I think SCDs are cool, but they are one area that is still unexplored by me, and as such, I am still ignorant of a lot of the varieties that are out there.
Very informative thread. I had no idea TPGs were still designating "so-called dollars" all the way to the present time. I thought it was an 1800s-early 1900s thing.
I think an expanded rabbit hole project would be to match so-called dollars with elongated cents rolled at the event that the so-called dollars are commemorating. Could keep one busy for a few years.
I’m late to the party on this one. I had to dig my stuff out and rifle through to find these. Good thread, Dennis. I have two so-called dollars and one so-called half dollar. I was searching for historical items from my hometown of Alexandria, MN and found that there were these so-called dollars made to commemorate the centennial of the towns birth. His website was not as user friendly almost 16 years ago when I contacted Jeff Shevlin. We went back and forth via email a bit and I purchased the below piece pedigreed to his collection on January 18th, 2010 for $122.50. Two months later, on March 19th, 2010, I was making my rounds at the coin show in Brooklyn Center, MN and the Montana piece caught my eye. My mom was born and raised in Montana and most of her family is still out there. I have spent a lot of time in the state myself through my life, so this purchase was also a no brainer. I gave $75 for the Montana piece. The so-called half dollar pictured below was part of a set that I purchased from the creator of this thread, @dwhiz . Upon receiving the set, I immediately carried it over to my LCS for submission to NGC. There were eight pieces total and when they came back I was pleased as punch that the Pony Express got the grade it did. I sold the other seven pieces to my LCS for his inventory and ended up right about even on the whole deal. Ever since I was introduced to this So-Called aspect of our hobby, I peruse through them on a regular basis in the auction offerings. There are a lot that I would like to have but they either never come up or, when they do, they go for $$$.
This SCD is the first one I bought. There are hundreds of SCDs. I decided to just do a side collection of the 100 year celebration of Oregon statehood. It begins at HK-553 and goes through to HK-573. Within the 21 coin set, there are 8 type coins. Most have the same reverse as shown on the coin below.
SCDs tell a lot of history. The Hudson river in New York was named after the captain of the Half Moon ship, Henry Hudson. In 1609 he ended up in New York in the Half Moon, either by crew mutiny or him looking for the mythical Northwest Passage to the Orient. Probably, both. He wasn't supposed to be anywhere near North America. The obverse date is 1609-1909. Celebrating 300 years since Henry Hudson sailed to New York and explored rivers looking for the Northwest Passage. The Netherlands gave the U.S. a replica of the Half Moon in 1909. It caught fire in 1934. Pretty interesting story.
I'm gonna have to add one to my collection. Deciding which one interests me the most will be the fun part. I presently know next to zip about 'em.
This one is not very nice but I gave $3 for it 35 years ago. I used to buy stuff like this and had a blast learning the history behind it. Didn't have much money back then to spend but it kept me interested in the hobby.
Here is the link to NGC SCD page: https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-explor...d-medals/so-called-dollars-hibler-and-kappen/ I have the old Hibler-Kappen book of SCDs. It goes from HK-1 to HK-1033. There have been additions to the original H-K book. These new listings may be on the NGC website. Know that some SCDs had very limited production and will be hard to find. The U.S. mint was also on site at a lot of these events. Some SCDs are privately struck and some were struck by the mint. There is history even in the making, design and selling of SCDs. The H-K book breaks SCDs down into 4 categories: I. Commemorative and Exposition Medals of National Significance II. Commemorative and Exposition Medals of Local Significance III. Monetary and Miscellaneous Medals IV. Unique and Near-Unique Issues(Less than 5 exist) There are sub-categories within II and III. If one has a Redbook there is a limited area for SCDs. Good luck on the search.
