I enjoy many things about our hobby but at the top of the pile is the historical aspect of it. I love how the coins them selves are basically artifacts that can be placed to exact dates and sometime places which have an almost time travel effect on my imagination and intellectual curiosity. This is why I actually prefer circulated coins, well that and the price. As many people do when I came back to the hobby I dabbled with type sets and easy 20th Cen set's before getting a CC trade with a couple of chops for my type set. I was hooked instantly as the combo of American trade, politics, foreign travel and commerce all in a classic and varied design. Trade dollars where made in Philadelphia, Carson city and San Francisco but in atypical fashion for the time the philly mint actually made the least amount of them. San Francisco actually made almost 2/3 of the total production of the series as they were close to both the mines and the port that sent them overseas. While the all mm and dates are known chop marked (with the possible exemption of the 75p), some are unattainable rare like the 73p & 78cc and even though some CC date are more common chopped than not like the 74cc & 77cc, they are still pricey being CCs. I instead focused on doing a simple San Francisco date run seeing that is where they were based out of and can be found nice at discounts. It shaped up to be a fun set that one can only let their imagination run wild with the travels these have been through starting at the comstock mine and travling to early San Francisco after the gold rush making to China only to end up back in the us. It goes to show collectors that fascinating coins and sets can be assembled for not a lot of money especially if you define the set on your terms instead of being a slave to the registry. All are PCGS AU58 save for the 74 and 76 (53&55) Enjoy
We are as much the caretakers and custodians of history as any other collectors of antiquities. Coins are the oldest historical artifacts one can easily acquire on the open market and handle - anything else that old is in a museum. Numismatics is a responsibility, not an idle-time filler.
I especially like the 77S but, AU58+ ?? I've never even heard of that grade, I thought 58 was top of the mark, and anything better must be UNC??
This attitude is one I share, particularly with my token collection. @crypto79 You like history - check out ancients. There's some history!
