$5,000 7070

First off, I have to say. The 7070 type set was the most enjoyable set BY FAR for me to complete, and still the one that I look at the most in my collection for sheer enjoyment. I have been working on it for many years....and I am sooooo close to having an AU+ 7070 now. My initial goal was VF or better.....I completed that, probably at around 7k or so maybe 4 years ago. The problem here, for me anyways....is that all of the later material can be had cheaply in AU to mint state. So I have all these lustrous fully detailed coins, and others that barely made VF all on the same page....which drove me a little nuts(OCD maybe kickin in). So then it was time to upgrade, and until a year ago I had all XF and better, which made them look more matched detail wise anyways......Over the last year, I have been on a major "cartwheel luster" kick....anyone who has read more than one of my posts can probably feel that vibe. Needless to say, I have been going back and upgrading all of my previous XFs to AUs, with the goal of attractive toning and cartwheel luster, in as much as I can get them with out completely busting the bank. The coins that are behind are my dblc in XF40(which I am trying to upgrade)...my classic head large cent in XF45(no desire to upgrade. even AUs don't have much luster, and even at that point I would be unwilling to crack it out of a slab).

Anyways, understand that if you are OCD like me with all coins matching....you may find yourself spending way more than you ever planned(I don't even know how much I have dumped into this set, nor do I want to...lol). Of course you could always lower the grades of all the later date material to Fine or VF....that would make for an interesting, and somewhat unique well matched 7070!!

Based off what Catbert said, you could complete the set page by page, which is a completely viable option. You could also try to knock out the hardest ones first (draped bust large cent, classic head large cent, 20¢ piece, Capped Bust quarter, Seated dollars, Trade dollar) as they are difficult to obtain at reasonable prices in a nice fine or above. The nice thing about this strategy is that everything is easy-going after the hard ones. The rest can be obtained in attractive grades for well less than $100.

My goodness Kanga, that's a lot of money.

I'm with johnny on wanting luster and detail but I do believe if one searches over enough time, and that really being years if patient looking, one can piece together an exquisite looking VF range 7070.

I am a big believer that you've got to have consistent grading to capture the eye appeal. I would not want an MS Seated dime in the same set as a VF Seated dollar due to strictly price affordability.

Great conversation on this thread.

So would you want to have a consistent VF set all the way through? including ikes, Kennedy halves, and all the copper clad/zinc plated coins? That would be a neat looking set.....I think I would appreciate that more than a set with vf grades for the earlier stuff and MS grades for the later stuff.

Another thing you'd want to consider to bestow upon a VF set, is to go for circ cameo coins when available. Those have a LOT of eye appeal, and would add a lot of spice to a VF 7070!! Especially since it sounds like you want to work on this slowly over several years.

Just trying to understand what you are looking for.
I don't see how "VF level coins" can have "original unmolested surfaces".
By definition haven't VF coins been circulated and therefore don't have unmolested surfaces -- unless you mean cleaned in some fashion (dipped or rubbed)?
Then I would understand your meaning.
That means they could go into slabs NOT marked DETAILS or Genuine.

As I've said in other threads I don't really have much interest in the ROI.
I'd like to THINK I'm ahead of the game but that's not necessary.
This is a collection not an investment (and I subscribe to the thinking that coins are NOT a good investment).

I've also said in other threads that I intend to go to the great beyond with the collection intact.
That's why anything I've bought in the last 10 or so years has been slabbed; makes it easier on the heirs if they wish to convert the collection to cash.

But curiosity has at least caused me to include in my inventory (Excel spreadsheet) a column of the recent Coin World values.
Again my bookkeeping is a bit shaky but here are my current numbers:
-- What I've Paid for the Type Set (close approximation) = $78,790.29
-- What Coin World Values It At = $116,290.00
That works out to be a 47.6% profit!
Of course I don't believe that.
Dealers are NOT going to pay retail but at least I think I could get the original cost back (which is a loss if you take inflation into account).
But if my return was only 20% over cost that might cover inflation.

My REAL problem is that I can't see my coins except in pictures I've taken.
They're all in a safe deposit box.

