There's not many classic comms missing from my collection. I'm sitting at 43 out of 50, but from all that were missing this is definitely the most expensive that was still outstanding. I already have the Hawaii, Hudson, and Isabella in the upper part, I guess I just need a Lafayette Dollar and an Alabama and I'll probably have the rest of the pricey ones I'm still missing from the collection.
That is a fantastic coin! I always look at these Spanish Trail commems and would love to add one to my set but, to your point, this is one of the more expensive ones to add.
A nice example! Those open fields are magnets for hits and I really don't see anything very distracting.
The good news for you (probably) is that the prices have come down for these over the years. I set aside a 50 piece set when I was a dealer 20+ years ago in MS-64 to 66. I paid wholesale, but now I’m underwater. It’s a very interesting set, and there are some wonderful books about them. The trouble is many of them are available in Mint State which makes it easy for promoters to play with the market and get people to buy them as “investments.” The prices have gone up and down for many of them. I think that the prices may have been at their highest in 1989.
The Old Spanish Trail is one of the easier pieces to find in high grade. The “old” commemoratives (1892 - 1954) were really popular in the 1930s. Collectors set a lot of them aside, and they are well preserved from that period. There is a cult who try to find them in very low grade. They are actually very scarce in “bottom feeder grades” like AG.
