Classic Silver Commemoratives - Full Half Dollar Set in Gold CAC

For my 2000th post, I thought this collection was a worthy accomplishment. After two years, five months and five days, I have completed a full set of classic commems half dollars with the gold bean. I was able to acquire 40 of the 48 coins in the first year of the search but the last eight proved to be quite a challenge and the last two, an almost insurmountable task.

To quantify the challenge, here are some of the tougher pops in gold CAC:

Monroe - 2
Sesqui - 3 (including the one I "made")
Hudson - 4
Hawaiian - 5
Alabama/Missouri - 6
Lexington - 7

Finding willing sellers at acceptable pricing was a big challenge, especially when some owners are unwilling to sell at any cost. Thanks to many friends in the community who constantly alerted me to available offerings, the deed is now done:

The quest started with an innocent text from Ben "TheCoinGeek" on February 22nd, 2024 with an offer to purchase these two:

And the obsession was birthed, culminating with the arrival of a rare Missouri Rattler yesterday:

I also have an Isabella with a gold sticker but I have no hope of finding a Lafayette, as only a single coin exists. Now on to the 144 set. Only 60 left to find.....

Tim