Possiblity of another Collector Doing What Eliasberg Did?

Hello all, I was just curious what people's thoughts were on trying to build a complete Set of US Coins, Date/Mintmark Business Strike/Proof and Commemorative. I know that this would be a near impossible feat. There are such unique rarities as the 1870s Indian Princess and the 1933 Double Eagle along with a myriad of other coins that would be needed to make it complete. But what if someone had the resources (free capital) to undertake this monumental quest, do you think they would be able to accomplish it?

Also if someone could build a complete US Set what would be the estimated value?

Thanks for indulging me

 

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You got some deep pockets?

Set like that would have to run into the tens of millions.

 

I wish I had the resources. If I was a billionaire I would be trying to build it.

 

I wonder what the specs would be for the physical collection.. weight,,,volume.. etc.... I bet it would weigh a ton.

 

The thing about the Eliasberg collection is that not only was he able to accomplish this momentous task but quite a few of his coins were super high grades as well. I have owned a few Eliasberg US coins over the years. I once owned a 1932 S quarter from his collection that graded MS65 by NGC and was probably his 6-7th nicest one. I saw an 1893 S Morgan out of his collection graded PCGS MS67 if I remember correctly. The QUALITY at which he accomplished this task to me speaks more then just the fact that he had one of each piece. He had the best he could find of each piece as well... not to mention most of his coins he had in multiple.

 

Impossible. There are a handful of unique and nearly unique coins that are not for sale. The 1870-S $3 gold piece comes to mind. (It is on permanent loan by the Bass family to the ANA and is on display in the ANA's Bass museum. Harry Bass put together the only complete date and mintmark set of US gold coins. Without the 1870-S $3 no one else could put together a complete set of US gold coins.)

 

I think that I will work on it as soon as I complete my 2009 collection

 

Well, we gotta remember, Eliasberg didn't have to buy as many coins as we'd have to to complete a whole U.S. set; he had to buy 60 less years worth of coins than we'd have to, and think about it, we'd have to buy some pretty expensive stuff...

 

How do you figure that? He had a complete collection of every regular issue coin. Now the Clapp collection filled a lot of holes... but he still had to purchase it as well. His collection would have been from 1793-1950 when he reported having one of every regular issue strike. His collection was current at the time of his death in 1976 meaning that when he died he had covered over 200 years of American coinage.

 

If memory serves me correctly, did Eliasberg not buy a huge part of his collection, in one big shot for like 100 k? Surely buying one great collection made his task MUCH easier.

 

When I say 60 years, I mean 60 years less than we'd have to collect. Maybe not that many years, but still less. And the prices are WAY higher now than they were then.

 

That reminds of the joke where the father, disappointed at his son's failing grade in History, says, "When I was your age I made an 'A' in History." To which the son says, "When you were my age there was a lot less history to learn."

 

I think it's a fun question to ask.

No, I don't think it can be done. It's not a matter of financial resources; it's a matter of availability. When coins get down in the "population 1 or 2" range, they tend to be "tightly held". IOW, it's gonna stay put for a l-o-n-g time.

"But if Eliasberg could do it, why can't it happen again ?" one might ask.

It won't happen because times have changed. The US series is the hottest, most sought-after set of coins in the world*. There are far, far more collectors in the game than in Eliasberg's heyday, which means his set of unique or semi-unique coins have been dispersed into the hands of many different collectors. It's unlikely that large group of collectors will ever loosen up all of 'em in a narrow enough time window for a single collector to accumulate 'em all.

Moreover, some extremely rare US coins are in the hands of museums, and they really hold 'em a long time. That's why Dan Holmes was one coin short of a totally complete set of all die varieties of Early Date large cents... the unique 1793 Wreath NC-5 is in the ANS collection, and Dan couldn't get 'em to loosen up on it for any amount of money.

Dan's collections had many unique die varieties; now that they are dispersed, it's highly unlikely they will ever be funneled back into one place. Similar logic holds for Eliasberg's unique or semi-unique coins.




* I know that will set off some hatin', but it's true. So no hatin'.

 

That's the key issue, right there. It only takes one unique or semi-unique coin in lockdown in a museum to eliminate any possibility of "doing the do".

It's not a matter of money, it's a matter of availability.

 

Try the Smithsonian......

 

Lol

 

The Smithsonian doesn't have a complete set of US coins. Heck, I've owned a coin they don't have - a 1907 proof $2.5. It's on our website.

According to Garrett and Guth's "Encyclopedia of US Gold Coins", "It is very interesting to note that the Proof 1907 quarter eagle is one of the few Proof gold coins from 1858 to 1915 not found in the Smithsonian Institution's cabinet."

I spoke to one of the authors recently, and he corroborated that tidbit.

 

I'm just being a terd Rickie....

 

I agree as well he not only had everything but in most cases it was the finest known specimen or close. All in all truly remarkable. Even if someone could get close to what he had maybe minus the '33 double eagle and 1870S Indian Princess, it would still be something.

 

If your going to build a collection of every US coin, mintmark, comem, proof, gold, etc. Then your going to need some money....ALOT of money. There are coins out there worth over a million, which everyone should know in this thread. I'm going to estimate that it would cost atleast $25 million. And that's counting the 1933 Double Eagle, 1804 Silver Dollar, 1794 Dollar, and 1913 Liberty Head. But you can fantasize about it, but its impossible. There are coins with only one known and are not for sale, and probably won't be for a long time. It can take your entire life to build something like that, plus you have to be a millionaire or even billionaire. Right now, I just think it's impossible. Even for Bill Gates. Sure he has the money to collect all the US coins, but they aren't for sale, atleast some of them with a mintage of 1 or 2.