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Six years is a heck of a wait, but............

Started by cpm9ball,

35 posts in this topic

cpm9ball

cpm9ball

Posted
Posted

In 2005, I spotted a P-D-S set of the 1938 Oregon Trail still in the original card with beautiful tab toning. It had just been listed by a dealer I often checked, so I got on the phone immediately to buy it. Wouldn't you know that it had already sold just two minutes before my call. There have been a few times since then that I found a nicely toned Oregon Trail, but it always ended up that the auction went well beyond what I was willing to pay. Yes, hardly a week goes by that there aren't OT's listed on eBay, but every one of them is just blah blast white which doesn't appeal to me at all. Last night after reading more of Mark's thread, I decided to drop by Mark Feld Rare Coins which I do every so often, and there it was, a wonderfully toned 1926-S. It's in an NGC MS67 slab, and I wasn't going to pause even a moment to consider if I could afford. I contacted Mark, and he will be putting it in the mail tomorrow. So, here it is, and I'm as happy as a pig in........... Enjoy!

 

Chris

 

Photos courtesy of Mark Feld

 

111224.jpg.1b759b36e798446e63197053e37fc028.jpg

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cpm9ball

cpm9ball

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Very Nice Chris! I'm still waiting on a nice reasonable priced Texas Comm.!

 

You should ask Mark to be on the lookout for you. He has such a good eye for beautiful coins.

 

Chris

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dimefreak

dimefreak

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Very Nice Chris! I'm still waiting on a nice reasonable priced Texas Comm.!

 

You should ask Mark to be on the lookout for you. He has such a good eye for beautiful coins.

 

Chris

 

I agree! Tom and Mark both are just as picky as me, which means I am always happy!

 

Nice coin there Chris!

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cpm9ball

cpm9ball

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Chris, if I'd had any idea how long you'd been looking, the price would have been WAY higher. :D

 

Umm....did I forget to mention that it took six years because I couldn't find a decent one in an MCGS slab?

 

Chris

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Buffalo Head

Buffalo Head

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Just beautiful Chris! Looks like Mark did you right on this beauty!! Congratulations on such a gorgeous pick-up. Maybe I should give Mark a try. Your coin is awesome!! Enjoy it....Joe

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cpm9ball

cpm9ball

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Just beautiful Chris! Looks like Mark did you right on this beauty!! Congratulations on such a gorgeous pick-up. Maybe I should give Mark a try. Your coin is awesome!! Enjoy it....Joe

 

He does have another OT, but it doesn't have the toning of this one.

 

Chris

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Chris1976

Chris1976

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Chris,

 

I'm glad to see your wait has finally paid off. I'm the same way when in comes to cars, it took me 15 years to finally get the one I wanted as a child. As a child I had built model after model after model of the car in all different color combinations. Now I have it sitting in a garage in Northern GA waiting for me to come back to her. Its a 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass W-30. I know exactly how you feel knowing you finally found the coin you had been waiting for.

 

-Chris#2

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jesbroken

jesbroken

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Way to go, Chris. I have admired that coin every since Mark put it up, but just couldn't afford it. Glad you got it, couldn't belong to a nicer person.

Congrats.

Jim

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Keigwin

Keigwin

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Nice coin Chris. I am looking forward to buying from Mark soon as he has some similarly eye appealing Peace dollar in inventory.
Larry Shapiro has many nice Peace dollars. His specialty. I sold him my gem set last fall and he was really very decent about it.

Lance.

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jerseycat10

jerseycat10

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Nice coin Chris. I am looking forward to buying from Mark soon as he has some similarly eye appealing Peace dollar in inventory.
Larry Shapiro has many nice Peace dollars. His specialty. I sold him my gem set last fall and he was really very decent about it.

Lance.

 

I've bought a few morgans from him. He does have nice stuff.

 

I have to check out his inventory again.

 

Thanks!

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acan451

acan451

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Chris

This is truly a beautiful coin

As I am still very new and a coin like this is just a dream right now

But I can wait like Chris did.

OK maby a little longer lol

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cpm9ball

cpm9ball

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Thanks everyone.............and most of all, thank you, Mark.

 

I've always been curious about the historical background concerning the design of the OT. Some references indicate that it was a collaborative effort between James Earle Fraser and his wife, Laura Gardin Fraser, while others express the belief that Laura contributed most to the concept. Does anyone know which of these schools of thought is correct?

 

Chris

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ldhair

ldhair

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My old Commemorative Encyclopedia by Bowers has a little about this.

He thought James designed the reverse and Laura did the obverse and both models. She probably made some changes to James design.

 

Around my house the ladies are always changing things. lol

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leeg

leeg

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The first artist approached with respect to the Oregon Trail half dollar was Chester Beach. Though Beach sketched a number of designs for the coin, he relinquished the commission because of more pressing commitments.

 

StacksChesterBeachImage.jpg

Chester Beach

 

 

OregonTrailObv1A.jpg

Chester Beach Sketch (Taxay)

 

 

Subsequently, the Oregon Trail Association contacted James and Laura Fraser, whose felicitous collaboration produced the now famous issue. Fraser took it upon himself the designing of the reverse, Mrs. Fraser, that of the obverse, together with the modeling of both sides.

 

 

AAA_miscphot_5192FraserSmithsonianA.jpg

James Fraser

 

Fraser09.jpg

Laura Fraser

 

Text from "An Illustrated History of U.S. Commemorative Coinage by Don Taxay, Arco Publishing Company, Inc. New York, 1967.

 

A coin I used to own:

 

OREG2OBV.jpg

OREG1REV2.jpg

 

DSCN3941.jpg

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