My Box of 20 U.S. Coins
STONE
Posts: 15,275 ✭
I felt that I needed to share with the forum members here my box of 20 favorite coins from my collection.
I am not a strict box of 20 collector, in fact I am about 1000+ coins from that, but I agree that 20 coins is a nice number to showcase.
My top 20 favorite coins does change fairly often and in a year I may switch out 5-7 of these for other coins.
I must say that I struggled a bit to find 20 coins that would fit my ideal criteria of coolness, historic, and crusty-ness.
I also recently started using a coin-dome (mine is just the reflector part of a flashlight) and have imaged my raw coins accordingly in order to get the third side imaged.
I have not really organized the images in any strict order, but I have tried to organize them by denomination and type.
(Sorry Copper and Gold fans, I just don't have any nice copper coinage on hand (at the moment
), and my classic $5's just don't make the cut, unfortunately)
These are larger images, so if you have a slower download speed, you may be here a while. (sorry
)
I've also applied a little history of how I acquired each piece to add to the splendor of each coin.
ENJOY
1865 2-Cent Piece (SEGS-65RD) - I love this coin. Still a full red gem with wonderful light green and red toning on both sides.
I primarily picked this coin up for the type and for the fact that it does not have any spots of brown that some RD designated coins have
1913 T1 Buffalo Nickel (PCGS-66) - I recently acquired this coin in a trade from another forum member.
Although this coin doesn't have the strongest strike for its grade, I still love the look of MS T1 Buffalo Nickels.
1920 Buffalo Nickel - I found this coin in a hardware store when I was 5 years old. This is the coin that got me interested in numismatics.
This is by far my most valuable coin and I shall never sell it for th world.
1837 Capped Bust Half-Dime - I acquired this coin late in the summer of 2007 out of a consignment a friend wanted me to sell.
I had never owned a Bust Half-Dime before this, and figured that this coin was the perfect fit to what I was looking for.
1856 Seated Half-Dime (NGC-62) - I recently acquired this coin from a fellow forum member through a trade.
I don't have a strong focus on Seated Half-Dimes, but when I can find a date I need I will pick it up. This coin and the 1872-S
are the only MS Seated Half-Dimes I have ever owned.
1858/1858 Double Date Seated Half-Dime - I acquired this coin from the same consignment as the 1837 Bust Half-Dime.
When I saw this coin, and the date mishap, I knew I should try to acquire it. The grade of the coin and the toning also appealed to me.
My only thing I wish was different about this coin is that there seems to be tiny hairlines from someone trying to remove the toning.
1872-S Seated Half-Dime (PCGS-64) - This is the final coin I acquired in trade from a fellow forum member.
This coin just sings originality and is well struck. I never expected to own an MS-64 Half-Dime before I turned 20.
1807 Draped Bust Dime (NGC-01) - This was just one of those fun coins I saw on eBay raw and managed to pick it up.
I basically bought the coin for its original crust and low grade. I sent it in to NGC hoping for a PO-01, and my hopes were answered.
1814 Capped Bust Dime - This coin came from the late 2007 summer consignment I was working on.
I wanted this coin for its originality and mid-grade condition, not to mention that it's still an earlier date in the series.
1820 Capped Bust Dime - This dime also came from the late 2007 summer consignment I was working on.
Unfortunatley I wasn't able to capture the full circulated deep-cameo look this coin exhibits, but that was the driving force towards acquiring it.
It's an excellent coin for the grade and it has helped grow my passion for Bust Dimes.
1834 Capped Bust Dime (Terminal Die State - Tri-CUD reverse) - I bought this coin from a forum member earlier this year.
I had never owned a Bust coin with a CUD on it, and once I saw that it had three I wanted to acquire this one even more.
I didn't know that Bust Dime CUD's were so valuable or sought after until other offers came forth for several times my purchase price.
1805 Draped Bust Quarter - I bought this coin in January of 2006, after my passion was fueled by the purchase of an 1806/5 and 1807.
At the time it was the most I had spent on any coin (about $150), but I knew that this type of coin was still a sleeper in the Bust series.
I primarily bought the coin for its originality and grade; any grade higher and I would surely have gone broke. When I started collecting
and acquiring bust quarters in late 2005, I was primarily doing it so that my collecting prowless would coincide with the publication of the
new Bust Quarter book(s). Little did I know that I would reluctantly have to wait another 2.5 years until the first book got published.
