100 Greatest Matte Proof Lincolns
WingedLiberty1957
Posts: 2,992 ✭✭✭✭✭
I had the idea to put together a new website honoring & promoting Matte Proof Lincolns about 6 weeks ago -- and since I already had an interest in colorfully toned coins -- and further, have always wondered if it's possible to actually rank coins based on visual appeal (and what that process might look like) -- I tried to marry these ideas into a new site. In any case, the dust has finally settled on that endeavor, and I would love to have some feedback:
So please take a look and tell me what you think ...
“100 Greatest (Most Beautiful) Matte Proof Lincolns -- Homage to Color and Visual Appeal”
http://100GreatestMatteProofLincolns.com
For the purposes of this website, rankings were based on visual appeal (including interesting color) with some small influence of assigned grade/condition, but only as that secondary aspect adds to the overall appearance. Because of this some lower graded coins will be ranked higher than some higher graded coins.
Please note that the rank shown is based on a consensus ranking from a number of top MPL owners and experts, who submitted votes over a two week period. Also a number of people provided their labor of love to this endeavor, of special recognition is Robec, who spent many hours toiling at image generation and providing input and feedback. Others that were instrumental in submitting votes and/or comments & feedback were: Brian Wagner of BW's Hall of Fame, Jonathan W. of the McCullugh Collection, Rich S. of Gobrecht's Raisinets, Matt C. of Matt's Mattes, Paul of PaulsPennies, Tom of The Tom Bender Registry Set, Robec of MPLs-Lincolns-of-Color, Kevin Flynn of the book Matte Proof Lincolns, Stewart Blay, Duane Blake, the owner of the O'Connor Matte Proof Lincoln Set, the owner of The Withers Collection, and many others. This site would not be possible if not for the contributions of photos of MPLs by their many owners and the passion they bring to this wonderful hobby.
It should be noted that full Red (RD) Matte Proofs were at somewhat of a disadvantage in the ranking system utilized by this site since, for our purposes, eye-catching color carried a substantial influence in ranking a coins visual appeal. For this reason, pages were developed on this website to separate MPLs by color (BN, RB, & RD) so that MPLs in each color class had a chance to compete with other coins in their particular color category only. Another problem we had was many of the top Red (RD) MPLs had no high-quality, professional photographs available. However due to the emphasis of this website on "color", it's unclear how much of an impact that had on these listed rankings. In any case, we were disappointed that we could not acquire photographs of the few PR68 RD in existance and some of the top PR67s. So I am aware that the listing of RD MPL's is short and incomplete.
We don't expect everyone to agree with the rank (that's the nature of a consensus), but certainly the conversation is a fun one. We do realize this is a controversial endeavor, and that opinions will vary widely, however keep in mind this is being done as an interesting visual-appeal case study of a short series of coins -- and we hope this helps initiate more conversation on how to judge and/or rank a coin's visual appeal ... and help to promote this very rare, beautiful, and interesting coin series.
A number of VERY INTERESTING statistics fell out of this work, and they are outlined on the RANK BY DATE pages as well as on the STATISTICS page.
One of our biggest hopes was that the existence of this site might "shake out" more top colorful and eye-appealing MPLs from the general collecting community. We fully expect that there are probably many MPLs that are not on this site, that deserve to be. So if you have an MPL that you think is deserving of a top 100 ranking (or better a top 40 ranking) be sure to send us the relevant information and a link to an image through our contact form. However, please look at your coins objectively! We have found that ownership of a coin seems to cause some rank inflation. Most think coins that they own are better than everyone else's. Keep in mind that there are (probably) roughly 5,000 Matte Proof Lincolns in existence, and this website features only the top 100, or only the top 2%.
For those that want to submit MPLs for consideration, keep in mind that a beautiful, high-quality, and professional photograph goes a long way in presenting your MPL in the best light. More than 70% of all the MPL photographs on the website were shot though PCGS’s TrueView (out-of-the-slab) photographic service, which seems to present most coins at their best -- and levels the playing field (so to speak) when comparing one photograph to another since you remove the degree of freedom of differences in photographers, equipment, lighting, techniques, and style. We do realize that some cannot use that service since they might have an OGH they want to keep, or may feel uneasy about exposing their pricey MPLs to the elements, even for a short time. We certainly can work around these limiting factors. A number of other excellent professional coin photographers, that do through-the-slab photography, are available to people with those concerns. The photographer for all coins displayed on the MPL site are listed, so you can get a view of the work of various top coin photographers.
