All NGC Star that is. I learned a ton building my 1955-1950 proof sets. All of those coins came from graded slabs. Most of the early 50s are lower graded PF63, 64, 65s. I didn’t make too many mistakes along the way, although I would have made some different decisions in hindsight. I always thought it would be fun to do it again with the year 1956. What better time than during a pandemic? This time, I wanted all the coins to have the NGC Star label. But with 2 caveats: I wanted them to all be at least PF68 and I didn’t want to spend more than the PCGSPriceguide for a “regular” proof of the same grade. I bent my rules as soon as I saw the prices for PF68 for the Lincoln cent. I wasn’t going to spend more on the Penny than on the Franklin. The NGC Star designation on all these proofs is pretty interesting. I know the NGC definition for a qualifying star. There are definitely NGC Cameo Stars out there so I know they will do it. Are they equivalent in value to the PCGS + designations? Who knows. If the coin didn’t technically qualify for a cameo label, then I wanted the obverse to be unquestionably cameo. I was able to accomplish that and all of these coins have spectacular Obverse deep cameos. I know the priceguide is just a guide and I used it as such. There are a ton of graded 1956 proofs out there for sale, so I listened to the market more the guide. And once again, the market said the top end pennies (PF68) were more than I wanted to spend on this project. Here they go: 1956 Lincoln Cent PF67 Star. The most elusive for tracking one done at the price I wanted. Actually, I couldn’t do it so I eventually gave up and got fairly close. This coin is insanely pretty to me with deep mirrors on the obverse. Zero cameo contrast on the reverse but it is a spectacular mirror. Total price = $51.29 PCGS guide: 67 = $40 67+ = $55 67 cameo = $150 1956 Jefferson Nickel PF68 Star. Full cameo obverse. There is also zero cameo on the reverse, although it is incredibly glassy and pretty and near flawless. Total Price = $51.50 PCGS guide: 68 = $50 68+ = $60 68 cameo = $215 1956 Roosevelt Dime PF67 Star. It was not my intent to get a 67. The 68s were barely more money than 67s. I saw this one and thought it was gorgeous so I put it my watch list. The seller sent me an offer for 20 bucks. I couldn’t pass on that. The obverse is an awesome deep cameo. Reverse has a light to below average cameo and very small toning area that only shows up in pics. Still happy for 20 dollars. Total Price = $20.00 PCGS guide: 67 = $25 67+ = $26 67 cameo = $45 1956 Washington Quarter PF68 Star. Very pretty. Fantastic deep cameo obverse and very nice average reverse cameo. I think this one should have been given full cameo designation. Not a big difference in value even if it was. Total Price = $43.95 PCGS guide: 68 = $60 68+ = $75 68 cameo = $80 1956 Franklin, Type 2, PF68 Star. Item was in my watch list and seller sent me on offer of $110. Sold! Holy smokes deep cameo obverse with pure glass mirror. The reverse is slightly below average cameo. Although the reverse has a nice mirror in the fields, it has a very rough surface on closer inspection. It’s like 2 sides of a different coin. I did a GTG thread on this one and most guessed 67 Cameo or Star. Interestingly, it has die break on the reverse. I don’t think I have seen that on any proof… ever. Any insight on that? Total Price = $110 PCGS Guide: 68 = $125 68+ = $160 68 cameo = $250 Overall a fun little project for the last few months. Thoughts, opinions, criticisms all welcome.
That's a nice set! I like the idea of building a proof year set with all NGC star coins. I once did a similar project for 1961 but with all cameo designated coins.
Nice set! That’s one of may favorite projects. It’s a blast picking out the coins. One idea: Add a Type 1 Franklin proof to your impressive mix....
