geekpryde's "Box of 100" CAC Type Set

So I made a few more decisions today regarding my Box-of-100, which is currently overflowing.

I couldn't decide between two clad Washington Quarters, I love them both, and I only need 1 for the set. I also have multiple toned Kennedy's that I keep, many not in my Set. I also went a little too crazy with the US Philippines coins, as I only needed 1 for my Set but ended up with 5 so far as I decided I wanted all of the denominations.

So long story short, I needed room in Box but also didn't want to sell some of the spill overs. (I did list a coin on eBay today, so there was SOME discipline.)

I already had a "Kennedy Keepers" box with slots of 25 coins, and I have a few proof coins, like a 2023 Peace Proof, and others that just either never fit into my Type set, but that I also wanted to keep.

So, here we are, I now have a half filled Box-of-25 side collection with it's only theme being "random coin I like and don't want to sell".

I wont post those coins here for now, but I did remove several coins.

I removed a 1976 $1 DOLLAR - EISENHOWER, TYPE 3, CLAD, BICENTENNIAL, "T2 reverse" NGC MS65 CAC approved coin that has been in my set for 10 years. I just don't really need the T1 vs T2 anymore as distinct coins, I already have 4 other Ike Types.

(from PCGS)



As an aside, it's really confusing to some people to have a "Type 1" and "Type 2" variety within the "Type 3" design. Why not call it "Reverse A" and "Reverse B", or "Thick" vs "Thin" ? Using "Type" to mean two things here can be very messy for us Type collectors.

Many years ago, I made a similar decision to remove and sell the "Wide Rim" version of the SBA, as I thought it was too minor to call a Type. But sometime I regret that decision. Wish I had a misc-box-of-25 back then!

I also removed the 1 centavo, 10 centavos, 20 centavos, and 50 centavos MACARTHUR KM-184 (world coin) from the geekpryde Type Set.

So that is -5 coins but I also added +3 coins recently, so overall I am now sitting at 97 coins which feels good to have some breathing room.

I wonder, if the "no drapery" Liberty seated Types I am busy hunting down arent almost as minor as the T1 / T2 Ikes above. Maybe it's a fools errand and too minor to include, but I will think on that for a few years...

 

New purchase today, *possible* addition to the Type Set.

PCGS doesn't make the Jefferson "Reverse of 40" Type its own numbered Type, (probably too minor), but they do artificially break at 1964 for no good reason. I think Type 1 should be 2 years only (1938-1939), and then Type 2 would be 1939-2003, Type 3 would be War Nickels, but hey, who am I?



Other companies like CACG consider the "Reverse of 38" and "Reverse of 40" two distinct types. I am not sure I should include it for my set, perhaps PCGS is correct and its too minor overall, even if they can be clearly distinguished, as show in this thread on CoinTalk. For now, I will inspect the coin when it arrives and ponder it some more. I specifically wanted a Full Steps coin, as that area of the coin is one of the major changes done for 1940, even though in the 50s the strikes were generally bad for Jeffersons, and sort of undid some of the reasons behind the "Reverse of 40" changes.

 

Another addition to Type Set purchased today:

 

Bought a few new coins in past week, none have good photos yet (or even mediocre photos), so I cannot share them yet.

Getting a few re-holdered with PCGS or CACG. Then I need to get a few stickered.

Also had a PCGS coin come back with white debris on the coin that wasn't there originally, and also not even i the TrueView photos, so I need to send that one back to PCGS. I guess I will find out on Monday how good or bad PCGS customer service is, as I've never had to send anything back before.

Manchester NH coin show was awesome, by far the largest show that I've ever been. There were at least 4 dealers with amazing inventory meeting my criteria I would be shopping for. Namely, Type coins, PCGS and NGC holdered, CAC approved, and broad selection. Too bad I couldn't afford most of what I saw!

I did walk away with a 3CS coin, middle circulated grade, toned, and CAC approved. I paid beyond high retail for it, but it was still in my price range. The sad part is the holder is just beat to heck, and I absolutely must get it re-holdered and re-stickered. That alone will be like another $80, so I might have just considered a higher priced coin in a nice slab.

I wish either dealers cared more about the slab appearance, or PCGS would find harder plastic. I think what the issue is is mostly clarity. Seems to me the clearer the plastic get, like the recent PCGS slabs and CACG, the "softer" the plastic gets and you so much as look at the slab and its scratched.

You take something like a NGC fatty slab, which is ~35 years old, and while it's less "Clear" it acquires less scratches. I see old fattys that are almost as old as me and they look nicer in terms of distracting scratches than a coin PCGS re-holdered two weeks ago. NGC scratch resistant holder (for extra $$) are an absolute joke too. Wish TPG could find the magic formula here, or dealers could stop slamming them around like they were worthless.

"Buy the coin, not the slab" crowd can pipe down too. If you cant SEE the dang coin in the plastic slab, it really detracts from the coin, no matter how nice the coin is. I never hear the fine art crowd say dumb things like "its the painting, not the frame". It's both! Both the "Art" and the "Frame" are critical to the overall appearance. Presentation matters, but I can't seem to convince some coin people of that fact.

 

Another development. I absolutely cannot finish my Type set with a 100 coin limit.

Yeah, sounds like I might be an addict and losing all discipline.

But I want all the major coin design types for all the series I can afford. SO that means 100 coins is just not enough slots. So many coins I didn't actually think I would find, I have acquired.

So now my Box-of-100 is a Box-of-125. My total coins needed is around 122, so 125 gives me some flexibility.

Yes, its getting sort of silly, but I still think I am being disciplined with the GOAL of the set. I promise 125 is final MAX qty.

 

Yeah, I have been struggling with this myself. Some series there is so much nice stuff to pick from, it all feels easy in the early days of Type collecting. Then you get to the hard stuff...

100% agree. "No Drapery" of the various Seated Liberty coins is quite difficult. I have been successful in slowly getting them all except the Half Dollar. Since that is essentially a half-year Type, I doubt I will ever acquire it in grades I can afford. I am very likely to eventually remove this Type from my "Affordable" 8080 Type Set definition, as I think it may not even be possible at all.

Again, 100% agree. I finally gave up trying to find an already CAC approved example, and after a year of searching, I bought a nice PCGS example that I think (hope?) will CAC sticker. In fact, I shipped it out today!

I have held out for CAC approved lower graded coins for many years, but eventually also bought the "arrows at date" in PCGS (no CAC) and shipped them out today after sitting on them many months. We'll see!

The half-dimes seem so much easier in this regards than the dimes.

I already removed all the likely-impossible coins from my Type Set, so I understand your plight. I likely have way more coins removed for this reason than your set, but in the end, I think both our sets will be quite a testament to this way of collecting.

thanks for posting!

 

Update March 2025:

Accomplished one of my 2025 Hobby goals today:

Shipped a 12-coin Batch of Coins to CAC for Stickering. 3 x re-stickers and 9 new PCGG graded coins for review.

Once that happens, I really need to get serious about my coin imaging.

 

I recently "locked in" my coin Template design I'm going to use for my 8080 Type Set. I want all ~125 coins to have the same template so that the presentation can be consistent.

I was debating between black, white, blue backgrounds, but finally settled on blue. I know its not everyone's favorite, but I decided I liked it the best overall.

I also decided to add more text, listing the Coin Type, Varieties (if any), and the date range that the type can be found. CAC stickers when appropriate, as well as the normal TPG name, grade, and cert number.

I debated on the "look" of my template for several months, but I now happy with the locked in version.

Examples:

 

Agreed.

 

I quite like the look of that 1826 cent.

 

Yeah, me too. I always liked that one. Bought it from Bozarth Numismatics back when he ran his own company.