This website broke down the rankings into 3 categories: by OVERALL POSITION, by DATE, and by COLOR CLASS. Each of these breakdowns are linked through rows of navigation buttons at the top of the website. The OVERALL RANK buttons are named: #1-#20, #21-#40, … , #81-#100. The HonorableMention page is for coins that just missed making the top 100 and may serve as a temporary staging ground for new MPLs that we pickup through public submissions. Once enough new MPLs are picked up ... another round of voting may ensue to place these new MPLs in the top 100 (and knock currently ranked coins out). Please note that we may choose not to include some MPLs submitted if we feel they do not have a shot at a top 100 position -- so there could be some pre-screening of coins submitted.
Also we also realize that as you drop down below rank #50 or so, the differences between coins tends to compress, -- and in general there is much less difference between a coin ranked #50 and #100 as there is at the top of the list (say between a coin ranked #1 and #49). So don’t get too upset if you think a lower ranked coin is too low. There is simply not that much difference between the lower ranked coins, and differences in opinion seems to widen as you drop down on the list. It might be better to think of these coins in terms of their page – that is, a Page 1 coin (top 20) vs. a Page 3 coin (#41-60) vs. a Page 5 coin (#81-100).
Feel free to post your comments, questions, and suggestions to this thread.
So please take a look and tell me what you think ...
“100 Greatest (Most Beautiful) Matte Proof Lincolns -- Homage to Color and Visual Appeal”
http://100GreatestMatteProofLincolns.com
For the purposes of this website, rankings were based on visual appeal (including interesting color) with some small influence of assigned grade/condition, but only as that secondary aspect adds to the overall appearance. Because of this some lower graded coins will be ranked higher than some higher graded coins.
Please note that the rank shown is based on a consensus ranking from a number of top MPL owners and experts, who submitted votes over a two week period. Also a number of people provided their labor of love to this endeavor, of special recognition is Robec, who spent many hours toiling at image generation and providing input and feedback. Others that were instrumental in submitting votes and/or comments & feedback were: Brian Wagner of BW's Hall of Fame, Jonathan W. of the McCullugh Collection, Rich S. of Gobrecht's Raisinets, Matt C. of Matt's Mattes, Paul of PaulsPennies, Tom of The Tom Bender Registry Set, Robec of MPLs-Lincolns-of-Color, Kevin Flynn of the book Matte Proof Lincolns, Stewart Blay, Duane Blake, the owner of the O'Connor Matte Proof Lincoln Set, the owner of The Withers Collection, and many others. This site would not be possible if not for the contributions of photos of MPLs by their many owners and the passion they bring to this wonderful hobby.
It should be noted that full Red (RD) Matte Proofs were at somewhat of a disadvantage in the ranking system utilized by this site since, for our purposes, eye-catching color carried a substantial influence in ranking a coins visual appeal. For this reason, pages were developed on this website to separate MPLs by color (BN, RB, & RD) so that MPLs in each color class had a chance to compete with other coins in their particular color category only. Another problem we had was many of the top Red (RD) MPLs had no high-quality, professional photographs available. However due to the emphasis of this website on "color", it's unclear how much of an impact that had on these listed rankings. In any case, we were disappointed that we could not acquire photographs of the few PR68 RD in existance and some of the top PR67s. So I am aware that the listing of RD MPL's is short and incomplete.
We don't expect everyone to agree with the rank (that's the nature of a consensus), but certainly the conversation is a fun one. We do realize this is a controversial endeavor, and that opinions will vary widely, however keep in mind this is being done as an interesting visual-appeal case study of a short series of coins -- and we hope this helps initiate more conversation on how to judge and/or rank a coin's visual appeal ... and help to promote this very rare, beautiful, and interesting coin series.
A number of VERY INTERESTING statistics fell out of this work, and they are outlined on the RANK BY DATE pages as well as on the STATISTICS page.
One of our biggest hopes was that the existence of this site might "shake out" more top colorful and eye-appealing MPLs from the general collecting community. We fully expect that there are probably many MPLs that are not on this site, that deserve to be. So if you have an MPL that you think is deserving of a top 100 ranking (or better a top 40 ranking) be sure to send us the relevant information and a link to an image through our contact form. However, please look at your coins objectively! We have found that ownership of a coin seems to cause some rank inflation. Most think coins that they own are better than everyone else's. Keep in mind that there are (probably) roughly 5,000 Matte Proof Lincolns in existence, and this website features only the top 100, or only the top 2%.