1822 Capped Bust Quarter - This was the 20th coin I plucked from my collection to add to my box of 20. It was tough to find the
last coin to add since I had already added so many other Bust coins. I chose this coin because of the difficulty in acquiring this date
in an undamaged state. I know its no better than a G-4, but I'm happy to have added it now than to wait years down the road.
1825/4/2 Capped Bust Quarter (Terminal Die State R7 - Reverse CUD) - This coin has been a delight to own and has a great story to go with it.
(Note that I am calling this an 1825/4/2 instead of the primary 1825/4/3, because John Dannreuther just recently published that the overdate is
over a 2 and not a 3.) In March of 2008 the spring ANA show came to Phoenix, and I was going to school in Tucson and I didn't want to miss this
large show fairly close to where I was living. I went up with a nice chunk of cash in my pocket looking for early Bust Dimes and Halves. I was at
the show for about 6 hours without finding THE coin that was calling my name. My ride wanted to get going so I asked for 10 or 15 minutes to
finish browsing. With about 5 minutes to go, I reluctantly started searching through a dealers junk box in hopes of buying at least one coin before
leaving. Most of the coins were bullion SAE's or Morgans, but there was one coin that was darker than the rest which seemed to call my name. It
was noted on the cardboard 2x2 as being an 1825/2 Bust Quarter, with the words "Rev. CUD" lightly penciled on. It didn't look that nice in the 2x2,
but I didn't care since the asking price was only $40. I hoped the CUD would make this at least an R5 coin, but I didn't know since I never knew, at
the time, how rare full CUD's on Bust Quarters really were. After some research back at home, I found that this coin was actually an R7 and worth
considerably more that what I had paid. The lesson of this was that patience really does pay off!!!
1846/846 Seated Quarter - I picked this coin up at Hallenbeck's during the 2007 Summer Seminar in Colorado Springs.
I was already going to buy it since it was only $35 or $40, but then when I looked through my loupe I could see the doubled date
and knew that I had to acquire this coin.
1795 Flowing Hair Half (ANACS-3 details, scrathed) - I picked this up on eBay, raw with extremely lousy images, in December of 2006.
I paid just over $150 for it, and the only identifying marker I could find on this coin to ensure me that it was authentic were the
dual-die-cracked obverse at 12-2 o'clock. I subsequently submitted this to ANACS for encapsulation and received the exact grade
I was expecting. This is my only Flowing Hair coin I own, and it turns out that it's one of the cooler 1795 FH varieties.
If you can't see the date from my image, don't worry, the date is gone due to weak striking of the die and the low grade of the coin.
1807 Draped Bust Half - I bought this coin from our own Ed Richter in his consignment from his friend. I was hesitant to
purchase a DBH in better than VG condition since prices usually go up quite a bit past there, especially if its original. I reluctantly
made the purchase and found that this coin looked twice as good as Ed's poor old scan could get it. This coin is absolutely
original and I hope to keep it for a long time.
1811 Capped Bust Half - I also bought this coin from Ed Richter in one of his blind-bid auctions. Again, the scan Ed made
was a lot worse than when this coin arrived at my doorstep. This coin has original golden luster to it and the edge lettering
is slightly mis-done. This is also one of my better CBH's in my collection.
1844-O Seated Half (Blundered Date) - This is my favorite cherrypick of all time and the story is just as good.
It was my last day of High School as a senior, the day was cut short for seniors because of this, and I had 3 hours to kill before
track practice started. I figured I would hit the local B&M, since I hadn't been in there in several months. I really wasn't looking
for anything in particular, and I only had $50 or so in my pocket; I even forgot to bring my standard 16x loupe. I got to the shop,
looked around a bit, and asked if they had any Seated Halves in mid-grade condition. They showed me a box with about 6-7
coins, but only 2-3 were in my price range. I was also searching for early dated seated material and took out this 1844-O to
examine. It looked nice, VG+ condition, and only $35 (enough money left-over for lunch). I was pretty much set on this coin, but
I wanted to look at it closer for any anomolies. As soon as I saw the date I couldn't believe my eyes, and I needed to do a double
take. I wasn't very familiar with error date seated halves at the time, but I knew 3-4 from the 1840's were pretty valuable. With
my poker face on, I handed the owner my money, calmly walked out the door, and started frantically looking through my red book
to see if I had scored a big one. YES I DID...
You don't even need to see the overdate through a magnifying device. But once you do see the overdate through a loupe, you can never miss seeing it again.
