The Eliasberg collection is considered the one and only complete collection of "regular" U.S. issues. Regular issues exclude pattern, commemorative, colonial, and bullion coins. Eliasberg had many of those too (except bullion, of course). At the time he completed his collection in 1950, a collection was considered "complete" if it had one example from each date and mint, regardless of whether the examples were business strikes or proofs [ref: David Hall]. And looking through sale catalogs of his coins, there were a lot series where he had either the business strike or proof coin of a particular date and mint, but not both. So, I'm wondering, what is/was the most complete collection of regular U.S. issues where business strike and proofs are not considered equivalent? In other words, both must be in the collection for it to be considered complete. There are also subcategories of most complete collection of regular U.S. business strike issuses and most complete collection of regular U.S. proof strike issuses. Anyone know who the winners are in those subcategories? Cal
A few things to keep in mind. This collection was so large that the catalogs did not list everything. Next there is the issue of what folks would agree were actually proofs. We still argue this same issue today with some coins. I'm thinking Eliasberg did the best as far as being complete but others did better in some areas as far as quality.
Is there any comprehensive authenticating source for the Eliasberg collection other than the sale catalogs? He probably did own more than what was sold via auction. But for ranking purposes, if it can't be authenticated, it didn't exist. Kind of like my four 1822 half eagles. One other complicating factor is the extent to which varieties within a denomination/year/mint should be required coins for completeness. I would argue a complete redesign within a year should constitute two slots. Examples are 1921 dollars or 1907 eagles. But what about less drastic changes like 1907 high vs low relief Saint double eagles or 1864 large vs small motto two cents? This is a problem for many collectors looking for completeness, both those looking to complete a series and type collectors as well. The PCGS and NGC registries differ in what is considered completeness for many series. For example, to complete CC Morgans in the NGC registry, a collector has to have two 1879's, at least one of which must be the capped CC variety, but in the PCGS registry one 1879 will do. I think there will never be absolute agreement on what constitutes completeness. We just have to sit back and enjoy the coins in collections, and admire the effort that went into acquiring, displaying, and studying them. Cal
This thread got me thinking about how many coin types, dates and mints have been made. I wonder what is the total number of coins it takes to acquire a truly complete set, up to present day. I also wonder how many there are by decade. My guess is that the last decade or two probably have more than the previous 5 decades combined. Making a truly complete collection up to present day a very daunting undertaking. In my view, I consider a complete set to be every coin made the way it was intended to be made by the Mint. In other words no errors or varieties that came about because of a flaw in the die or any such matter. Therefore, for example, I wouldn't consider the 1955 DDO cent a necessary piece to a complete collection. On the otherhand, I consider the 1909-S and 1909-S VDB to both be necessary pieces because both were created as intended.
Would you consider some of the within-date varieties that were common before the civil war to be necessary for completeness of those series? Example: 1804 half eagle large 8 vs small 8 vs small 8 over large 8. Certainly mint workers intended to make all these, but they are pretty minor variations. However, you could argue that the mint didn't really intend for the differences to be noticed. The problem is there is a nearly continuous spectrum of differences among varieties. Some smack you in the face, like 1907 high vs low relief St. Gaudins $20; for some, you need a microscope, like some VAMs. Most are in between. Each collector has to decide for himself or herself what varieties are important, but most of us are influenced by outside sources like the Red Book or TPG registries. Cal
If the mint never intended to change the design of the date and the different number sizing or font was due to inconsistent workmanship or limited availablity to similar tools (primitive times back in early 1800's), then I wouldn't count both towards having a complete set.