Here's the NGC Registry Type Set I'm working on:

1/2c LIBERTY CAP, HEAD LEFT 1793
1/2c LIBERTY CAP, HEAD RIGHT 1794-97
1/2c DRAPED BUST 1800-08
1/2c CLASSIC HEAD 1809-35
1/2c BRAIDED HAIR 1849-57
1c FLOWING HAIR, CHAIN 1793
1c FLOWING HAIR, WREATH 1793
1c LIBERTY CAP 1793-96
1c DRAPED BUST 1796-1807
1c CLASSIC HEAD 1808-14
1c CORONET 1816-39
1c BRAIDED HAIR 1839-57
1c EAGLE 1856-58
1c INDIAN HEAD, LAUREL WREATH 1859
1c INDIAN HEAD, OAK WREATH 1860-64
1c INDIAN HEAD, BRONZE 1864-1909
1c LINCOLN, WHEAT REVERSE 1909 V.D.B.
1c LINCOLN, WHEAT REVERSE 1909-58
1c LINCOLN, STEEL 1943
2c SHIELD 1864-73
3c COPPER-NICKEL 1865-89
3c SILVER, TYPE 1 1851-53
3c SILVER, TYPE 2 1854-58
3c SILVER, TYPE 3 1859-73
5c SHIELD, WITH RAYS 1866-67
5c SHIELD, NO RAYS 1867-83
5c LIBERTY HEAD, NO CENTS 1883
5c LIBERTY HEAD, WITH CENTS 1883-1913
5c INDIAN HEAD/BUFFALO, TYPE 1 1913
5c INDIAN HEAD/BUFFALO, TYPE 2 1913-38
5c JEFFERSON, COPPER-NICKEL 1938-1964
5c JEFFERSON, SILVER 1942-45
H10c Half Disme 1792
H10c FLOWING HAIR 1794-95
H10c DRAPED BUST, SMALL EAGLE 1796-97
H10c DRAPED BUST, LARGE EAGLE 1800-05
H10c CAPPED BUST 1829-37
H10c SEATED LIBERTY, NO STARS 1837-38
H10c SEATED LIBERTY, NO DRAPERY 1838-40
H10c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH DRAPERY 1840-59
H10c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH ARROWS 1853-55
H10c SEATED LIBERTY, LEGEND OBVERSE 1860-73
10c DRAPED BUST, SMALL EAGLE 1796-97
10c DRAPED BUST, LARGE EAGLE 1798-1807
10c CAPPED BUST, LARGE SIZE 1809-28
10c CAPPED BUST, SMALL SIZE 1828-37
10c SEATED LIBERTY, NO STARS 1837-38
10c SEATED LIBERTY, NO DRAPERY 1838-40
10c SEATED LIBERTY, DRAPERY 1840-60
10c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH ARROWS 1853-55
10c SEATED LIBERTY, LEGEND OBVERSE 1860-91
10c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH ARROWS 1873-74
10c BARBER LIBERTY HEAD 1892-1916
10c MERCURY 1916-45
10c ROOSEVELT, SILVER 1946-64
20c SEATED LIBERTY 1875-78
25c DRAPED BUST, SMALL EAGLE 1796
25c DRAPED BUST, LARGE EAGLE 1804-07
25c CAPPED BUST, LARGE SIZE 1815-28
25c CAPPED BUST, SMALL SIZE 1831-38
25c SEATED LIBERTY, NO DRAPERY 1838-40
25c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH DRAPERY 1840-65
25c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH ARROWS & RAYS 1853
25c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH ARROWS 1854-55
25c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH MOTTO 1866-91
25c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH ARROWS 1873-74
25c BARBER LIBERTY HEAD 1892-1916
25c STANDING LIBERTY, TYPE 1 1916-17
25c STANDING LIBERTY, TYPE 2, 1917-24
25c STANDING LIBERTY, TYPE 3 1925-30
25c WASHINGTON, SILVER 1932-64
50c FLOWING HAIR 1794-95
50c DRAPED BUST, SMALL EAGLE 1796-97
50c DRAPED BUST, LARGE EAGLE 1801-07
50c CAPPED BUST, LETTERED EDGE 1807-36
50c CAPPED BUST, REEDED, 50 CENTS 1836-37
50c CAPPED BUST, REEDED, HALF DOL 1838-39
50c SEATED LIBERTY, NO DRAPERY 1839
50c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH DRAPERY 1839-66
50c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH ARROWS & RAYS 1853
50c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH ARROWS 1854-55
50c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH MOTTO 1866-91
50c SEATED LIBERTY, WITH ARROWS 1873-74
50c BARBER LIBERTY HEAD 1892-1915
50c WALKING LIBERTY 1916-47
50c FRANKLIN 1948-63
50c KENNEDY, SILVER 1964
S$1 FLOWING HAIR 1794-95
S$1 DRAPED BUST, SMALL EAGLE 1795-98
S$1 DRAPED BUST, LARGE EAGLE 1798-1804
S$1 GOBRECHT 1836-39
S$1 SEATED LIBERTY, NO MOTTO 1840-65
S$1 SEATED LIBERTY, WITH MOTTO 1866-73
T$1 TRADE 1873-85
S$1 MORGAN LIBERTY HEAD 1878-1921
S$1 PEACE LIBERTY, HIGH RELIEF 1921
S$1 PEACE LIBERTY HEAD, LOW RELIEF 1922-35