From time to time, I've owned an occasional Top Pop that has shared that spot in the Census with other coins, but this is the first time that I have owned a coin that holds that distinction all by itself. When the US Mint Silver Proof Sets were released in 2005, I ordered four sets, two for myself and two for a friend who didn't have internet access. When they arrived, I examined them and discovered that two of the Kansas SQ's had a strange feature on the butt end of the bison that was different from the other Kansas SQ's. Since I had ordered them for the two of us, I felt that it was only fair that my friend get one of these sets. A few weeks later, Coin World ran an article about these "errors" citing a collector from the Southwest US who had ordered ten sets and all of his sets had the same feature. He had purchased these sets for his personal collection and to be gifts for relatives. A couple years went by and no other Kansas SQ's had surfaced with this error, so I decided to submit mine to NGC for grading at FUN 2008. It came back PF70UCAM, Die Gouge on Bison, Mint Error. You must keep in mind that errors do not show up in the Census as a separate group because there are just too many different possibilities, but in 2012, Whitman released the Cherrypickers Guide, Volume II and I was surprised to see that this coin had been added as a new variety. It was classified as a die dent, FS-901. So, earlier this month, I took this NGC slab with me to FUN 2013 to have it reholdered for the designation. There are only two others listed in the NGC Census, and mine made the third. The other two are PF68UCAM and PF69UCAM, so this makes my specimen a Top Pop with no others. (I don't know if PCGS has graded any.) Granted, it's possible that a couple of the others that were found might one day end up being submitted for grading and they might also be graded PF70UCAM, but for now, this is the first time that I have ever owned a coin with the distinction of being alone at the top. It's kind of neat. [TR="class: hover_header"] Year/Mint Den Variety Desig Shop eBay Total 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 [/TR] [TR="class: VarietyRollup_Altrow"] [TD="class: firstCell dxgv"] 2005 S SILVER[/TD] [TD="class: dxgv"]25C[/TD] [TD="class: dxgv"]KANSAS - DENTED BISON[/TD] [TD="class: dxgv"]PFUC[/TD] [TD="class: dxgv"] Shop[/TD] [TD="class: dxgv"] [/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"]3[/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"][/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"][/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"][/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"][/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"][/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"][/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"][/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"][/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"]1[/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"]1[/TD] [TD="class: dxgv, align: right"]1[/TD] [/TR] Note: These photos were taken in the original mint case in 2005, and all of the flecks you see are just cardboard dust. Chris
I've seen the posting in the Cherrypicker's Guide and it was a chase piece I was looking for along with a nice specimen of the D.C. DDR. Aside from buying the singular coin in the secondary market, I spent the first couple weeks in December trying to locate this coin in proof sets. Much to my dismay, and about 200 proof sets looked at, didn't find a one. Congrats Chris for reaching the top of the mountain on this one.
In spite of the fact that the CPG seems to think there are more out there, I'm a bit skeptical. Since the proof coins are processed by hand, it may be that the earliest of the Kansas varieties escaped undetected, but when it was finally noticed, the die and all subsequent coins were removed. I was using the Mint subscription service to order my sets, and they were shipped on the same day the release was announced. By the way, when I discovered the "error", I immediately ordered 20 more of the 10-coin silver proof sets and 20 of the silver SQ (only) proof sets, but all of them were normal. Chris
I logged on here just a minute ago and this was the type of story I was hoping to find today. Thanks for sharing! Great find! ~Chris
