My
IHC set is my pride and joy. I've been working on mine for many years and have it completed, but far away from MS. The 1900-09 (not the S) I have in AU-MS. The 08S is a F, 09S is VG. The 1890s I have in XF-AU, maybe one MS. 1880s all have full liberty, a few are VF-XF. 1870s is where the bottom drops out- mostly G and VG with occasional F/VF. My 77 is a VG, but corroded. 1859-69 is a mixture of G/VG with some fo the easier coins (64BR, 65) being F. My 64L is a VF-XF.
I would say getting them all AU-MS will be a lifelong challenge to do, without breaking the bank. I may never have the three keys in conditions above F- just too expensive. It was hard enough to complete the set.
Buying mixed lots of
IHC on
ebay will do almost nothing to help you complete the set. Nearly all lots have 1880-1909 only, and many of these type lots are even missing 80-86, 94, and 09 (already picked clean). It is rare that I buy a mixed
IHC lot and it has pre-1880 coins in it for $1 a coin. Some lots will tell you there are pre-1880 coins, but then the bidding on the lot goes well above $1/coin. I did manage to get an
ebay lot of
IHC in recently and it had the 09S key in it, VG, and that completed my set- so I got that lot for an amazing bargain.
My advice would be to buh some mixed
IHC lots on
ebay and stay around $1 per coin. Some of the lots will have nicer than G specimens, though I doubt you'll see anything about F/VF. Still, you can cherrypick the best ones, and then dump the ones you don't want back on
ebay. In all likelihood, you'll be able to get 80-84, 87-93, 95-08 with no problem. 85, 85, 94 and 09 are becoming difficult in mixed lots, but not impossible. For the pre-1880 coins, your best bet might be to buy a few partial sets, take what you need and dump the rest on
ebay.
Posted 06/09/2008 3:45 pm
