Let’s see your favorite pickup of 2020

Favorite pick up you say? I wish...

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Great stuff everyone, and cool to hear the “why” too.

Man, I remember when you first posted the dime. Hard to believe it was this year, feels like forever ago.

 

This has been on my want list for years. It's a Vietnam War token attributed to the 35th Command Support Group. They provided support for the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phan Rang.

 

I'll go with the 8R from Mexico ("Pillar Dollar") based on the combination of historical impact on US coinage, the color, and always wanting one.
More to come as I plan to make a top 10 list soon.

 

I've managed to pickup a few this year for my Lincoln, Roosie and Mercury sets. My favorites for the year are probably the two that don't belong to any of those sets.

 

That half cent is sick

 

In this slow year for coins, there’s no contest for my winner: an 1888 Morgan proof dollar.




This one gets a very honorable mention:

 

Any idea why this beauty didn’t grade higher? It sure looks nicer than the average MS64...

 

I can’t decide... Maybe this one...?

 

Nah... here’s my favorite:

 

For $800, it gets us out to the gold claim.
I've put in another $500 with add on parts and repairs over the last 1200 miles.
We haven't found enough gold yet to cover the gas to get there and back, but tomorrow is another day.

 

1945 S MS67FB

 

My favorite pickup for 2020 is this 1824/2 bust quarter:



For those unfamiliar with this series, the 1824/2 is the rarest obtainable date for the series (1823/2 and 1827/3/2 are too prohibitively rare/expensive to be collected by non-millionaires). It’s believed that only 16,000 were minted, which makes this a tough and expensive coin to acquire. I held out for a nice original example, and when this coin came up for auction this summer, I knew it was time to pull the trigger!

(The coin is graded G4 by PCGS and has a green CAC sticker, for what that’s worth.)

 

For US coins, I have four favorites.

This is far and away my favorite of the year. I was in the market for a nice 1794, but I was constrained by my budget. Then I saw this coin at a show for just a little above my budget, and I knew she had to come home with me. She has since graded AU at NGC, and she is the coin on the cover of my book.



When I bought this, I had just put out feelers for a 1794 head of 1793 cent with a budget of $1000. Imagine my surprise that, just a few days later, one shows up on eBay for a $200 BIN that had exactly the look I was looking for. I threw my money at the seller and she has been in my collection since!



This was my first US coin bought this year at FUN. It is a luster bomb example of a common CWT type in a scarce and highly desired die state. The toning is incredible, as are the clash marks on the reverse showing the deep cracks on the obverse.



Lastly, there’s this 1861 O half salvaged from the SS Republic. It is the FS-007 variety, which shared the same obverse die as on the official CSA half dollar. This particular example is in the same die state as well. I had a particular look in mind when looking for one of these, as most have a really crusty or porous look. This one has blazing luster on the reverse, and the obverse has only a fine granularity that hasn’t obliterated the luster. I probably won’t find a nicer example of this variety from the SS Republic, especially at what I paid.

 

Those are freaking gorgeous!!!

 

I have to say the top two came in the last month. But the top has to be this:


But this was purchased just earlier this month and is a survivor of a New York Fire. The seller hasn't offered details, so that's all I know.


Who could have believed that this would have been surpassed twice in a month:

 

I haven't done much with U.S coins or my large cent collection this year, but when this one showed up, unattributed, I did not hesitate:

1794 Large Cent, variety Sheldon-45, rated High R5.

 

I always love seeing your Large Cents. I checked through Noyes and didn't see your coin, though there is one listed without a photo in the 5-7 slot and called VF30 net F15. I identify yours by the minor ding on the (O)N(E) at the top of the left upright where it connects to the cross stroke. Almost all have some minor rim bruise that yours does not, so I'm quite certain it is not in Noyes.

I'd expect it to detail about VF35 and net VF20 for microscopic porosity. It would slide in at #5 alone. But Noyes is extremely harsh with some and soft with others on the net grade. A TPG will probably call it AU.

Are you getting these in Europe? There are some great coins from there which are previously unknown.

 

Marshall, yes, you are correct, this coin was previously unknown and not in Noyes. It came from Europe as many of the early coppers in my collection.

I have been in touch with a very knowledgeable EAC gentleman who kindly gave me photos of all examples of S-45 known to him (cc1 to cc27). I believe he has seen many of them personally. By and large he agreed with your grading (his was net Vf25). These are pictures of cc3 to cc6.

 

Hard to narrow down, but certainly one of these two beauties:



The St.Gaudens was on my wanted list for many years and I finally snagged one in March to commemorate finishing paying off my $120k undergrad student loans. The Barber half is from the Maurice Storck Collection. Both MS65.