The NOLA one per set
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Updated:
4/12/2024
Views: 447
In January 2022 as I was looking thru the registry to see if a set looked interesting. I noticed this category which I had not seen before. I was intrigued and thought to myself, I have a few New Orleans coins so why not start this set. So I did, initially starting with the Morgan dollar and Seated half which were already in my inventory.
My initial plan was to do this set in grades of XF40 to AU50, but my champagne taste has once again got me buying above that level on many of the additions, yikes.
I am somewhat disappointed in how NGC has changed the makeup of this set and has added some really expensive coins to the set. In particular the 1839 half, the 1909 gold Indian, and while not terribly expensive the 1851 trime. All of these coins are undoubtable NOLA minted coins, but none were part of the original set composition, and it will be difficult (if not impossible for the 09 gold Indian) for me to afford all those additional coins. The gold Indian is a very expensive coin, and the half is not cheap even in low circulated condition. :(
New additions and changes for 2022:
1) The first addition to the set is a long time bucket list coin. I have always loved the simplistic look of the no stars seated dime and have wanted one for years. This gave me a perfect opportunity to combine a coin that I really like and incorporate it into this new set. I located this PCGS graded XF40 example for sale by one of the PCGS forum members and worked out a deal to purchase it in February. Not a high grade example but one that I very much like the look of, plus this is the first year of operation for the New Orleans mint. And having a first year coin in the set is a rather neat thing to me.
2) In March I found a very nice Barber quarter on Great Collections and purchased it. I like the look of this coin, something that is not easy for me as I generally am not a fan of the Barber design. And it fit within the grade range that I was targeting and had the eye appeal.
3) The fourth addition is for a very original and sweet 1851 type 1 gold dollar. In April I contacted a collector on the PCGS forum that I knew was active in the collecting of gold dollars and asked him to keep me in mind if he had any of the common date O coins in an NGC holder to sell in the future. To my surprise he contacted me just a few day later and offered this coin. It has been in his collection for 15+ years and I was ecstatic to have the chance to purchase such a fresh coin. The only down side is that it is a mint state coin which I had planned to avoid to keep the costs down. But you don't always get an opportunity like this so I said heck with my grade target and consummated the deal. I am very happy with this little coin in the set.
4) The fifth addition to the set is an 1892-O Barber dime. This was purchased from Northeast Numismatics and already had a CAC green bean. Once again this is well above the original grade level target, but I have never been particularly fond of the Barber coinage design. So when I found this example, which I find to be very attractive, I decided that I would rather spend a bit more and have an attractive example than one I would possibly regret buying. This turned out to be the final addition for 2022.
2023:
1) My first addition to this set for 2023 came in late February early March when I purchased an 1858-O half dime. This came from an Ebay seller and was acquired with the CAC green bean. It has a very original and crusty look to the coin.
2) In August I purchased the 1860-O seated dollar from CRO. This was a coin I had been searching for since I decided to do this set. So many seated dollars have been abused in the past by collectors and dealers looking to "improve" them. This coin is true to my original grade target, although if I'm being honest that had more to do with the economics of the coin as I would have preferred to have acquired a higher graded example. However, this coin is a very attractive coin and does not have that washed out and messed with look, and that is a real positive in my book. This came with the CAC bean already applied.
3) An upgrade also came in August, this was an expensive month! I had an ok looking XF Barber quarter example already in this set. But it was rather dark and was not really quite what I wanted. While conversing with a collector on the PCGS forum I found that he had this 1895-O quarter and was interested in selling. While I didn't really need this coin, I much prefer the cleaner and "brighter" look over the dark example I had. So, a deal was done, and this upgrade is now filling the Barber quarter slot.
4) The third addition for 2023 is the most expensive coin so far in this set. A 1903-O liberty head gold eagle purchased out of the Fairmont collection (Rhone set) sale held by Stacks and Bowers in August. This coin is designated as Winter-2, graded by PCGS as MS63 and has been CAC green bean certified. 1903 is the highest mintage for gold eagles from the NOLA mint which makes that year an excellent choice to find first rate examples for type sets like this.
I was close to pulling the trigger on another example in a national dealer's inventory when this opportunity presented itself. I am very happy with this coin, and it will be a real treasure.
5) My fourth and last addition to the set for 2023 is a very nice, and to my eye very attractive, seated quarter. I have looked at quite a few seated quarters to fill this slot, and have liked several that I have seen in the past two years. But this example has great eye appeal and did not break the bank as many past examples would have. This is an important addition because it brings the set to 50% complete. From here on there are few "easy" coins, almost every other coin for this set is very pricy and can be difficult to find nice.
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The NOLA one per set
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