, I finally got one for half of the price in 2005.
MS66 CAC
I find it extremely hard to choose my favorite coin. I will post instead a piece that stands out not due to its eye appeal but due to its history. For context, the date engraved on the coin was 1 day after Haynes’ Bluff, Mississippi, was seized by Union forces.
Young Numismatist • My Toned Coins
Life is roadblocks. Don't let nothing stop you, 'cause we ain't stopping. - DJ Khaled
Nothing over-the-top this year for me, mostly bullion bars, I got some cool bars this year, but as far as US coins. I guess these three are my best for the year…
@JBN said:
A way-too-expensive upgrade on a tough date. A coin like this has to be in my collection.
Love that addition to your set. The Heritage photo shows even darker toning than the TrueView but it looks like there is still subtle luster peeking out underneath. What an accomplishment to have the full set and just be in upgrade mode. As you know, I tried and failed to put together a date set of seated liberty halves.
As for the price you paid, you had to pay up for a coin you really liked. Almost all worthy collections have a few such examples.
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
While I’ve had a great year adding quite a few new beautiful coins to my collection, I’d be in remiss not to include and post this better date Lincoln.
Same here. It is hard to choose a favorite acquisition out of a half dozen nice coin purchases. I went with the coin that was in a box of 20 pulled from the bank for crossovers that I've been enjoying all week. My other acquisitions are upset right now with the AU58 CAC 1875 leading the protests.
Same here. It is hard to choose a favorite acquisition out of a half dozen nice coin purchases. I went with the coin that was in a box of 20 pulled from the bank for crossovers that I've been enjoying all week. My other acquisitions are upset right now with the AU58 CAC 1875 leading the protests.
That’s a beautiful half, and I can see why it’s beaned. But, what’s with the edited TrueView? This is from PCGS:
@POCKETCHANGE It's to better match the coin's appearance in-hand. It is not as dark as the TrueView shows. I've had to do this with a few dozen TrueViews I've received over the past three years. Otherwise, the TrueViews would misrepresent the coins to prospective buyers.
Here's an example of their poor photography and editing that had to be changed. Top is actual coin, bottom is the TrueView. This TrueView is useless unless edited. Many of my TrueViews are so juiced and weird-colored that I can never use them without editing them. I'll stop here or this will turn into a long, ugly rant.
@MEJ7070 said:
Getting this thing properly imaged is on my long coin related to do list. The eye appeal is off the charts (to me).
A real deal 1860 “Abram” Lincoln election token.
Took a pretty intricate trade involving several parts to get it in my collection, and I am thrilled to own it.
The Lincoln obverse is paired with four reverses. I believe that the one you have is the second scarcest. Here are the threee I have.
This is the most common.
The next most common.
Your piece, which is the second scarcest.
There is a four reverse which simply says "Our Next Preident." I have never seen that one.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
Here is my biggest buy of the year, an 1804 cent. It was one of the key dates I needed for a complete date set of cents from 1793 to 2025. I think that it is slightly short of the assigned grade, EF-40, but the piece has no corrosion. I have seen a few pieces in higher grades which had crusty black toning.
And here was the last date I needed to complete the date set, oddly enough, an 1830.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
@BillJones said:
Here is my biggest buy of the year, an 1804 cent. It was one of the key dates I needed for a complete date set of cents from 1793 to 2025. I think that it is slightly short of the assigned grade, EF-40, but the piece has no corrosion. I have seen a few pieces in higher grades which had crusty black toning.
And here was the last date I needed to complete the date set, oddly enough, an 1830.
Wonderful 1804 LC! I owned an 1804 in a VF35 grade, but yours is heads above the one I owned.
@BillJones said:
Here is my biggest buy of the year, an 1804 cent. It was one of the key dates I needed for a complete date set of cents from 1793 to 2025. I think that it is slightly short of the assigned grade, EF-40, but the piece has no corrosion. I have seen a few pieces in higher grades which had crusty black toning.
And here was the last date I needed to complete the date set, oddly enough, an 1830.
Wonderful 1804 LC! I owned an 1804 in a VF35 grade, but yours is heads above the one I owned.
Yes, that ‘04 is absolutely gorgeous. So many are dark and flawed.
My best acquisition of 2025 is this 1986 mint set for $10.
Which produced the third 1986 P Kennedy in MS68. Then sold it for almost a 40,000% increase.
For me personally it was a year of 1830s ! Here is most of them with 4 or 5 missing because I do not have nice pictures yet ! Very interesting and unusual for me
2025 I also completed my long term goal of filling up my nine coin tray with nine coveted Gold CACs
I found the 1836 in OKC ANA and like @pursuitofliberty said nothing goes cheap at Dave's table LOL. The 1830 also came out of Sheridan Downey's MB 60 which really hurt my wallet ! The other addition this year and my most recent acquisition was the 1827 which recently came back from CAC wearing its gold sticker!
