A Boring First Journal

After 25 years, I realized I had some money to resume collecting. I decided to get some gold, which I could never previously afford. But at my first show, I fell in love again with large cents. I decided to assemble a date set from 1816 to 1857 as nice as I could afford. Before too long, I was stretching for some pretty pricey pieces (for me that means into 4 figures), and strayed with another old favorite, half dimes.

After filling holes as fast as I could at the MS64-65 level, I decided that it's better to accumulate the coins more slowly, and get only the very best I can afford. Unfortunately, sometimes I decide to get a lesser piece because I'm too impatient to save enough for a better one in my drive to fill holes. And worse, prices for quality early copper have started to take off. But my efforts have gotten me the #3 middle & late date sets in the NGC registry.

I'm hoping to get a few cents from the Naftzger middle dates collection. After that, the last couple large cent dates may be tough to get nice, and I plan to work at a matched set of white or lightly toned mint state seated half dimes.

I use the registry as off-site documentation of my collection. But I see its value for shared enjoyment and appreciation as well. To that end, I have supplied descriptions and photos of all my coins. Over time, I hope to learn to take better pictures, and may add to some of the descriptions.