For those that want to submit MPLs for consideration, keep in mind that a beautiful, high-quality, and professional photograph goes a long way in presenting your MPL in the best light. More than 70% of all the MPL photographs on the website were shot though PCGS’s TrueView (out-of-the-slab) photographic service, which seems to present most coins at their best -- and levels the playing field (so to speak) when comparing one photograph to another since you remove the degree of freedom of differences in photographers, equipment, lighting, techniques, and style. We do realize that some cannot use that service since they might have an OGH they want to keep, or may feel uneasy about exposing their pricey MPLs to the elements, even for a short time. We certainly can work around these limiting factors. A number of other excellent professional coin photographers, that do through-the-slab photography, are available to people with those concerns. The photographer for all coins displayed on the MPL site are listed, so you can get a view of the work of various top coin photographers.
This website broke down the rankings into 3 categories: by OVERALL POSITION, by DATE, and by COLOR CLASS. Each of these breakdowns are linked through rows of navigation buttons at the top of the website. The OVERALL RANK buttons are named: #1-#20, #21-#40, … , #81-#100. The HonorableMention page is for coins that just missed making the top 100 and may serve as a temporary staging ground for new MPLs that we pickup through public submissions. Once enough new MPLs are picked up ... another round of voting may ensue to place these new MPLs in the top 100 (and knock currently ranked coins out). Please note that we may choose not to include some MPLs submitted if we feel they do not have a shot at a top 100 position -- so there could be some pre-screening of coins submitted.
Also we also realize that as you drop down below rank #50 or so, the differences between coins tends to compress, -- and in general there is much less difference between a coin ranked #50 and #100 as there is at the top of the list (say between a coin ranked #1 and #49). So don’t get too upset if you think a lower ranked coin is too low. There is simply not that much difference between the lower ranked coins, and differences in opinion seems to widen as you drop down on the list. It might be better to think of these coins in terms of their page – that is, a Page 1 coin (top 20) vs. a Page 3 coin (#41-60) vs. a Page 5 coin (#81-100).
Feel free to post your comments, questions, and suggestions to this thread.
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Comments
Recipient of the coveted "You Suck" award, April 2009 for cherrypicking a 1833 CBHD LM-5, and April 2022 for a 1835 LM-12, and again in Aug 2012 for picking off a 1952 FS-902.
JH
Proof Buffalo Registry Set
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My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
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Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
<< <i>An impressive effort, visually pleasing and numismatically interesting! Thank you for sharing your work and your vision. >>
Ditto!
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
<< <i>An impressive effort, visually pleasing and numismatically interesting! Thank you for sharing your work and your vision. >>
x 2
Additionally, looks like I might need to get a TrueView photo of my 1909 to have any chance of jumping higher in the rankings as the photos I provided just don't do the coin 100% justice.
Michael Kittle Rare Coins --- 1908-S Indian Head Cent Grading Set --- No. 1 1909 Mint Set --- Kittlecoins on Facebook --- Long Beach Table 448
Thanks for taking the time and effort.
Mike
<< <i>Like you mention, it really isn't the 100 greatest matte proof Lincolns as many look different than the photos in hand and many with poor photos are really better coins than a single photo could ever show. Of course, we know there are many other great matte proofs which don't have any photo at all and are not included. In any event, it's definitely the 100 best available photos of matte proof Lincolns so far... well done and very fun to look at
Illini, you hit the nail on the head!! One of my thoughts in this whole process was ... is this a ranking of coins ? or a ranking of photographs?
Certainly our hope was that everyone would have a photograph available that presented their coin in the best light. Our surpise was that a lot of people didn't! It should be noted that many of the people that submitted feedback on ranking have actually SEEN some (sometimes many) of the coins in hand, and their rankings often reflected their thoughts of the coin in hand and not necessarily the photograph. The rub comes in, however, with how do you place a coin in a ranked list if you've never seen the coin in hand -- in that case you HAVE to rely on the photograph and hope it does a reasonable job of reflecting the coin in hand (at least from one (possibly optimal) lighting and viewing angle).
It was nice that so many MPL's had "out of the slab" photographs through PCGS's TrueView service. Not having the slab plastic in the way was an INCREDIBLE advantage in terms of capturing the rich color of many MPLs -- since very often, the exact lighting and viewing angle that allowed the color to "pop", also caused glare on any slab plastic in the way to "pop" as well, degrading the photograph. So photographers shooting through the slab often had to work much harder to overcome these sort of limitations. I found it very helpful that so many of the MPLs in the list were photographed by 1 person, effectively removing that degree of freedom of trying to compare photos from a lot of different photographers using different techniques, lighting, equipment, etc. Fortunately, there were a suprisingly small number of photographers that are listed on the site associated with these (preliminarily ranked) top 100 MPLs -- so at least we are not looking at 100 photographs shot by 100 different photographers!
