ldhair

My first gold coin from 30 years ago.
 

I remember it well. The mint said the coin was a thank you for those that bought the gold set each year. 
Those that had been collecting the Silver Eagles from the start were really ticked. They had been paying $23 each year but now had to spend $1000 to keep their sets complete. For months CoinWorld was filled with letters to the editor from mad collectors. Many thought the mint would back down and offer just the Silver Eagle to everyone. They didn't and that was just the beginning of the games the mint started playing with collectors. 
Below is the mailing that was sent out in 1995.
 

I remember it well. The mint said the coin was a thank you for those that bought the gold set each year. 
Those that had been collecting the Silver Eagles from the start were really ticked. They had been paying $23 each year but now had to spend $1000 to keep their sets complete. For months CoinWorld was filled with letters to the editor from mad collectors. Many thought the mint would back down and offer just the Silver Eagle to everyone. They didn't and that was just the beginning of the games the mint started playing with collectors. 
Below is the mailing that was sent out in 1995.
 

I don't see the 95-W as rare but I feel it is the key date to the series. This is one of those coins that many will always call rare.  

1843-O eagle, ex-John Jay Pittman collection, conservatively graded "Very Fine to Extremely Fine" by its cataloguer David W. Akers, currently at NGC:


Edit 4/4/24: NGC graded this coin "AU Details, Cleaned".  

I don't see the 95-W as rare but I feel it is the key date to the series. This is one of those coins that many will always call rare.  

I don't see the 95-W as rare but I feel it is the key date to the series. This is one of those coins that many will always call rare.  

1834 Classic Head quarter eagle with Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated details that I would call "whizzed" (possibly just vigorously "cleaned" with a pencil eraser) but which NGC classified as having an "altered surface" and wouldn't encapsulate. It's still a well-detailed example of this scarcer type:


Remember, gold is "wild", so the next post may be of any gold coin or any coin dated 1834.

Fun coin. Those that bought the proof gold set that year got the Silver Eagle free. Some didn't want the coin and just bought the regular proof gold set. They messed up. 

Hi all,
  If you're a fan of the early commemorative coin series please check out my book chapters on the NNP.
Here is the link to my page:
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/booksbyauthor/551821
 

Fun coin. Those that bought the proof gold set that year got the Silver Eagle free. Some didn't want the coin and just bought the regular proof gold set. They messed up. 

Fun coin. Those that bought the proof gold set that year got the Silver Eagle free. Some didn't want the coin and just bought the regular proof gold set. They messed up. 

Fun coin. Those that bought the proof gold set that year got the Silver Eagle free. Some didn't want the coin and just bought the regular proof gold set. They messed up. 

1887 proof Indian cent, ANACS graded Proof Details, Recolored (net Proof 60) in old small holder. The color is a bit "off", especially on the reverse, but the coin is still sharp and attractive:


 

Don't know if it's real but the cover made me laugh.