Three additions from the Heritage auction

My wife and I just signed on the dotted line to replace essentially all of the exterior of our house. So what did I do? I went overboard in the pre-ANA Heritage auction, of course.

Before getting into those details, I have a couple older notes: First, I had to skip the latest Baltimore show due to work, leading me to consider going to the ANA in Philly. Second, there was one more detail regarding my recent Heritage live on-line bidding problem. In the end, I did have to pay a restocking fee, which was not small...

Back to the almost present. I had picked out several coins of interest, as usual. I decided on one, an 1860 half dime, PCGS graded MS67 with green bean, and entered what should have been a winning bid.

I have been trying to build an 1890 P mint, non-gold, MS64 set for my younger son. I have the nickel in proof, and want to swap it for a MS example. The Heritage sale had a couple of them, and I entered a strong bid on one of them.

Good to go, right? Well, the disease has me in its grip. As I watched on-line last Thursday, I decided that an 1844 MS67 half dime was still looking "cheap". (I had already decided that I want it, but that I cannot afford it, given the coming home expenses.) Needless to say, when the lot came up, I hit the Cut Bid button. The existing secret maximum was higher, but still less than that next full increment. So I hit the Bid button and got it! The slab shot is below.

So I was on the hook for two expensive coins plus the nickel. When the 1860 half dime came up, there was one live bid. But my secret maximum prevailed, with a little room to spare. A couple days later, the 1890 nickel also sold for less than my max bid.

So what did I do next? I drove to Philadelphia yesterday (Thursday) to check out the ANA. More to come...

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