Are There Any 'Impossible' Series In US Coins?

The term "series" and "complete" are totally subjective terms.
You say Lincoln cents would be easy to do. You are right if say you wanted all the varieties of standard steel wartime cents. That would consist of three, very easily done. Now add in known error varieties and your challenge grows to "doubled d", a bit harder to get done. Next level.....mistakes like a 1944 or 1944d steel, they weren't supposed to be made but they were, if this still fits your "steel wartime" cents the challenge grow again. Do bronze 43 cents count? This could be an error of a 43 steel depending on your view...now the possibility of your quest grows even more unlikely. Now add in all the experimental planchet types the government played around with in 1943 until they settled on the zinc/steel cent and you run into a wall where not all the variations can be had due to not existing anymore. So as you can see depending on how you define a "series" can make or break it being possible or not

I don't think any series is impossible. Didn't Q.David Bowers assemble a set every series ever made by the US Mint?

I think it fair to say that several sets are limited. Such as the Liberty nickel and 1933 St Gaudens you mentioned. Barber dimes come to mind. Stellas.

On the other hand there might be one set that, from a purely technical viewpoint, might be impossible to do. That would be the Peace dollar. Because Technically the Mint did make a 1964 Peace dollar. Not a trial Strike, not a pattern, but a regular production coin. They just never released it. Yeah, yeah, I know it is a technicality, but; real none the less!

"Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. (1896--1976) was an American financier and numismatist. He is best known in the numismatic community for putting together the only complete collection of United States coins ever assembled.[1] Although the set was not truly "complete" by modern standards (for instance, it did not differentiate between proofs and circulation strikes, as most modern collectors and set registries do), it is still the most comprehensive U.S. numismatic collection of all time."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Eliasberg

I would say a complete collection of US coins to include proofs and circulation coinage would be impossible. Regardless, of how deep your pockets are.

Continuing what unholyroller was indicating, with Lincoln Cents alone if you started with all the massive varieties and error coins, it's possible. HOWEVER, using coppercoins books on that coin tends to discuss an error coin for almost every year. People mention the 43 Copper, 44 Steel, 59 Wheat back and on and on. Then too most just mention the 55 and 72 Double Dies. Now start with all the double Mint marks (RPM), throw in the date over date, off centers, lamination errors and on and on you find you would need a large warehouse just for all the Lincoln Cents.
And that Link by GTALLEN only mentions a few coins. Look on pages 414 to 418 of the 2012 Red Book and you'll see 250 coins that all start in the hundreds of thousand dollar ranges. And I'm sure many of those are not ever going to be for sale unless the owner passes away.
As to a really complete set of any thing, the Chinese will soon enough make that possible for any coin.

I second that wow!

where is this noted? In coppercoins book on Lincoln Cents he mentions that this is only a rumor and NONE have ever been authenticated. Would be interesting to read about this one.
Back to the original post. Does that also include all commemoratives? Post Colonial issues?

i dont think any series would be impossible to complete. lets say there is one date/mint mark/variety that is impossible to get ahold of. then it wouldnt exist. in that case it wouldnt be part of the series. sure, some unique pieces exist that reside in the smithsonian or other museums, but it is possible for someone to make a deal with the museum for something more desirable to showcase, or simply break in and steal it.

I would second the STELLAS ($4 gold pieces), there were four versions made over two years; 1879 & 1880 (coiled and flowing hair), and would dang near impossible to complete.


$4 Gold Stellas

1879 Flowing Hair
-- -- -- 68,750 87,500 96,880 100,000 105,630 110,630 118,750
1879 Coiled Hair
-- -- -- 106,250 118,750 143,750 146,880 150,000 156,250 162,500
1880 Flowing Hair
-- -- -- 87,500 109,380 125,000 128,130 131,250 134,380 139,380
1880 Coiled Hair
-- -- -- 237,500 268,750 318,750 325,000 331,250 343,750 362,500


http://numismedia.com/fmv/prices/4g...icesgd.shtml