Just Got The Final Coin In My Silver Classic Commemorative Set

Astonishing feat! Congratulations!

I agree that's a really impressive feat to collect all 144.

Impressive!! Congratulations on a massively difficult accomplishment. How long did it take to assempble the entire set?

And I agree, we need some eye candy here!

Congratulations!!!!! You should be VERY proud of this difficult accomplishment. I'm sure you took eight years to make sure each coin was how you liked the eye appeal, in the grade you wanted, and at a fair price! That's what the love of coins is all about!!!!

So what's next?

Steve

Outstanding set building accomplishment. Congratulations are in order for the patience it had to take. Would enjoy seeing some photos of your favorites.

I finally got around to taking pics of some of my favorite commemoratives in my set. Of course, that's sort of like asking which is my favorite child . If you asked again in a couple weeks probably 2/3 on this list would be different!
Sorry about the picture overload - it's really hard for me to narrow this down to just two or three .

First off, probably my favorite individual coin in my commemorative collection is my 1893 Columbian. Not a high grade, but my only proof-like commemorative and it has very nice eye-appeal.



Next up, the Connecticut commem. I love the Charter Oak obverse and the stylized eagle reverse. Again, not a high grade, but my only commemorative with a gold CAC.



I'm not a big fan of the Washington-Carver design, nor typically of heavily-toned coins, but this one was an eye-catcher for me. My pictures don't do the coin justice - it's really something in hand.



My first purchase of classic commemorative coins was in February of 2014. An Oregon Trail commem was one of those. Probably my favorite overall design of the entire commemorative series.



I'm a fan of ships on coins, and I love the reverse design of the Pilgrim commemorative.



Another of my initial commemorative acquisitions was a Texas commem. I lived in Texas for the majority of my working life, moving away a couple years after my retirement. The overall design of this commemorative just appeals to me.



I find the Norfolk commem design quite interesting - a bit busy, but interesting nonetheless!



The Sesquicentennial commem is another favorite - I love the liberty bell reverse which is so similar to the reverse of the Franklin half dollar. My example is a lower grade, but still appealing to me.



While there was a large mintage number for the Stone Mountain commemorative, higher-grade coins are a bit harder to find. My example has a very subtle light-blue toning, and I find it fairly attractive.



Here's a California commemorative - what can I say, I love the bear on the reverse!



Last, but not least, is my Gettysburg commemorative. This is a recent upgrade of my previous MS64 example. A dealer I frequently buy from had a large number in their inventory, mostly MS66 and MS67, from a so-called "Gettysburg Hoard". I don't know the story behind that... Most had (in my opinion) unattractive and splotchy toning, but this one had very nice eye appeal and I really like it.

Thanks, Winesteven! Most of these have fairly subtle, light toning of various hues, other than the California and Gettysburg examples. Many, if not most, of these I'm sure have been lightly dipped at some point. I've seen that while PCGS and NGC will sometimes straight-grade even heavily dipped coins that have been stripped of all luster, CAC seems to be more particular about that. I do like what I feel is attractive toning, but generally not too heavy - that Washington-Carver is one of my exceptions. As a rule I avoid untoned silver coins that are not in gem uncirculated grade or higher, or pretty much any untoned pre-20th century silver coin. And any "white" circulated grade silver coin to me simply looks unnatural.