Building a Type Set

I have been posting my progress on building a type set in the Let's see your newest acquisitions! thread. @bradgator2 suggested that the story of my progress might be of interest in its own thread.

I will combine the various posts I have already made into this thread, and add new posts as new coins join the set. For coins I already had before I started the set, I will post links to where I already posted them on CoinTalk.

I hope you enjoy taking this journey with me!


From the post New albums, then crack-out frenzy:

Several threads on CoinTalk all came together for me and pushed me in a new direction. I was following the thread about finishing a type set, and had been wondering what to do next. I got inspired to get an Intercept Shield album and give that a shot.
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The first step was to move coins I already had into the album. Then I went online and ordered a bunch of recent common coins. I generally went for Proof issues since the cost is so minimal. This is the last page of the six pages in the album.



The classic Commemorative Half Dollars have their own posts, so you can see them in detail in #1937, #21742, and #9334. You can see animations of the nickel proofs in Posting Jefferson Nickels in order by date.

For the fifth page of the albums I only had two coins already. I bought the Ike, Anthony, and Sacagawea in Proof and popped them in too.


The 1883-O Morgan was posted in #22507, and the 1922 Peace posted in #3643.

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From the thread Post your Lincolns!:

I have a very nice 1943 cent in my Lincoln set, but my new type set wanted another one. I am really pleased to pick up this one from eBay for only $6.75.​

From post Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

This 1860 three-cent silver was acquired (in person!) for my new type set. Graded MS61 by NGC. This blue toning is exactly the look I hoped for.
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This is the first completed row of my new type set. The three-cent nickel was also part of yesterday’s purchase.​

The 1901 Indian head is shown in detail in post #22786. The 1909 cents are in posts #6489 and #22420. The Memorial cent is a 1962 Proof, and is shown later in this thread in post #26. The 1864 two-cent piece has its own post, #25178.


From a reply in Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

This 1867 nickel without rays is also destined to fill a hole in the type set. It has no luster, so I will skip the animation on this one.​

From Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

This 1863 Copper-Nickel Indian Head is also headed for the new Type Set. The seller only claimed AU, but I think it might pass for a low-end MS. The marks on the fields are visible on the photos, but not in the type set.​

And, one last coin for this post, from Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

Today's mail brought another coin for the type set. I have two slabbed Liberty nickels. One is a proof and the other is an MS64 with a CAC. I couldn't bring myself to break open either of those, so I scoured the web for a raw, but nice, V-nickel.​

Here’s its new home.​

The No Cents Liberty nickel was previously posted in #1180. The Type 1 Buffalo was shown in thread What's it worth Buffalo 1913 Type 1.

To be continued later in this thread...

 

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Oh geez..... I just slobbered all over my keyboard. Those are some absolutely gorgeous examples.

 

OK. I quit.

 

My Recommendation:
Shoot for grades that show what the Mint had in mind.
I went with a minimum of XF until I got into the first half of the 1800's, then I slid back to VF.
That may slow down how often you get a new coin but you'll end up with something you can be proud of.

 

Very nice!! A very fun project.

 

Looks great! I was also inspired by the posts on here (plus the Dansco 7070 album becoming available for a fair price several years back). I like the fact that the Intercept album has a few extra spots for some moderns that the Dansco does not (like the 2009 Cents, 2004-2005 Nickels, and the Presidential Dollar).

You have a great start and I'm looking forward to seeing the updates.

 

Nice set. I am really liking that toned 3 cent silver.

 

Very nice! I bet you can really enjoy admiring your sets, especially when they are all finished. Good job.

 

Here are a few more posts related to building the type set.

From Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

This may be frustrating. I bought this for the new Type Set I am building, but it is too nice to break out for an album. NGC MS65 RB in an old holder.

The seller reports that this is most likely from the Randall Hoard, found buried underneath a railway platform in 1868. (The article says 1878, but that is certainly a typo, because they cite a reference to the find dated 1869.)​

Note: I still have not broken this out. Another poster suggested that any slabbed coin that was too nice for the type set should be sold, and the proceeds used to buy something more appropriate (and maybe something additional!) I may still do that. But it's sooo pretty!


From Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

This 1835 Classic Head half cent marked the end of that design, except for some proofs struck in 1836. @C-B-D provided this delightful example for my type set.​

This looks nice next to the other Half Cent in the set.​

The 1855 Coronet Half Cent may be seen in more detail in post #25575.

Another post from Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

Next addition for the type set is this 1835 Capped Bust dime, also suggested and provided by @C-B-D. We make this about an XF45.
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The row of dimes is starting to fill up, giving a clue to its eventual appearance.​

The 1877-CC Liberty Seated dime was shown in post #9399, the 1912 Barber was shown in post #5400, and the 1938-S Mercury was shown in post #26035.

Originally posted in Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

The acquisitions for the type set will slow down soon, but the newest addition is this 1876-S chopmarked Trade Dollar. It was graded Unc Details by NGC.

Maybe someone can explain to me how this works. Is it Details because it is chopmarked, or is a chopmarked coin OK, but then Detailed for some unexplained reason? The chop mark is nestled in the breast feathers of the eagle. The feathers and the mark are both crisp and clean. I really like the mark and the bit of history it brings with the coin.

