PCGS Set Registry

News

Your Set Registry Customer Service Staff
Email: setregistry@pcgs.com

BJ Searls
Manager

Cosetta Robbins
Assistant Manager

Gayle Kean
Coordinator

Michele Redmond
Coordinator

Jenny Vo
Coordinator

Jaye Woodward
Coordinator

Set Registry News
Category Summary | Completion Summary | New Sets

10/10/08
New Set Composites Online!
Mexico "Caballito" Peso Basic Set, Circulation Strikes (1910-1914)
Mexico "Caballito" Peso Complete Variety Set, Circulation Strikes (1910-1914)

10/8/08
New Set Composites Online!
China Silver Dollars (Yuan) Design Set, Circulation Strikes (1912-1934)
China Silver Dollars (Yuan) Complete Set with Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1912-1934)

6/10/08
New Set Composites Online!
1850 Mint Set with Gold
1850 Mint Set
1850 Proof Set with Gold
1850 Proof Set
1851 Mint Set with Gold
1851 Mint Set
1851 Proof Set with Gold
1851 Proof Set

6/5/08
Awards Deadline 6/30/08
Another year has passed and it is almost time to judge, once again, the best of the best. Much has happened since February, 2001, when we launched the PCGS Set Registry with just 327 sets listed! Today, seven years later, the Registry is home to some of the finest collections ever assembled. This year, we are also including the first year awards for those participating in the PCGS Currency Set Registry.

The deadline for adding and updating your sets is Monday, June 30, 2007, 5pm EST/2pm PST. All sets will be judged the first week in July based on their status as of the deadline on June 30th. Judges will include numismatic experts from PCGS, PCGS Currency, and the PCGS Numismatic Advisory Board. Winners will be announced mid-July.

To be a contender in this year's awards, sets must be at least 85% complete in PCGS and 75% in PCGS Currency. As a reminder, you must own and have possession of any coin or note you list in your set. In addition, your set must be "published."

To learn about the PCGS awards categories, please click here. For the PCGS Currency award categories, click here.

This year, the major awards will be presented at the PCGS Set Registry luncheon scheduled for Friday, August 1st, in Baltimore at the ANA Convention. Email invitations to the luncheon will be mailed mid-June to all Set Registry members.

Stewart Blay's Red Copper Collection to be Displayed at the ANA
Sponsored by the PCGS Set Registry, Stewart Blay will display his entire copper collection – over 400 coins. The highlights are literally too numerous to mention here, but Stewart promises that the collection is a “guaranteed mind blower.” It consists of the following series:

•1793-1857 Half cents, all in Mint State
•1856 Flying Eagle cents plus patterns
•1858-1909 Indian cents plus patterns
•1909-date Lincolns with varieties CS
•1909-date Lincolns PR

Stewart’s collection is a true work of art that has been 20 years in the making. Be sure to stop by the PCGS booth (#1245) July 30 – August 3, 2008, and enjoy a first-hand look at his masterpiece.

5/30/08
New Set Composites Online!
George V Sovereign Complete Mintmark Set, Circulation Strikes (1911-1932)
George V Half-Sovereign Complete Mintmark Set, Circulation Strikes (1911-1926)

5/29/08
New Set Composites Online!
2007 Canadian Mint Set
Edward VII Sovereign Complete Mintmark Set, Circulation Strikes (1902-1910)
Edward VII Half-Sovereign Complete Mintmark Set, Circulation Strikes (1902-1910)

5/21/08
Ashmore's Original Hot Lips Grading Set on Display in Long Beach
Be sure to visit the Long Beach Coin & Collectibles show to see the only complete PCGS grading set of "Hot Lips". This 21-coin set will be on display, courtesy of Ash Harrison, from 5-29 to 5-31. This grading set contains examples from Poor-1 to Mint State-61 of the very popular "Hot Lips" variety, VAM 4. Click here to view this one-of-a-kind set. For more information about the Long Beach show, click here.

