Hi - dee - ho!

[EZ_E]

OK guys, I'm not that old! Sorry you missed my Saints Jeff. DLRC auctioned them off and they all sold for strong prices. As you know, it was a quality set with (29) dates and MM's completed, including (11) MS64/65 coins.

 

My birth year is not 1910 but I started a 1909 Mint Set and realized how expensive the "S" mint cents were and how rare the "O" Mint coins were. This epiphany (duh!) quickly ended the 1909 set adventure. So, I took stock of my inventory and realized that I had all (3) MM Saints dated 1910, a MS63 1910-D Eagle, a 1910-P Barber half and 1910-P Barber dime, both in MS64 plus a 1910-P Liberty Nickel in MS65. This level of existing inventory seemed a good place to start a new mint set.

 

This moment of enlightenment all took place about the time of Richmond Collection auction #3. So, I bought (2) more 1910 MM Barber dimes, both MM Barber quarters and both MM Lincolns in the Richmond sale. Anyhow, the set is now 75% completed, but I will probably upgrade the one AU gold coin sometime in the future. The MS63 1910 Indian gold denominations are pretty pricey (except the 1910-P Eagle), but available occasionally. I missed a nice MS63 1910-P Eagle because I did not pull the trigger fast enough. It sold (2) hours after listing!

 

Everyone says that the branch mint 1910 Barber coins are available, but try and find them, especially the halves. I have been looking for a 1910-S Barber Half for a year and have not seen a decent one. This set is hard enough to keep me interested and it controls my spending rate because the coins are so hard to find!

 

 

 

Nice summary, Charlie. It was very educational.

 

It is always nice to see one's coins appreciate. I had bought a gorgeous PR64 Cameo 1885 SL quarter from Pinnacle a couple of years ago for $925. This is an awesome, original coin with sweet champagne toning on both sides. It is near flawless except for a small staple scratch on the obverse. Since my LASIK surgery, I can't see it at all with the naked eye. Even before that, it was barely noticable. So this would easily be a PR67 Cameo but at a 64 price. There are no hairlines whatsoever or any other distractions except for the one I mentioned. Now, a dipped out, hairlined 64 is selling for $1475. Wow. I'm envious of the collectors who "got theirs" in the late nineties. Those in the market in the late eighties most likely took a bath on many early proofs but the market was still evolving at that point. TPGS's were still new and had yet to find their groove. And investors drove prices up. And there was no internet to educate the collector. So, now, we are seeing the hobby grow in a way that is unprecedented. It is not fueled by hype (necessarily) and the newness of grading services but the hobby is evolving and growing in such a way as not to build a house of cards which could tumble down at any moment. Collectors today are acquiring a much surer foundation built upon knowledge and experience which will ensure a very strong market for years to come, IMO. I'm just glad that I purchased many quality, high-grade pre 1915 proof earlier this year because it is only a matter of time before any nice early proof will be many, many multiples of the current listings. Heck, just try to find sweet examples now and they are almost non-existent unless you have $10K-$30K handy. I got back into the hobby in 2002 and had a year of a learning curve before I obtained the knowledge to make educated buys and learn the right dealers. Bummer that I wasn't a couple of years earlier but we are now on the tail end of the purchasing window of nice type coins before the crazy money sets in.

[jtryka]

Yes Charlie, your Saint set had a lot of quality coins, which is why I was bummed to miss the sale! I am very glad to hear they brought strong prices for you though. I don't know if I'll ever sell my set, just because I wouldn't have much to do without that set to work on! I figure it'll keep me busy well into retirement in 30 years or so. And Victor, you are correct in that the late 90s was a wonderful time to get into a lot of these series. I seriously doubt I would be collecting Saints if not for the bargains of 1999-2001. Back with gold lanquishing well under $300, you could buy common date Saints in MS-63 for under $400 all day long, now they are 50% or more above that! Back then Saints were sort of a dead zone, and I would buy lots in heritage auctions and keep the ones I wanted and sold the rest on eBay for a modest profit that further subsidized my set. But now it's a lot tougher, which is why I've slowed down a lot. Back then buying a half dozen Saints would have been a good month, now I am buying 3 or 4 a year! Such is the way of the coin market though, but the good thing is that there are always bargains to be ad in some part of the market, like now with modern commems and Franklins, and to some extent Peace dollars.

[Oldtrader3]

Victor: I think that Seated Lib proofs are still underpriced and will appreciate more. I only have one, a SL dime. I had a SL dollar proof but sold it.

 

Jeff: Most of my Saints were purchased when gold was below $350 per ounce. The branch mint Saints now are getting very pricey. Plus, there are not any more European hoards left to exploit. The last mini-hoard was a few hundred 1929-P coins that slowly entered the market. That hoard reduced the status of the 1929-P from very rare to very scarce. This is noted by ANR in their LaBelle catalog.

 

I also am adding a note about Peace Dollars. I strongly believe (even having sold mine) that MS64, fully struck "S" mint Peace Dollars with good surfaces are much rarer than collectors think. I looked for over a year for nice MS64 '25-S and '28-S coins that had full strike. Both these dates and the '24-S are really tough. I am not sure that a '22-S exists that is fully struck and clean. Attached is the closest to a full strike '22-S that I have owned. It is in a ICG-MS65 holder.