I finished Volume I of the Lincoln Cent collection ... After 66 years
BillJones
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My coin collecting adventure began on Christmas 1959 when one of my uncles gave me the 13th edition of the Red Book and the two Whitman holders for Lincoln Cents. The 1959 Lincoln Memorial Cent reverse was brand new that year. The first folder is long gone because I replaced with a Library of Coins album in the mid 1960s. The last "regular coin" I needed to "finish it" was the 1909-S-VDB which I bought with ANACS papers (Remember those?) in 1983. I left the 1922 Plain hole blank because I didn't think it was really part of the set.
Thirty years ago, I bought a 1922 Plain Cent as part of set when I was a dealer. I thought about keeping it, but another dealer kept making offers on it, until I gave in and sold it to him. Yesterday I gook the plunge and bought a 1922 Plain at my local club's coin show. It's PCGS graded EF-45.
And here is the 1922 Plain.
Like most coins I buy, the 1922 Plain does have a story. The Pittman Act of 1918 required to Treasury to melt about half of the silver dollars it had on hand and ship the bullion to England in exchange for $1 an ounce. England needed to silver to pay its soldiers in India. Overall more than 270 million silver dollars were melted.
The other half of the act, obligated the government to buy silver, which subsidized the mining industry, and coin it into modern silver dollars to replace the old ones. That required mintage of a large silver coin put a lot of strain. on the minting system. The Philadelphia Mint, which produced all of the dies for the mint system, when into overtime making enough silver dollar dies to cover the mintage. Other denominations, like the cent, were neglected.
For only the second time in its history, the Philadelphia mint did not strike any cents for a given year, 1922. The other year was 1815. All of the cents were minted in Denver. The shortage of dies forced Denver to use heavily worn dies which had almost all of the life polished out of them. That produced the four known 1922 Plain cent varieties plus the “broken D” coins which crop up now and then.
So this coin fills a last hole and has a story to tell.
Comments
Welcome to the top!
Excellent! This is what the coin collecting hobby is all about.
Pete
A true collecting achievement Bill - CONGRATS!
Ken
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It's a rather pedestrian set. Most of the coins are pieces I grabbed out of circulation when I was 10 to 12 years old. The 1914-D is only a Good I bought for short dollars.
Here's a little "grade-flation." The 1909-S-VDB was graded VF-20 on the ANACS papers. When I had NGC grade it years later, it came in as an EF-45. I think that NGC was actually closer.
Congrats! And what a lovely cent to finish off the run.
Thank you!
EF-45 to AU-50 is the "threshold grade" for the 1922 Plain. After that it gets very pricey, and given the state of the obverse, you don't get that much more for your money. There is no need to go hog wild given the grades for the rest of the set.
Well done, but I think as you once did, the ‘22 plain isn’t really part of the set, any more than the ‘55 DDO. Or perhaps I haven’t grown up yet?
Congrats 🙂
Always nice to complete a set, again.
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Congratulations!
Great story and accomplishment! Congrats Bill! You’ve dedicated yourself to this completion for almost as many years as I’ve been alive.
Zack.
Congrats!
I agree that the 22-plain shouldn't be part of the date/mm set. It is a die state coin. It was a difficult hole to fill for my AU/MS Dansco and because the hole was there... my OCD said I had to put something in it.
So... did you crack it out and fill the hole?
Nope. No crack outs. The 1909-S-VDB was in the album, but I had it graded. You lose a lot on those coins when try to sell them raw. As a dealer I’d buy key date, frequently counterfeited coins raw if I knew they were real, but you to deduct the grading and shipping fees plus an allowance for “unpleasant grading surprises” from the grading companies.
Very nice. I have yet to complete my set which I started several years before you. However, ALL my cents have come from circulation or roll searching. I never expect to complete it. 3 coins missing, 09svdb, 14d and 22 plain. Wish me luck! I have owed all three, multiple times but never acquired in the wild.
bob
1909-S V.D.B. is a distinct variety of the 1909-S Lincoln cent and, as such, is not necessary for inclusion in a date/mm set of Lincolns to call it complete.
The bigger picture is: 1909-S V.D.B. AND 1922 no D AND 1955 DDO are not necessary inclusions to call a date/mm set of Lincolns complete.
Einstein’s view of God was non-traditional and pantheistic, focusing on the harmony, order, and intelligibility of the cosmos rather than a personal deity. His quotes reveal a profound respect for the universe’s mysteries, a belief in rational laws, and a moral philosophy grounded in compassion and understanding, bridging science and spirituality.