1847 Seated Dollar (NGC-01) - This coin I purchased also from ebay noting its originality and extremely worn surface.
This was the second Seated Dollar I ever purcased and the price was very cheap; somewhere around $50-55. This is the
most worn Seated Dollar I have ever seen in a TPG holder, and the grade is unique at NGC.
I am not a strict box of 20 collector, in fact I am about 1000+ coins from that, but I agree that 20 coins is a nice number to showcase.
My top 20 favorite coins does change fairly often and in a year I may switch out 5-7 of these for other coins.
I must say that I struggled a bit to find 20 coins that would fit my ideal criteria of coolness, historic, and crusty-ness.
I also recently started using a coin-dome (mine is just the reflector part of a flashlight) and have imaged my raw coins accordingly in order to get the third side imaged.
I have not really organized the images in any strict order, but I have tried to organize them by denomination and type.
(Sorry Copper and Gold fans, I just don't have any nice copper coinage on hand (at the moment
), and my classic $5's just don't make the cut, unfortunately)These are larger images, so if you have a slower download speed, you may be here a while. (sorry
)I've also applied a little history of how I acquired each piece to add to the splendor of each coin.
ENJOY
1865 2-Cent Piece (SEGS-65RD) - I love this coin. Still a full red gem with wonderful light green and red toning on both sides.
I primarily picked this coin up for the type and for the fact that it does not have any spots of brown that some RD designated coins have
1913 T1 Buffalo Nickel (PCGS-66) - I recently acquired this coin in a trade from another forum member.
Although this coin doesn't have the strongest strike for its grade, I still love the look of MS T1 Buffalo Nickels.
1920 Buffalo Nickel - I found this coin in a hardware store when I was 5 years old. This is the coin that got me interested in numismatics.
This is by far my most valuable coin and I shall never sell it for th world.
1837 Capped Bust Half-Dime - I acquired this coin late in the summer of 2007 out of a consignment a friend wanted me to sell.
I had never owned a Bust Half-Dime before this, and figured that this coin was the perfect fit to what I was looking for.
1856 Seated Half-Dime (NGC-62) - I recently acquired this coin from a fellow forum member through a trade.
I don't have a strong focus on Seated Half-Dimes, but when I can find a date I need I will pick it up. This coin and the 1872-S
are the only MS Seated Half-Dimes I have ever owned.
1858/1858 Double Date Seated Half-Dime - I acquired this coin from the same consignment as the 1837 Bust Half-Dime.
When I saw this coin, and the date mishap, I knew I should try to acquire it. The grade of the coin and the toning also appealed to me.
My only thing I wish was different about this coin is that there seems to be tiny hairlines from someone trying to remove the toning.
1872-S Seated Half-Dime (PCGS-64) - This is the final coin I acquired in trade from a fellow forum member.
This coin just sings originality and is well struck. I never expected to own an MS-64 Half-Dime before I turned 20.
1807 Draped Bust Dime (NGC-01) - This was just one of those fun coins I saw on eBay raw and managed to pick it up.
I basically bought the coin for its original crust and low grade. I sent it in to NGC hoping for a PO-01, and my hopes were answered.
1814 Capped Bust Dime - This coin came from the late 2007 summer consignment I was working on.
I wanted this coin for its originality and mid-grade condition, not to mention that it's still an earlier date in the series.
1820 Capped Bust Dime - This dime also came from the late 2007 summer consignment I was working on.
Unfortunatley I wasn't able to capture the full circulated deep-cameo look this coin exhibits, but that was the driving force towards acquiring it.
It's an excellent coin for the grade and it has helped grow my passion for Bust Dimes.
1834 Capped Bust Dime (Terminal Die State - Tri-CUD reverse) - I bought this coin from a forum member earlier this year.
I had never owned a Bust coin with a CUD on it, and once I saw that it had three I wanted to acquire this one even more.
I didn't know that Bust Dime CUD's were so valuable or sought after until other offers came forth for several times my purchase price.
1805 Draped Bust Quarter - I bought this coin in January of 2006, after my passion was fueled by the purchase of an 1806/5 and 1807.
At the time it was the most I had spent on any coin (about $150), but I knew that this type of coin was still a sleeper in the Bust series.
I primarily bought the coin for its originality and grade; any grade higher and I would surely have gone broke. When I started collecting
and acquiring bust quarters in late 2005, I was primarily doing it so that my collecting prowless would coincide with the publication of the
new Bust Quarter book(s). Little did I know that I would reluctantly have to wait another 2.5 years until the first book got published.
