And all the coins are PF70UC to boot!

Not often can most of us complete a set let alone a set where every coin in the set is a top pop but as of this morning the very high likelihood that I will complete my first registry set very soon is staring me right in the face. Okay, I will admit it is not a difficult set to complete and there are at least 35 other registered top pop complete sets but this one is mine. After close to three weeks of limited success of adding coins to my registry sets because of inflated prices, this week I added the last three silver PF70UC DC & U.S. Territory Quarters I needed for the set leaving me just one clad PF70UC quarter, The Virgin Islands, to complete the set. Yes, the set I will complete is the 2009 DC & U.S. Territory Quarter set, all 12 coins. I got all three of the silver quarters for less than $0.25 on the dollar of FMV so I?m not letting my excitement of completing a set override my budget minded acquisitions but between these three quarters and the coins I got last week I did blow this month?s budget. I?m just calling the coins a late Christmas present.

With the DC & U.S. Territories Set on the verge of completion, I have started my research to provide the appropriate documentation for the set as a whole and for each quarter. I figure since each coin is a piece of history I am obligated to include some history in the description of each coin as well as the specifics about the coin. So while I?m just one quarter away from completing the set I will not consider the set complete until I have all of the descriptions and photos in place. This may sound like a bit of work but I don?t see it as work. I rather enjoy the research aspect the registry has afforded me as an add-on to my collection. In many ways, the descriptions bring the coins to life in my mind. The State Quarters and the DC & Territory set are easy to write about since each quarter is unique in its design. But finding a theme in history for my other sets isn?t always so easy. In my proof dime set, I put my detailed write-up in the set description and just put the specifics of each coin in the coin description. In my Proof Lincoln Memorial Set I included a brief snip-it of the story of my life with each coin since I was born in 1959. My Proof Eisenhower Dollar Set includes a quick look at what NASA was doing in the year the US minted those coins. I am sure my other sets will evolve over time but I?m never sure what I?ll put in the description until I start working on the set in earnest not just populating it. The research and coin descriptions should get real interesting if I every start building a registry set of Large Cents.

Speaking of building sets, I?ve started to map out my MS Eisenhower Dollar set. The Proof Set was pretty easy to map out. I can?t afford PF70UC Eisenhower Dollars or they do not exist so everything had to be PF69UC. The MS Set should prove to be a bit more challenging. I listed all 23 coins in the set including the three 1972 P variations and the four 1976 P and D variations for the set. At that point, out came the price guides so I could determine what grade I could afford. I used both the Numismedia Price Guide and the PCGS Price Guide to define the price range for each coin. To say I want a MS 67 set just wasn?t going to work in this case so I set a specific MS grade for each coin in the set. If I can put together the set I mapped out, the coins will range from an MS64 to an MS68. Of course I did leave myself some maneuvering room; I am willing to fill a slot with a grade one level below my goal grade for any given coin in the set until I can find an acceptably priced upgrade. And, naturally, anything I get at a grade higher than I?ve mapped out will get snagged in a heartbeat. (Given the prices of some of the higher grades, I don?t see this happening unless I win a lottery or something.) And don?t get me wrong here; I have no intention of paying anything near the price range I?ve mapped out. My frugal nature and tight budget will not let me pay top FMV for any of these coins. I will be scouring the coin world for the sweet deals and I suspect for quite a while.

I will leave you with a photo of a relatively recent addition to my Proof Eisenhower Dollar Set, a PF69UC 1976S T2. This is not what I would call a stellar coin as it has what appears to be a minor blemish in the obverse field but it is struck well and the price was right.

Dennis