So bottom line, yes, definitely try to get an out-of-the-slab TrueView of your ranked MPL -- and send it in when you get it. A better, more revealing photograph will definitely impact a coins rank (could be up or down). For many that voted, the photograph was all they had to go on.
In any case, just remember this is purely an "opinion piece" -- and controversy will always come into play with any sort of ranking (especially with something so purely subjective such as this). Just think of how often you have disagreed with the winner of a Miss America contest! Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. If nothing else at least an attempt was made to pull together a group of eye appealing coins all in one place, all formatted roughly the same so that side by side comparisons are easier to make. Just a bit of visual dynamite! And then the fun part ... light the match and ask the question of how should one judge "beauty", what are the rules, what are the criteria, what process do you go through in your own head when making a determination of do you like the way a coin looks, and how much do you like it when compared to other coins. Take a look at the list and try to come up with your own top 100. It's an interesting and eye-opening endeavor.
On a very related topic, Duane Blake wrote a very interesting research article asking the question: is it possible to objectify "eye appeal" and his unique solution -- it's excerpted under the "Eye Appeal" link top right in the list of navigation buttons.
All really interesting questions and I hope this site offers some fuel to further that discussion!
My Coin Blog
My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
<< <i>A truly fantastic job, one wonders if a small booklet couldn't be achieved with what you set forth.....simple great work! >>
Since the intent of this site is not for monetary gain, don't you think this method more cost effective than spending hundreds or thousands of dollars required for printing a few pages containing beautiful color photos. I'm also sure there is a minimum number of copies required for a printing. Moreover, a small booklet is static, whereas this website will likely always be in a state of flux with continual updating. This site also has the capability for instant feedback and suggestions. I doubt you'll find many small booklets where this is possible.
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
Empty Nest Collection
(At least in this preliminary rank)
Having five of the top twenty most beautful MPLs is a feat and a tribute to your critical eye.
My Coin Blog
My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
<< <i>And congratulations Renomedphys on owning a full 25% of all the page 1 (top 20) MPLs!
(At least in this preliminary rank)
Having five of the top twenty most beautful MPLs is a feat and a tribute to your critical eye. >>
Sure, but it still pains me to see so many others that I had to give up along the way, especially #12, the 1914 in PR66+RB. I made that coin in that holder, and it does have the most perfect reverse I've ever seen on a Lincoln. Several others on your list are equally painful, too short lived in my set.
Empty Nest Collection
Russ, NCNE
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
i'm sure your visit counter will soar.
again, just super!
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase/2819
page here in the forum my eyes were immediately drawn to the one coin that did
not have any color on it (almost none). Like the original from the mint color was the most impressive
of all when compared to all the others.
<< <i>Beautiful site, beautiful. >>
add a stunning and +1
What a well constructed fluid site. I want one!
MJ
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
But #40 needs to be kicked up into the top ten fa' shnizzle!
<< <i>I found it interesting that when looking at the display of all the proofs on that
page here in the forum my eyes were immediately drawn to the one coin that did
not have any color on it (almost none). Like the original from the mint color was the most impressive
of all when compared to all the others.
One of my favorites two or three MPL's. I'd love to see some photos of the top Red MPL's.
- Bob -
MPL's - Lincolns of Color
Central Valley Roosevelts
I agree that you need to bring the font size up. And I would replace the red text -- always harder to read, with cyan. Still keeps it colorful but easier on the eyes.
Wonderful coins. Amazing how many must have sat in mint tissue for so many years.
Lance.
Many members on this forum that now it cannot fit in my signature. Please ask for entire list.
You have created an amazing web site for the MPL's. Congratulations to you and all the contributors for this. I, for one, will keep this thread on my subscribed list in the today section.
Steve
I also note you have made efforts to provide mintage details for the nine MPL's. There is conflicting numbers because two researchers, Kevin Flynn and Roger Burdette have found conflicting numbers at the US Archives. This conflict causes confusion in determining remaining quantities for each date. The detail support for the Red Book numbers comes from a report provided to Whitman publishing by Roger Burdette. Kevin Flynn's numbers are well documented in his 2009 book on MPL's. In the 2012 Red Book, the mintage for the 1916 MPL was changed back to the "traditional" number of 1,050 from 600 that was used for a few years. I have tried to get Dennis Tucker, Whitman's publisher, to provide detail support to the hobby for the numbers they publish annually in the Red Book. I have been unsuccessfull. Perhaps you and some of the owners of these beautiful coins can convince Dennis (DENTUCK here) that it is in the hobby's best interest to have one set of mintage numbers that is accepted by the hobby. As you probably know, all the other major coin publications such as Coin World use the "traditional" 1980 Red Book mintages.
