I'm glad we didn't get so much snow last week!

I'm sitting here facing the prospect of digging my cars out of two feet of snow. Although the snow is interrupting some shopping plans, at least it didn't come last weekend, when there was a nice little coin show in Annandale, Virginia.

My wife was one in-class final exam away from completing her MBA. I decided it would be a nice diversion to combine a trip to that coin show with a visit to some places in DC that she wanted to see. We started with the coin show. The usual regional dealer suspects were there, but I did not notice any of my non-dealer EAC friends. Like most smaller shows, there were only a few dealers who had high quality classic coins. I didn't find anything expensive that tempted me, which is good since I'm still a few dozen Benjamins (of the paper variety) in the red.

When I started college and had to stop actively collecting, a Whitman Large Cent album had been my favorite numismatic treasure. It was perhaps 40% complete. It had three low grade early dates (a decent 1794, a corroded 1798, and a smooth 1800), a handful of middle dates (from a poor, corroded 1821 to a couple that might grade Very Fine), and most of the late dates in F to XF. I recall feeling great satisfaction when spending time looking at these old coppers.

Getting back into collecting several years ago, I didn't think much of my childhood collection, but had no desire to part with it. I even used some "free" gradings to have the few relatively valuable coins slabbed. They appear in my Registry type set. But as I built my Registry large cent sets, my affection for the old Whitman album set began to grow again. Through much of 2008, I spent many evenings going through listings on eBay, honing my attribution skills, and acquiring several of the missing dates. As the end of that year approached, preparation for the Hubble servicing mission started to take more of my time, and I stopped eBay-ing.

But at the Annandale show last week, a nice 1819 caught my eye. The dealer's VG grade is probably a bit charitable. The coin has full rims and nearly full LIBERTY, but there are a few nicks, including a fairly long one over the head. But it looks nice and fits in well with the other pieces in nearby holes. Once again, I find a good measure of enjoyment looking through that album. Sure, the Registry coins are nice to look at too, but they're not hanging around the house for anytime enjoyment.

As it turns out, this new acquisition is a Newcomb 8, the same as my MS64BN Registry coin. This variety is very common in all grades. It was a significant component of the Randall Hoard of mint state cents (and likely the source of my more expensive one), and is typically well struck, making it highly desirable as a type coin. I think it's neat to have examples of both a well preserved coin that was spared from the insults endured by so many of its contemporaries, and another that served its intended purpose well.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year & happy collecting to all.