Whatever the case, it allowed me to get this at 1/5 or less of the NGC price guide for MS64. The detail is great and the chopmark is terrific. While there was an initial concern that the coin might be too dark (based on the seller’s photos), it turned out to be a beautiful mild gray.​

Since the coin will always regrade at least as high as MS Details, I had no qualms about taking it out of the holder and giving it a new home in the Type album.​

Here it is in its happy home, getting the appreciation it deserves.​

Note: Since I made this original post, I found out that PCGS and NGC will handle chopmarked Trade dollars differently. NGC only gives them an Unc Details grade, while PCGS will straight grade them with a "Chopmark" notation. This worked out to my advantage since this was NGC graded and treated like MS60. Why anyone would send this to NGC is a mystery. "Unc" tells you absolutely nothing about its condition, and the price reflects that. Instead, you could send it to PCGS and get MS64-65 with the very interesting chopmark.

The chopmark is a badge of honor in my book, not post-mint damage. The coin was struck to be sent to the Orient for trade. This coin did indeed go to China, where a merchant weighed and certified it, then stamped it with a seal of approval for trade. Based on my reading, it was then probably put into a bag and went from merchant to merchant as part of a much larger payment. At some point a dealer took the trip over there and retrieved it, bringing it back to the United States. So it is clearly uncirculated, at least like Morgan dollars are - it went into a bag and stayed there.

I have to think NGC has it wrong - chopmarked Trade dollars prove they were overseas and came back with a proof of their interesting history.


Next from Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

A very attractive 3-cent nickel has joined the type set. Again, @C-B-D gets credit for finding this one and bringing it to my attention. This sports a really nice strike on the reverse, with clear and sharp lines within the Roman numerals. The hair detail around the ear is sharp and clear. And the coin retains residual luster.

There are also clash marks on the front outlining the wreath. I think they probably came from a different die than we see used on the reverse, since it is pretty clean. If the same die marriage was still together, I would expect the back to have an impression of the front on it, but it doesn't seem to. So maybe they changed out the reverse die for some reason?

(I have four more coins for the type set from John to post over the next few days.)​

Edit: @Randy Abercrombie - this MS example was only $60 and is going into the album instead of breaking out one of my proofs. You may want to do the same!​

To be continued later in this thread...

 

Careful... @C-B-D can be a bad influence!! Lordy if he can't find some lovely coins.

 

Continuing with posts about the type set made in Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

The Intersect Shield Type set album has nine slots for nickels. This 1866 with rays finishes off that section for me. As with a number of the coins previously posted, this is courtesy of @C-B-D.

The coin itself has an inherently flat design, and this one is a lower contrast example. All the fine details are present, though, and I like that.​

I put it in the album backwards so the rays show up in front. Otherwise the two shield nickels would look pretty much the same - like the Liberty heads do. Maybe one of those should be flipped. Hmmmm...​

Another post from Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

The type set is progressing with this 1856 Seated dime. Again, I credit @C-B-D who is steering me towards these nice raw coins.​

Here it is in its slot, second from the left.​

Note: I omitted the rest of the post where I tripped over my own feet and made embarrassing misstatements.


To wrap up the wrap-up, this is the last post from Let's see your newest acquisitions!:

This 1872-S Half Dime joins the 1853 with Arrows. I really like the contrast. There are two more half dimes to get.​

Two down, two to go in the album.​

This coin has not been posted before!

This 1856 quarter was also curated by and obtained from @C-D-B. I like the coins he posts and his suggestions have not let me down.




The quarters section is coming along nicely.


The Barber was posted before, #5372, but could use new pictures. The 1932 Washington was posted as #2244, and the toned 1974 ("Purple Haze") appeared in #9640. The Type 1 SLQ was posted in #25102, and the Type 2 was not posted before.

Here it is. The date is not worn, but is very weakly struck as you can see from the lack of detail from the 3:00 to 7:00 positions of the obverse rim. This would be reduced to a dateless quarter with a very minimal amount of circulation.

 

Nice additions. I also liked the flying eagle cent. That 1820 large cent is amazing.

 

I think you are 100% correct on the Trade Dollar. That piece did its assigned duty and is still quite the stunner.

 

Wow what an amazing post you put together with all of the pix and links to where you originally introduced them to CT. Not to mention the fact that you are assembling a collection to be very proud of. Congrats!

 

Here we have the first coin in the type set, an 1806 Draped Bust Half Cent. @kanga expressed my philosophy exactly - I want to see what the designer intended. Some coins just look great used and worn, while still revealing the intention of the design.





This wraps up the first row of the first page, and shows all three of the half cent designs. The Classic Head design was featured above in post #9. The 1855 Coronet Half Cent may be seen in more detail in post #25575.

 

Now THAT'S what I mean.
Nice group of half cents.

BTW there are two varieties of the 1835 half cents.
But since they both used the same obverse die I can't tell which one you've got without seeing the reverse.

 

Nice coins. I especially like the silver 3c the large cent and the trade dollar. Maybe keep the large cent as is and find a nice xf-au raw one

 

Nice looking type set.

 

All I can say is, SWEET Very nice collection. I also agree on the Trade Dollar. Chop marks provide prominence and therefore have value. IMO

 

One of the more puzzling spots in the Intercept Shield type set album is the one marked for the quarter marked "Washington 2009 Clad". Supposedly the Washington quarter series ended in 1998 and the State / Territorial quarters ran from 1999 to 2009. But they already had a slot for a state quarter on the last page, so they ... I dunno ... I can't figure out their rationale for this slot.

Nonetheless, it's easy to find these on eBay for well under $10. I was careful not to accidentally get a silver proof, since a clad was called for.

My solution was this nice District of Columbia with satin finish, still in its mint set packaging. I admire Duke Ellington as a musical genius who embodied the spirit of jazz and swing. (Give his Jazz at Newport album a listen.) He managed to pursue his art and field a big band during times where racism was ingrained and institutionalized. Quite an inspiration.





I will have another quarter, a bit less common, in the next post.