My Complete PROOF Lincoln Cent with Major Varieties(1909-2015)Set Registry
Whatever you are, be a good one. ---- Abraham Lincoln
<< <i>WL, You have created an amazing web site for the MPL's. Congratulations to you and all the contributors for this. I, for one, will keep this thread on my subscribed list in the today section. Steve : ) I also note you have made efforts to provide mintage details for the nine MPL's. There is conflicting numbers because two researchers, Kevin Flynn and Roger Burdette have found conflicting numbers at the US Archives. This conflict causes confusion in determining remaining quantities for each date. The detail support for the Red Book numbers comes from a report provided to Whitman publishing by Roger Burdette. Kevin Flynn's numbers are well documented in his 2009 book on MPL's. In the 2012 Red Book, the mintage for the 1916 MPL was changed back to the "traditional" number of 1,050 from 600 that was used for a few years. I have tried to get Dennis Tucker, Whitman's publisher, to provide detail support to the hobby for the numbers they publish annually in the Red Book. I have been unsuccessfull. Perhaps you and some of the owners of these beautiful coins can convince Dennis (DENTUCK here) that it is in the hobby's best interest to have one set of mintage numbers that is accepted by the hobby. As you probably know, all the other major coin publications such as Coin World use the "traditional" 1980 Red Book mintages. >>
(Thanks for all the positive comments everyone!)
Hey Steve, Thanks for the nice feedback! Yes I totally agree with you about the really unusual controversy on the mintage numbers. For those that didnt see it, I outlined some of these differences at the top of the STATISTICS page. Kevin Flynn did a lot of work trying to acquire correct numbers back in 2009, so I ended up using his numbers as the accepted number -- however I did make a table of how these numbers have changed over the years using different sources (a 1980 Redbook, a 2009 Redbook, and 2009 Flynn) on that aforementioned STATISTICS page. The fact that these numbers have changed again in newer sources is really interesting.
I think that, ultimately, more illuminating than the original estimated mintages are the slab counts. I therefore computed PCGS + NGC slab counts for each date as well as PCGS-only slab counts, (based on statistics available back in November (2011)). And both of these numbers are outlined in the RANK BY DATE pages. Slab counts give a better feel for how many of these coins are probably out there in the marketplace. Since there are few raw MPLs, and even fewer MPLs slabbed by other services, floating around out there. I did make it clear on the STATISTICS page (but not so much on the RANK BY DATE pages) that these slab counts are all too high since I dont believe either service accounts for coins submitted multiple times, and I know of a few MPLs that have had 3 different PCGS certification numbers in their lifetime. So even the amazingly low slab counts, noted on the website, are too high!
Of most noteworthiness (to me at least) was the very interesting 1909vdb, which Kevin Flynn researched the 3rd lowest estimated mintage of 1.194 -- but has by far the lowest PCGS+NGC slab count of 167 (where I would guess probably only about 70% of that number are uniquie coins). Even using the higher (in some cases double counted) slab count of 167, it's telling me that probably close to 86% (perhaps more) of the original mintage was most likely lost, damaged, misplaced, or spent back into circulation. An eye popping number!
I think that perhaps the combination of the matte finish of the proof as well as the low issue price (of only 8 cents, and later 12 cents) for a matte proof nickel and a matte proof penny caused many original buyers not to treasure these coins or even think of these coins as being particularly valuable. I heard one story from an MPL owner that he bought MPLs where some collector long ago had pushed Matte Proof Lincolns into an old blue whitman tri-fold folder. Now that is an amazing story.
Ultimately these coins, in addition to being incredibly beautiful (for some examples at least), are exceptionally rare.
My Coin Blog
My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
http://100greatestmatteprooflincolns.com/thumbnails.html
My Coin Blog
My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
Talk about eye candy.
Very nice........that would make a really great item to frame and dislpay......
I used to own one of those
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
<< <i>By the way, this is not linked anywhere, but if you want to see all 100 preliminarily ranked MPLs side by side. Here are thumbnails of all 100 in order. The coins in the thumbnails are approximately true to size, so this is sort of like what these coins would look like all laid out on a table (out of the slabs) side by side. Of course you would not get to see both the obverse and reverse at the same time in real life, so perhaps this is even better than real life! Talk about eye candy.
http://100greatestmatteprooflincolns.com/thumbnails.html >>
Just like being there. Wouldn't it be something to get all these in the same room one day and have a Matte-off.
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase/2819
Wonderful contribution to the hobby.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso