It is about 15 days until the end of the year. it is easier to use my coin journal to list the newest coins in my collection. Therefore, most coins will be listed in order of denomination. The last 3 will be the exceptions since I have only recently started my Barber coin sets and they are listed in the back. First up is my 1899 Indian Head Cent. She is a PF-62RB and is in an old white small ANAC holder. (This theme SM/WHT) may be repeated several times thru the retrospect. Pre-covid I had a rather nice set of MS/PF Indian cents. This starter coin came my way via Great Collections in March. James
Nice coin! I am looking forward to seeing you document your 2025 purchases. If I am understanding you correctly, you sold that set and are starting a new one?
@geekpryde . Yes. I am self employed and in March of 2020 when covid struck I was put into the position of knowing (for however long), I would have to get by without my primary income. ( I own a cleaning service that specializes in refinishing commercial tile floors.) community centers, hair salons, bars, resturants, government offices, you name it; all closed or no longer needing my services. On the plus side I did own approximately 125 thousand dollars in certified coins. Everything was put on the table. Every 90 days i did a Great Collections sale. When the situatuion improved and I was once again able to go back to my regular work load, I had about 15 thousand in coins left. I did not spend that time away from the hobby though. I have lived thru several crisis situations in my life and I knew someday the wheel of life would turn. I spent my time putting together exactly what "NEW" coins I wanted and have since late Spring of 2022, been building my new sets. I do hope to explain as I go just why I sought certain coins and where they fit in my collecting journey. Thank you for asking. James
Up next is my 1851-O. Seated Dime. This is a ANAC-45 in the yellow plastic. If you knew how much I hate the yellow plastic you would know how much I like this coin. The coins from 1848 to 1852 shared a dangerous journey, much like the little turtles on the sands trying to make it to the ocean without getting eaten in the nature shows. The price of silver was more than the value of the coins so a great many got melted. Dimes perhaps not as much, but it happened all the same. It is also a New Orleans coin and has the basic silver/grey typical of most coins from that era. I knew starting out I could not afford a complete set of dimes so my goal for the 1850's was just to have 3 coins. I had the same goal for the 60's, 80's & 90's. James
@samclemens3991 that is a nice one! And there are solid coins in those Anacs slabs. Since many tend to overlook the slabs, one can get a decent price too every so often. I personally prefer the small white Anacs slabs but I won't say no to a good coin in the yellow slabs.
Next up in my retrospect is my NGC-XF 45 Seated Dime with Arrows. I spent a long time deciding what I wanted to do with the 1850'S. I started out with an 1853 Dime in the old blue ANAC holder as my seed coin. As mentioned, I wanted a melt survivor (earlier 51-O). However, my birthday is in late January and my wife's car decided to breakdown for my birthday. The 1853 is a crusty coin with deep blue/black toning. I only had a little over a $100 to work with so I decided to do a reverse coin (No toning what so ever). Be it ever so humble. Here is my 64th Birthday coin. James
I have owned this 1853 for more than 20 years. Strange but true fact. I paid around $80 dollars for this coin and I bet if you check you will find it is worth around $80 dollars today. Anyway, I hope you can see what I was going for with the difference in toning. James
I love 19th century proofs! Here is my proof Indian. It has mellowed in the 20+ year old NGC holder, so it is really more BN than RB now , but I don't mind that. I like a BN coin with nice color, which this one has when you turn it at the right angles to the light. Photographing those colors with the coin in the holder proved too challenging for my very limited photography skills.
@lordmarcovan . The first time I ever saw a Proof Indian cent it was a great revelation for me. It was as if I had never truly seen the true beauty of the coins design before. Make no mistake, I am a circulation coin collector but as a collector nothing has ever caught me off gaurd more than that first time seeing that Indian cent proof. james
Todays post is of my 1868 Seated Dime. Mine is a PCGS 30 that came my way via David Lawrence coins. I have no intentions of getting caught up in the arguments about certified populations. i am well aware that rarer dates get slabbed more, coin values play a huge role and all that but here is a coin that has a combined PCGS/NGC population of 168; at least at time of purchase. When people are lumping coins with certified pops in the ten's of thousands with coins like this as "common"; I have to laugh. Another fun fact about this date. According to my coin book a large group of 500 of these was found in Czechoslovakia and came to America. My Gramma Rose with my mother in tow also came from Czechoslovakia! the minute i read that this date rocketed to the top of my want list. James
Todays coin is my NGC-25 1869-S Seated Dime. This coin is the final result of a collecting idea I came up with after Fortin posted his comprehensive list of Seated dime varieties. I think that was around 2012 or so. I studied his lists and did my best to come up with a group of coins I thought would make for an interesting group. I had no idea I would be putting many of those coins on lists a decade later! Fortin claims the F-102 is quite a bit scarcer than the F-101. I don't think he was joking. Note: I was also able to get the VSS sticker to attest to it being right and will post that too. James