Overall great year for me and numismatics in general, cannot wait to see what 2026 has in store!
Finding new dates for the half dime album is getting to be a tough challenge, never mind my extremely limited budget. This piece has a survival rate of 250 specimens as estimated by our hosts.
Custom album maker and numismatic photographer.
Need a personalized album made? Design it on the website below and I'll build it for you. https://www.donahuenumismatics.com/.
@BillJones thanks for the breakdown on my Lincoln token. I’d never see the all seeing eye version before and knew I wanted it the moment I laid eyes on it.
@MEJ7070 said: @BillJones thanks for the breakdown on my Lincoln token. I’d never see the all seeing eye version before and knew I wanted it the moment I laid eyes on it.
Really appreciate the knowledge!
While many people think I have no focus, I do have specialties. It seems like I collect everything. I don’t.
Lincoln 1860 and 1864 campaign tokens are one of areas of concentration. I have many pieces. I’ll post more if you like.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
Comments
...and THIS is another... WOW... just... WOW!!
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
I only bought these two:
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947):
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
I sent you a PM.
@MEJ7070 Thanks for the kind words regarding the 1860! That was previously in Eugene Gardner's collection, and the color is phenomenal in hand, as is the luster. A superb seated half and how it managed to survive 165 years is a miracle.
2025 saw a surprising number of updates (often numeric downgrades for eye appeal upgrades) to my buffalo set, and I started a Mercury short and date set with some pretty little pickups. I did pickup one of the last two large copper pieces I needed to complete the non-gold portion of my 7070, which I marked as an accomplishment. If I had to pick one crowning coin/achievement, it was making the stretch to complete my PCGS Liberty Nickel set, finally acquiring the super key 1885. Graded PCGS 50, it has a lot of eye appeal for the grade IMO.
Buffalo Nickel Digital Album
Toned Buffalo Date SetDigital Album
A way-too-expensive upgrade on a tough date. A coin like this has to be in my collection.
Can’t decide between…
>
BHNC #248 … 140 and counting.
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
.
I think a lot of numismatists don't realize how rare (and somewhat valuable) that Jim Thorpe medal is.
They were produced by the US Mint in relatively small quantities, and even the type with the highest mintage seems unavailable most of the time.
You wouldn't think that a 1.5-inch bronze medal made in 1973 (with an official mintage of 4,821, by far the highest of the series) would be hard to find. But it is. The last one sold on Heritage went for more than $300.
Some of the larger 76mm bronze and silver medals have sold at auction for over $4,000.
.
2025 was a good year for me, numismatically speaking. I was able to acquire quite a few coins that I couldn’t be any happier to have added to my collection. But by far, the best one was this 1817 Punctuated Date Capped Bust Half PCGS MS62 CAC. It happens to be a very tough Redbook variety to find in MS condition (pop 3/4) so I was beyond thrilled to have acquired one, and even more so one with eye appeal! And of course the cherry on top was the Eliasberg pedigree.
Many of the Eliasberg coins were acquired from John Clapp’s estate, but a lot also were not. This coin happens to have been part of the Clapp Estate, so I guess that’s the second cherry. 😉
Dave
That is one heck of a strike for a Carson City half. You definitely won't find a CC like that in my collection.
@dcarr I’m comfortable that the medal is the gold plated bronze with a mintage of 200. Sold my 3 inch silver a few years back for big money. Finding these medals takes patience for sure.
Picked this up at a local show in October. After negotiation we settled on $375, a fair price i think.
Commemoratives are pretty much out of favor these days. Back in the early 2000s when I first considered resuming collecting coins, there were several dealers recommending them - Q. David Bowers, David Hall, Harry Laibstain, Larry Shepherd, Anthony Swaitek, & Larry Whitlow. As a boy I always admired the Hawaiian and that was the first coin I bought to restart collecting. I put together a commemorative type set and then I sold it. But the controversial 1935/34 - D has always stuck in my mind as having the lowest mintage of all the 144 commemoratives. A MS66 reached a high point of $1,750 in 2005 and dropped in value after that. There were 2003 minted with 1377 graded by PCCGS and NGC and 130 with CACs.
In 2025, I finally got one for half of the price in 2005.
MS66 CAC
I find it extremely hard to choose my favorite coin. I will post instead a piece that stands out not due to its eye appeal but due to its history. For context, the date engraved on the coin was 1 day after Haynes’ Bluff, Mississippi, was seized by Union forces.
Young Numismatist • My Toned Coins
Life is roadblocks. Don't let nothing stop you, 'cause we ain't stopping. - DJ Khaled
Finaly, but It took me more than 20 years to acquire this coin.
Overland Trail Collection Showcase
Dahlonega Type Set-2008 PCGS Best Exhibited Set
Nothing over-the-top this year for me, mostly bullion bars, I got some cool bars this year, but as far as US coins. I guess these three are my best for the year…
Please don’t laugh
My YouTube Channel
NGC 67+
Love that addition to your set. The Heritage photo shows even darker toning than the TrueView but it looks like there is still subtle luster peeking out underneath. What an accomplishment to have the full set and just be in upgrade mode. As you know, I tried and failed to put together a date set of seated liberty halves.