1822 Capped Bust Quarter - This was the 20th coin I plucked from my collection to add to my box of 20. It was tough to find the
last coin to add since I had already added so many other Bust coins. I chose this coin because of the difficulty in acquiring this date
in an undamaged state. I know its no better than a G-4, but I'm happy to have added it now than to wait years down the road.
1825/4/2 Capped Bust Quarter (Terminal Die State R7 - Reverse CUD) - This coin has been a delight to own and has a great story to go with it.
(Note that I am calling this an 1825/4/2 instead of the primary 1825/4/3, because John Dannreuther just recently published that the overdate is
over a 2 and not a 3.) In March of 2008 the spring ANA show came to Phoenix, and I was going to school in Tucson and I didn't want to miss this
large show fairly close to where I was living. I went up with a nice chunk of cash in my pocket looking for early Bust Dimes and Halves. I was at
the show for about 6 hours without finding THE coin that was calling my name. My ride wanted to get going so I asked for 10 or 15 minutes to
finish browsing. With about 5 minutes to go, I reluctantly started searching through a dealers junk box in hopes of buying at least one coin before
leaving. Most of the coins were bullion SAE's or Morgans, but there was one coin that was darker than the rest which seemed to call my name. It
was noted on the cardboard 2x2 as being an 1825/2 Bust Quarter, with the words "Rev. CUD" lightly penciled on. It didn't look that nice in the 2x2,
but I didn't care since the asking price was only $40. I hoped the CUD would make this at least an R5 coin, but I didn't know since I never knew, at
the time, how rare full CUD's on Bust Quarters really were. After some research back at home, I found that this coin was actually an R7 and worth
considerably more that what I had paid. The lesson of this was that patience really does pay off!!!
1846/846 Seated Quarter - I picked this coin up at Hallenbeck's during the 2007 Summer Seminar in Colorado Springs.
I was already going to buy it since it was only $35 or $40, but then when I looked through my loupe I could see the doubled date
and knew that I had to acquire this coin.
1795 Flowing Hair Half (ANACS-3 details, scrathed) - I picked this up on eBay, raw with extremely lousy images, in December of 2006.
I paid just over $150 for it, and the only identifying marker I could find on this coin to ensure me that it was authentic were the
dual-die-cracked obverse at 12-2 o'clock. I subsequently submitted this to ANACS for encapsulation and received the exact grade
I was expecting. This is my only Flowing Hair coin I own, and it turns out that it's one of the cooler 1795 FH varieties.
If you can't see the date from my image, don't worry, the date is gone due to weak striking of the die and the low grade of the coin.
1807 Draped Bust Half - I bought this coin from our own Ed Richter in his consignment from his friend. I was hesitant to
purchase a DBH in better than VG condition since prices usually go up quite a bit past there, especially if its original. I reluctantly
made the purchase and found that this coin looked twice as good as Ed's poor old scan could get it. This coin is absolutely
original and I hope to keep it for a long time.
1811 Capped Bust Half - I also bought this coin from Ed Richter in one of his blind-bid auctions. Again, the scan Ed made
was a lot worse than when this coin arrived at my doorstep. This coin has original golden luster to it and the edge lettering
is slightly mis-done. This is also one of my better CBH's in my collection.
1844-O Seated Half (Blundered Date) - This is my favorite cherrypick of all time and the story is just as good.
It was my last day of High School as a senior, the day was cut short for seniors because of this, and I had 3 hours to kill before
track practice started. I figured I would hit the local B&M, since I hadn't been in there in several months. I really wasn't looking
for anything in particular, and I only had $50 or so in my pocket; I even forgot to bring my standard 16x loupe. I got to the shop,
looked around a bit, and asked if they had any Seated Halves in mid-grade condition. They showed me a box with about 6-7
coins, but only 2-3 were in my price range. I was also searching for early dated seated material and took out this 1844-O to
examine. It looked nice, VG+ condition, and only $35 (enough money left-over for lunch). I was pretty much set on this coin, but
I wanted to look at it closer for any anomolies. As soon as I saw the date I couldn't believe my eyes, and I needed to do a double
take. I wasn't very familiar with error date seated halves at the time, but I knew 3-4 from the 1840's were pretty valuable. With
my poker face on, I handed the owner my money, calmly walked out the door, and started frantically looking through my red book
to see if I had scored a big one. YES I DID...
