A New Classic US Commemorative Collecting Approach

The June 1955 issue of the The Numismatist, the American Numismatic Association's official publication, featured an article by Harold E. Baker titled "Forty-Eight to Seventy-Three." [The article is also available as a reprint that was sponsored by Sol Kaplan.]

The humorous article chronicles the journey that the author and his young son took in their quest to assemble a complete date and mint mark set of US commemorative half-dollars. It includes chuckle-worthy accounts of missed opportunities, budget constraints, budget "solutions" and the differing perspectives a husband and wife can hold when it comes to coins. I would recommend that all coin collectors seek out the piece regardless of their collecting focus.

While the piece is definitely a fun read it also introduces an interesting approach to assembling a set of classic-era commemorative coins.

The author suggests that between the standard 48-piece set of commemorative half-dollars and the full 142-piece set of the same, there exists a collecting goal that offers the best of both worlds. Namely, a set that features a coin of every type represented by an example from each mint at which it was struck. For example, in such a set, a collector would need a three-coin P-D-S set of 1936 Columbia, SC half-dollars to be considered complete. For the programs that feature issues from multiple mints across multiple years (e.g., the Oregon Trail Memorial half-dollars) a collector would still only need three coins but they could pick and choose from multiple dates to fulfill their P-D-S goal. The author identifies a 73-piece set of half-dollars that would meet this collecting objective.

I connected with the article when I read it for the first time more than a decade ago - I was working on a type set of US commemoratives at the time but was entertaining the idea of expanding my set to include an example of each mint marked coin. Though I wound up deciding to target a 55-piece type set (including the Lafayette Dollar and Isabella Quarter), the idea of extending it to include the various mint marks is still something I consider from time to time.

Were I to pursue such a set, I would have to alter the target list presented by Mr. Baker by one coin. My set would include a 1920 Pilgrim half-dollar as well as a 1921 "Small Date" example, as I consider them to be two collectible varieties of the same type (as with the two varieties of the Alabama, Missouri and Grant half-dollars). Mr. Baker, however, considers the 1920 and 1921 Pilgrim half-dollars to be the same coin.

That small quibble aside, I like Mr. Baker's suggestion for "A type set for the collector in between the collector who can afford a complete set, and the collector who can't afford a complete set but who has an incomplete type set he would like to enlarge to a more complete type set even if it takes every cent he has." I may yet find myself on the path followed by Harold and his son nearly 60 years ago!

What say you?