$5,000 7070

Considering your wants, I would recommend that you complete the set with low to mid-grade coins and then upgrade from there. If you get a whole bunch of high-end coins at the beginning, you may find out that you will blow out your budget. Buying everything low-grade first ensures that you have a complete set, and you can always improve it as your budget sees fit. If you are trying to make a set in which all of the coins are about the same grade, I would do some research before I commit to anything. The aforementioned plan also works with this strategy as well.

I changed my approach and decided to get the minimum grade I like to add to my 7070, which is Extra Fine - AU grades. I don't know how to do that in some of those early coins, probably I may have to settle for VF or even lesser grade.

The cost of keeping the hobby going is almost like raising funds to send my kids to college again. LOL! But I need my fix just like all other.

It's a tall task based on looking at earlier dated coins in just F12 or VG10. They are very expensive. I may just stick with dimes.

ADDENDUM: My idea all along was to get coins in a sufficiently high enough grade so that if I showed them to a non-collector they could easily see what the Mint's intent was with regard to design.

XF-AU is a great place to shoot for with that kind of budget and is basically what I am working on. There are two major stops to this: Draped Bust large cents and Capped Bust large cents. Both of these in just VF will probably run more than $500 each (glancing at numismedia.) Also the two Seated Liberty dollars would be in the same boat, over $500 each in XF. So you would have to settle for lower grade examples in those slots, but I think the others would be doable in XF-AU on that budget.

No Draped Dimes in the 7070. Dimes start with the Capped Bust Type 2.

The Seated dollars would also kill your budget in AU.

Being curious about this I decided to add up all the prices in XF (only dropping the two large cents discussed to F and the two Seated dollars to VF) based on numismedia's prices. The end total was $6110.11. With a little bit of looking and careful buying I would say you would come in under those prices and get within the area that you are looking for budget wise.

I can see your point about trying to match the grades to all be relatively close. I guess you can say I have come to terms that they will, with my current budget, never be exactly matched, but I also don't see a point in putting in say an XF ASE, Memorial cent, or even Mercury dime when you can get uncirculated for very close to the same price. Just my personal preference though. If you do want everything to be the same I think you would be shooting for VF then to stay in that budget range (as amida mentioned, no draped bust dime in the standard 7070.)

As for the labels, I don't really know if they would add any value. You can't guarantee that the coin would get the same grade or that it hasn't been damaged since you removed it, so I think for most people it wouldn't increase the price paid (the exception potentially being toned coins since it would show that they had market acceptable toning, but again, there is no guarantee that the company won't send it back QC if it gets sent in again so it probably wouldn't increase the price.)

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!!