You don't even need to see the overdate through a magnifying device. But once you do see the overdate through a loupe, you can never miss seeing it again.
1847 Seated Dollar (NGC-01) - This coin I purchased also from ebay noting its originality and extremely worn surface.
This was the second Seated Dollar I ever purcased and the price was very cheap; somewhere around $50-55. This is the
most worn Seated Dollar I have ever seen in a TPG holder, and the grade is unique at NGC.
0
Comments
all nice coins with the exception of this one. it should have a pink designation, not red.
sorry, but i understand why it's in a segs tomb.
Great set. The descriptions and comments were very interesting.
It is so cool being able to image a coin and seeing the edge at the same time; now it's time to count reeds!!!
Thanks all for the comments on this coin assemblage.
Edited to add: Dizzy, I'm fine with holding on to them right now.
U.S. Type Set
Thanks for putting it all together for our enjoyment!
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
I enjoy these types of posts more than any other- someone sharing what has caught their eye and the sets they've put together. I especially enjoyed the time you spent giving the reasons/history that these coins made your top twenty.
It is a quirky box with some really neat stuff- from the overdates and cud coins to the nice selection of bust coins.
My personal favorites are the 25/4/2 quarter with the reverse cud and the 1820 dime (really like the "look" of that one). Of course, the 1837 half dime is the one I covet!
Nice job- thanks for taking the time to post it.
-Randy Newman
Visit my son's caringbridge page @ Runner's Caringbridge Page
"To Give Anything Less than Your Best, Is to Sacrifice the Gift" - Steve Prefontaine
By the way, great thread idea, and I think I will steal it at some point in the future.
<< <i>I think your 1858 half dime is actually the "1858 repunched over high date" variety, not the 1858/Inverted 1858. The good news there is that the repunched high date is about 10 times scarcer than the (overrated, overpriced) 1858/Inverted. I do not possess an example of the repunched high date in my "complete" set of Seated H10c. Can someone else confirm my attribution? >>
This calls for Mr.HalfDime. Quick, someone light the beacon!!!
Apparently the Mint was having problems striking the date into the exergue of the obverse dies during this period, resulting in some spectacular repunched date varieties. Nowhere is this more evident than for the 1858 date. The die shop was using a multi-digit gang punch, or logotype, with all four date numerals ganged into one punch. Presumably, this would not only save time over the previous method of striking the four individual date numerals one at a time, but also would provide better and more uniform alignment of the date numerals. For the 1858 Inverted Date variety, the die sink struck the date numerals into a working die with reasonable alignment in the exergue, but had the gang punch upside down! When he noticed his error, he attempted to efface the errant date numerals by heavily lapping the die. When most of the evidence of the upside down numerals was removed, he then struck the date into the die once again, this time with proper alignment. For the coins struck from this obverse die, particularly for early die states, the errant numerals can be seen in between the properly aligned numerals. The last 8 of the date can be seen upside down between the 1 and 8 of the date, the 5 of the date can be seen upside down in between the 8 and 5 of the properly aligned date, the first 8 of the date can be seen upside down in between the 5 and 8 of the date, and the 1 can be seen to the right of the final 8 of the properly aligned date.
For the 1858/1858 Doubled Date B10 variety, much the same scenario occurred in the die shop, however the first strike of the date in the working die was right side up this time, but much too high. The die sink once again attempted to lap, or abrade, the misplaced date numerals from the die, and then repunched the date in the proper position. For coins struck from this obverse die, the errant numerals can be seen not in between the proper date numerals, but inside the final struck numerals. Looking at your coin, you can readily see the base of the first struck 1 half way up the final 1. Similarly, you can see the base of the first struck 8 inside the lower loop of the final struck 8. In corresponding fashion, the 5 and final 8 can be seen inside the lower loops of the final digits. Your coin appears to be a relatively early die state of the B10, with excellent evidence of the underdigits. Later die states exhibit significantly less of the underdigits.
As Rhedden pointed out, the 1858/1858 Doubled Date B10 half dime is approximately 10 times scarcer than the 1858 Inverted Date B9 half dime. In slightly later die states, the reverse die becomes clashed, as on your coin. I have a very late die state example where the clashing is so severe, the obverse stars are distinctly visible within the letters ITED of the legend on the reverse.
Nice coin, nice cherry pick from your own collection, and nice toning. And a very nice box of 20.
I will make the correction in a minute.