Congrats on top 10,  but that screen cap makes just moving up to 9 sound expensive and hard.

When I first joined here in 07/08 I bought like 25 graded Lincolns with dreams of a set, then I looked at all those slots and did some basic math and gave up.  So you get props from me on it. I don't even want to reimage mine... 

Excellent.  Thats a very tough set to have a high rank - very widely collected!

Very nice, Coinbuf!! Congratulations!! I, for one, would be delighted to see your set move up and maybe win a big award someday.  Who knows what may happen in the future?

Thanks for the kind words fellas.   I have not run the numbers but getting to the 6 slot (assuming those four in front don't improve) I am guessing will cost $2,500 to $3,500; so not a huge investment but not cheap either.   I did not include the number five set in the photo but it is almost exactly double the points of my set, so getting to and passing that five slot would require spending double or more what I currently have in the set.   That does start to add up to a lot of dough, and from there I would need to double that point and dollar total to even get to within shouting distance of the top slot.   A very big task to be sure and one that I know I'll never be able to achieve.   I know that none of my Lincoln sets will ever win any awards, but I love the series so I collect them anyway knowing that its the enjoyment that drives me not the awards.

But I think that being in the top ten here in the NGC registry puts my set(s) in the top 50 of all Lincoln sets that are out in the hands of collectors.   And that in of itself is not too shabby and I'm very happy with that.

In its own way I think it can be freeing to know that #1 is not in the cards and you can just build it the way you want it, that makes you happy and which maximizes your value/ enjoyment without the pressure.

Congratulations, top 10 is rather impressive!