I'm a 1970 s small date away from completing my Lincoln Memorial Cent set and was thinking of what type set to collect next. Everyone seems to collect Morgans, (I sure wouldn't mind having a complete set to look after!) I was trying to think of an set idea that was slightly more original. A "best of the worst" set though appealing, I kinda like my coins in the higher grades. While searching for certain coins I kept coming across the same dealers who specialized in that coin type and it hit me. I want to put together a set where instead of denomination or mint/date, I wanted to put together a set where each coin was from a different renowned or famous dealer. The MS69 1793 Wreath from Stacks Bowers is a bit out of my price range what would be a good coin to get from them? Being a novice numismatist, most of my coins I've purchased are either from my local coin shop or eBay, (with verying results). My question to the Cointalk community is, who are the renowned, famous (or infamous,) coin dealers working today, and what coin would you get from them? Case and point: I must have a copper cent from Charmy Harker, aka The Penny Lady.
This does not sound like a type set that would hold any interest or meaning for the vast majority of collectors, myself included.
it is not important whether or not other collectors appreciate what you pursue. The only time that fact would matter is if you ever want to sell it. Sometimes people lose sight of the fact that collecting can be fun and the collection in and of itself doesn't necessarily need to have any value other than to the person collecting it. as to the dealers, do a google search, it will give you lots of names. ANY coin from one of their auctions would suffice. They sell more common coins too. The provenance of the coins will only be known (and provable) to you, so it's truly a personal collection. Other ideas that I might contribute: Maybe you could try to assemble a type set in AG-3 or lower? Maybe a set of proof type? Maybe a type set of off-center coins? there's a million ways to collect! Good luck and most of all, have fun!
I want to suggest a slightly different version of your idea. Why not collect slabs that include the name of the owner or collection on the slab.- ie. Elliasburg or Jack Lee - etc. This would tend to give the "collection" more meaning and definition.
Maybe I need to rephrase the question on another post. I think the question should be: who are the heroic dealers that you continue to deal with and what are their specialties?
Error coin dealers Try Len Roosmalen & Jim Essence of Jim’s Coins in Madison WI. They deal in all coins & specialize in error coins. You may also contact Allen Berman for a World coin.
Harlan Berk, Victor England of CNG, or David Sear of Freeman and Sear for ancients. Personally, I loved Riverguy's suggestion of a coin with a pedigree. If I ever wanted to do a US type set, that would be a wonderful idea. All coins with a pedigree, (whether on the slab or not), along with each auction catalog where it sold.
I think we understood what you meant, but I don't understand how someone viewing your collection would know that you obtained the coin from a specific dealer. The lone exception would be Rick Snow who has branded the eagle eye photo seal of approval on his coins. Therefore, I would suggest that you definitely buy a coin from Rick Snow at Eagle Eye Rare Coins. Similar to Rick Snow, Rick Tomaska from R & I Coins has branded what he considers his PQ coins to be Everest Coins. While not having a sticker and database lookup like Rick Snow's Eagle Eye, you might want to consider buying an Everest Selection for your collection. Tomaska specializes in Franklin & Kennedy Half Dollars. I actually purchased an Everest Coin and was very happy with the quality (see photo below). I consider Heritage & Stack's to be auction houses and not dealers per se, so I don't think you would need to include them. If you are looking for some other prestigious coin outfits, I think you should include CRO (Coin Rarities Online), especially for colonial coins. CRO uses Mark Goodman for all of their coin photos. He literally wrote the book on Numismatic Photography. I guess you should also include Legend Numismatics since they are one of the prominent players in the deep end of the numismatic pool. They pretty much handle every type of coin and usually have a very nice selection of gold coins, Saints in particular. Currently, they have a fantastic 1939-D Mercury Dime PCGS MS68+ with incredibly attractive toning. I think your idea is interesting and might actually be a very good idea for a Custom NGC Registry Set. However, the idea seems prone to cater to marketing rather than actual quality coins and will likely arouse some skepticism & criticism. The first person to respond to this thread is a dealer named Thomas Bush of Ivy League Coin. And while Tom is knowledgeable about most areas of numismatics, I believe that his special areas of expertise are Reeded Edge Capped Bust Half Dollars and Washington Quarters. He also has a great eye for Barber coinage as well. I don't think you should limit yourself to prominent dealers in your venture. There are many lesser known coin dealers that sell absolutely fantastic coins. One of my favorites is Evan Gale of Aspen Park Rare Coins. Though I have never purchased a coin from Mr. Gale, I drool over his inventory on a regular basis, his selection is dynamite. Good luck in your very unique venture! Paul
Sometimes you can find things issued by dealers. Bowers and Ruddy doing business as Empire Coin Co. issued a advertising token on the reverse side of a blackened repro Immunis Columbia. Alan Berman issued a Kingdom of Bermania fantasy coin in 1998. John Devine, error dealer icon aka as Lonesome John, designed the 1967 Conjo Coin Club medal.
You may be really on to something longnine. I think Charmy Harker also has a copper coin with The Penny Lady on it.
I'm doing something to that effect with morgans. I am working on a yearbook (1 coin per year) The catch is I am trying to make every coin in the album a "signifigant" VAMs (not nessicarily top 100, hot or hit lists) In AU where possible on my budget.
