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The Wild, Wild West Returns (Part 1)

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Iowa Silver Baron Bammer

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OR, How To Collect on less than $200 per coin

I finally found the time to sit down and plan out my Wild, Wild West Signature Set. I must admit, it is almost as much fun for me to plan and study the coins, as it is to collect them.

Before I go any further, I must put in a big THANK YOU to "Coins" magazine, specifically their May, 2005 issue. In it, there was an article entitled "Westward Ho!" which turned out to be the impetus for me to do this set. I hope it's ok to give a plug for the magazine in my journal. Really, I was wondering around collecting a little aimlessly (except for Morgan Dollars), and this article brought things into focus.

Now, for a little explanation as to what is in the set and why. First off, there's going to be a short type set of coins from the following years: 1862, 1865, 1869, 1876, and 1881. Why did I choose these years you might ask. Well, one of my other interests is collecting railroad memorabilia. So, 1862 fits in because Congress passed 2 pieces of legislation that year that were important to the settlement of the west, and the railroads. First was the Homestead Act, and secondly was the Pacific Railroad Act. The Pacific Railroad Act authorized the land grants etc. which helped build the transcontinental.

1865 was the year in which the major building of the railroad started, and of course 1869 was the year when the golden spike was driven in at Promontory, Utah.

I chose 1876 because it was America's Centennial Year and also because of Custer's battle at the Little Big Horn. 1881 is included because of all the things happening in New Mexico (Billy the Kid etc.) and Arizona (Tombstone and the OK Corral).

Now I realize there could be many other years chosen. I came close to including 1849, the year gold was found in California. And I'm sure there are going to be collectors who don't like my choices for various reasons. And that's ok too, this is America and we all have our opinions. :-) I'm hoping that maybe someone else will feel strongly enough to do a set, picking different years. I would love to see what years someone else would choose, and their reasons why. :-)

I think this journal entry is getting a little long, so I'm raise one more point, and then write at least a Part 2 with what I learned in the next couple of days. The point is, I tried to include coins that would cost less than $200 in what I consider nice collectible grades, that is VF-20 and up. I think I've mentioned in other journal entries that I don't have the financial resources to collect at the top end of the scale, especially on the older coins. So I've learned to be content with what I can collect, in the price range I can collect. For an example of what I mean, 3 of the Indian Head Cents I'm including can be had (and these prices are from the May, 2006 issue of Coin Values) for $100 or less in MS-60B. In fact, 2 of the Nickel 3 Cent pieces also are right at $100 in the same magazine for a MS-60 example.

I hope you all enjoy this set even half as much as I'm having making it....

To Be Continued....

P.S. Hope you like the pic of the 2005 SMS Sac Dollar. It's included in the set.

 

2005PSacSM

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