As for the price you paid, you had to pay up for a coin you really liked. Almost all worthy collections have a few such examples.
"Look up, old boy, and see what you get." -William Bonney.
It's sooo hard to pick just one from, for me, a banner year for my collecting goals.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1118187/2025-retrospective-seated-half-additions
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress,
running like a water color in the rain...."
2025 was a great acquisition year. These two came together as part of a trade, so I’ll post both:
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
Nickelodeon
Early Walkers
While I’ve had a great year adding quite a few new beautiful coins to my collection, I’d be in remiss not to include and post this better date Lincoln.
Just jaw dropping!
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress,
running like a water color in the rain...."
Same here. It is hard to choose a favorite acquisition out of a half dozen nice coin purchases. I went with the coin that was in a box of 20 pulled from the bank for crossovers that I've been enjoying all week. My other acquisitions are upset right now with the AU58 CAC 1875 leading the protests.
That’s a beautiful half, and I can see why it’s beaned. But, what’s with the edited TrueView? This is from PCGS:
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
@POCKETCHANGE It's to better match the coin's appearance in-hand. It is not as dark as the TrueView shows. I've had to do this with a few dozen TrueViews I've received over the past three years. Otherwise, the TrueViews would misrepresent the coins to prospective buyers.
Here's an example of their poor photography and editing that had to be changed. Top is actual coin, bottom is the TrueView. This TrueView is useless unless edited. Many of my TrueViews are so juiced and weird-colored that I can never use them without editing them. I'll stop here or this will turn into a long, ugly rant.
The Lincoln obverse is paired with four reverses. I believe that the one you have is the second scarcest. Here are the threee I have.
This is the most common.
The next most common.
Your piece, which is the second scarcest.
There is a four reverse which simply says "Our Next Preident." I have never seen that one.
Here is my biggest buy of the year, an 1804 cent. It was one of the key dates I needed for a complete date set of cents from 1793 to 2025. I think that it is slightly short of the assigned grade, EF-40, but the piece has no corrosion. I have seen a few pieces in higher grades which had crusty black toning.
And here was the last date I needed to complete the date set, oddly enough, an 1830.
Wonderful 1804 LC! I owned an 1804 in a VF35 grade, but yours is heads above the one I owned.
Yes, that ‘04 is absolutely gorgeous. So many are dark and flawed.
My only gold purchase for the year.
Beautiful pieces, everyone!!
...and there's still a couple of weeks left in 2025...
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
Mintages of 16000, 16000 and 13,000
My best acquisition of 2025 is this 1986 mint set for $10.
Which produced the third 1986 P Kennedy in MS68. Then sold it for almost a 40,000% increase.
@Coinscratch Definitely worthy of a "You suck!" (award).
I will PM you my mailing address lmao!
Always looking for the next winner currently hyper focused on the Ikes.
This is a very interesting discussion.
Early in the year I picked up the following addition to my large cent type set:
This month I found this note. I am not a currency collector but always wanted to hold one of these:
For me personally it was a year of 1830s ! Here is most of them with 4 or 5 missing because I do not have nice pictures yet ! Very interesting and unusual for me
2025 I also completed my long term goal of filling up my nine coin tray with nine coveted Gold CACs
I found the 1836 in OKC ANA and like @pursuitofliberty said nothing goes cheap at Dave's table LOL. The 1830 also came out of Sheridan Downey's MB 60 which really hurt my wallet ! The other addition this year and my most recent acquisition was the 1827 which recently came back from CAC wearing its gold sticker!
Overall great year for me and numismatics in general, cannot wait to see what 2026 has in store!
Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici
BHNC #253
Finding new dates for the half dime album is getting to be a tough challenge, never mind my extremely limited budget. This piece has a survival rate of 250 specimens as estimated by our hosts.
Custom album maker and numismatic photographer.
Need a personalized album made? Design it on the website below and I'll build it for you.
https://www.donahuenumismatics.com/.
Staggering in its rarity and beauty!
I paid up for this coin. Im a sucker for UDM Morgans especially in a soapbox. Its a sweet coin for sure.
Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
Successful BST transactions with: Namvet Justindan Mattniss RWW olah_in_MA
Dantheman984 Toyz4geo SurfinxHI greencopper RWW bigjpst bretsan MWallace logger7 JWP
@BillJones thanks for the breakdown on my Lincoln token. I’d never see the all seeing eye version before and knew I wanted it the moment I laid eyes on it.
Really appreciate the knowledge!
While many people think I have no focus, I do have specialties. It seems like I collect everything. I don’t.
Lincoln 1860 and 1864 campaign tokens are one of areas of concentration. I have many pieces. I’ll post more if you like.