Buildng An Eisenhower Set

Wait till jbuck hears about this!

LOL, yes I have two sets but the article has me thinking, slab set.

Ikes are a lot of fun to collect.

But they are pretty tough to put together a nice handsome set of choice coins. It is important to hand select these coins to match your personal tastes since Gems can be pricey and non Gems can be very ugly. There's a sweet spot where the coins are attractive and inexpensive and this tends to be in the nice choice BU to Gem area dependent on date. The '78-D, for instance, can "easily" be located in Gem from mint sets but the '76 t I or '71-P will be very elusive from any source even in nice attractive BU.

Most proofs can be found nice in the sets and the 40% BU's are little tougher. Most of the CN clads will require a more "targeted" search.

If you can afford graded coins you'll find all MS-65's are not created equal and it will still require time and effort to assemble a nice set.

All the coins are still available "in the wild" so there are many ways to collect. There's a lot of learning to do with any set if you want to do it right. Ikes are no exception.

So far, in my short time collecting, I've assembled 5 complete Ike dollar sets, one of which is a PCGS-graded registry set. I can tell you with absolute certainty that the above statements by cladking are positively true. This is the challenge of Ikes, and it's a very enjoyable one at that. Once you carefully assemble a set you'll be surprised how much you learn about spotting attractive, handsome Ikes with superb eye appeal. They are out there for the taking.

I can tell you something else. The 40% silver BU Ikes (Blue Ikes) are atrociously overgraded AND undergraded by PCGS. But these undergraded Ikes are there for the taking at a bargain price. I can't help myself. I have to grab 'em. I often see MS66 Ikes that should be MS64, and I also see MS66 Ikes that should be at least MS67 or even MS68. I don't understand how PCGS misgrades these so often. They're all over the map.




Again, I couldn't agree more. A lot of graded MS65 Ikes are dull and lifeless while others are glistening jewels. It's remarkable how different two MS65 Ikes can be. This is where CAC comes in. I used to be a sarcastic skeptic toward this company. The last 5 years of collecting has changed my attitude. CAC serves the Ike series well. As it stands now, I would trust any Ike dollar with a CAC sticker on it.