“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.”
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Like so many, I started with Lincoln cents out of change, just a couple of years after you did. It was very satisfying when I finally finished the set, also with a 1922 "plain," in 2021. I have done a bit of upgrading since then; Lincoln cents will always be by favorite set.
As to "what constitutes a complete set," that, IMO, is entirely up to the individual. I like interesting varieties, so I also have the 1955 DDO, but I don't think that's a "necessary" part of a complete set. The 1909-S VDB, OTOH, was a distinct, purpose-struck, variety, so I feel that that's a necessary part of a complete set (in addition to being perhaps the most iconic coin in US coinage).
Congratulations
It must feel awesome. Deservedly.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
I strongly disagree with your suggestion that the 1909-SVDB is not a part of a complete date and mint mark collection. That said, you may of course collect any way you want.
Congratulations, Bill. I only need one coin for my childhood set...the 09-S VDB.
Congrats to Bill Jones on finishing his Lincoln penny collection to his satisfaction notwithstanding thoughts about 1909-S V.D.B. not being necessary for completeness.
I'm simply going along with what Q. David Bowers has to say about 1909-S V.D.B. being a variety of Lincoln cent.
Einstein’s view of God was non-traditional and pantheistic, focusing on the harmony, order, and intelligibility of the cosmos rather than a personal deity. His quotes reveal a profound respect for the universe’s mysteries, a belief in rational laws, and a moral philosophy grounded in compassion and understanding, bridging science and spirituality.
“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.”
Albert Einstein (14 March 1879--18 April 1955)
Congratulations, Bill. That's a very decent 1922 "No D."
One quibble on your story. The silver generated by the Pittman Act did go to the British Empire, but it was sent to India, not England. Also, not all of them were melted before being shipped. Many were just rolled flat and shipped that way, presumably in barrels, so that they would only have to be melted once, by the Indian Mint(s) that were pouring ingots that were converted into Rupees. I guess that saved on fuel used.
As to how this resulted in a limited quantity of 1922-D cents being struck in 1922, the story is much more complicated. It involves Silver Certificates, Federal Reserve Bank Notes, the Gold Standard Act of 1900 (as revised in 1919), the closing of the Sub-Treasury System in 1920-21, and the official ending of World War One in November and December of 1921, so far at the United States of America was concerned. All of this is explained in my book on the Cents of 1922.
TD
So did QDB also say that the ‘09 VDB is a variety? And as such perhaps not necessary for a type set as well? I can remember when QDB was pushing for the moniker “Winged Liberty Head” dime or some such. I think he made some headway with that, but not much. We love our traditions.
I'm not one to question much about what QDB has to say about coins.
Einstein’s view of God was non-traditional and pantheistic, focusing on the harmony, order, and intelligibility of the cosmos rather than a personal deity. His quotes reveal a profound respect for the universe’s mysteries, a belief in rational laws, and a moral philosophy grounded in compassion and understanding, bridging science and spirituality.
“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.”
Albert Einstein (14 March 1879--18 April 1955)
Congrats Bill. Love the collection and appreciate your write up!
Very well done.
Congrats Bill.
You may have inspired me to fill the three remaining holes in my childhood Lincoln set albums that sit in my bookshelf. I have bought and sold more than a dozen S-VDBs, a few 1922 No Ds, and a couple of 1955/55. It always has felt like I should just complete the darned album. Maybe I’ll hang on to the next ones and finish the thing.
Nice, Bill. Started with the same album, many years ago and complete two times, W/O the 22. I've never had the opportunity or the funds to own one of those. My last lincoln set resides in a wayte raymond album, alas again w/o the 22. Congrats.
Jim
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Congratulations. I did the same thing recently with my Mercury dime and Washington quarter sets that I started in the 1960’s. I purchased an AG 1916-D and XF 1942/1 dime both slabbed. I purchased the 1932 D&S quarters raw and put them in the folder. I just need to find an interested relative to give them to now. LOL!
These are subjective matters, matters of opinion. I hold QDB in great esteem, but the dividing line between types and varieties is a thin one sometimes. My criteria for type require intent and either a very distinct visual difference or historical relevance. Don’t know QDB’s rationale but VDB’s initials satisfy my criteria. Intentional change with good historical relevance and easy to identify.