New Set Composites Online!
Victoria Sovereign Complete Mintmark Set, Circulation Strikes (1838-1901)
Victoria Half-Sovereign Complete Mintmark Set, Circulation Strikes (1838-1901)

5/7/08
New Set Composites Online!
1852 Mint Set with Gold
1852 Mint Set
1852 Proof Set

4/29/08
New Set Composites Online!
Sacagawea Dollars Basic Set, Circulation Strikes (2000-present)
Sacagawea Dollars Complete Variety Set, Circulation Strikes (2000-present)

A poll concerning whether or not the satin finish issues should be required in the Major Variety set was emailed today to all members who have a Sacagawea circulation strike set registered. If you did not receive this poll and your email is current, you should request that your email provider "white list" all email from collectors.com to ensure you do not miss any future correspondence. If you wish to participate in the poll, please email BJ Searls for a copy of the poll. If your email is not current, please login to the Registry, click on "Your Account" and update your email address.

4/28/08
New Set Composites Online!
Susan B. Anthony Basic Set, Circulation Strikes (1979-1981, 1999)
Susan B. Anthony Basic Set, Proof (1979-1981, 1999)

4/23/08
New Set Composites Online!
Eisenhower Dollars Complete Variety Set, Circulation Strikes (1971-1978)
Eisenhower Dollars Basic Set, Proof (1971-1978)
Eisenhower Dollars Complete Variety Set, Proof (1971-1978)

4/22/08
New Set Composites Online!
Kennedy Half Dollars with Major Varieties, Circulation Strikes and Proof (1964-present)
Kennedy Half Dollars Complete Variety Set, Circulation Strikes and Proof (1964-present)

4/21/08
New Set Composites Online!
1853 Mint Set with Gold
1853 Mint Set
1853 Proof Set
Lunar Gold $15, Proof (1996-present)

4/14/08
2007 World Coin Update
The Canadian sets have been updated with the 2007 coinage.

New Set Composites Online!
Kennedy Half Dollars Complete Variety Set, Circulation Strikes (1964-Present)
Kennedy Half Dollars with Major Varieties, Proof (1964-Present)
Kennedy Half Dollars Complete Variety Set, Proof (1964-Present)

4/1/08
New Set Composites Online!
First Spouse $10 Gold with First Strikes, Circulation Strikes (2007-2015)
First Spouse $10 Gold with First Strikes, Proof (2007-2015)

3/31/08
PCGS Luncheon videos available for viewing online:
You will need Adobe Flash Player installed on your web browser in order to view these videos.
     January 2008 - The History of Grading presented by Ron Guth, Q&A Session with David Hall
     January 2006 - Grading Summit. Q. David Bowers, David Hall, Jim Halperin, Dr. Donald H. Kagin, Julian Leidman and Scott A. Travers participated in a panel discussion about the history of grading, the grading scale, and the future of grading which also included a discussion on whether or not the rare coin market should adopt a 100-point grading scale.
     January 2005 - The Good Old Days. Discussing “What Was the Coin Market like in the 1950s and 1960s?” was Q. David Bowers, David Hall, Art Kagin and Julian Leidman. This very entertaining video gives you a rare opportunity to hear the delightful stories of Art Kagin, who passed away in July, 2005.

10/29/07
New and Improved Set Listings Coming Soon!
As you know, PCGS launched its new variety attribution program last year. Consequently, we have many more varieties that we now recognize.   It’s time to re-examine the set compositions and make sure everything is logical and consistent. We may be adding some coins to various sets and we may remove some coins from certain sets. We are definitely going to add one class of sets we call the “Classic Set.” This will be the basic set with the major varieties that have been recognized for the past several decades. We will be checking with all of you who have variety sets before we make any major changes to any set. We’ll work together to make the Set Registry even better.

Here’s what things should look like when we’re done with the set composition re-vamp. If warranted, each series will have the following set compositions:

Date Set – The Date Set includes one coin for each year in the series. Any mintmark and any variety can be used as the “date” in your set. For example, a Morgan dollar Date Set could have an 1899-S, 1900-O/CC, and a 1901 for the 1899, 1900, and 1901 in the Date Set.

Basic Set (Date and Mintmark) – The Basic Set includes one of each date and mintmark in the series. For the most of the Basic Sets, varieties can be used in place of a non-variety coin.

Classic Set (Date, Mintmark, and Major Varieties) - The Classic Set includes one of each date, mintmark, and major variety, with the major varieties being those that have been recognized since the early 1970s. Examples of these long time recognized varieties would be the 3-legged Buffalo nickel, 1955 double die Lincoln cent, and the 1918/7-S Standing Liberty quarter. These sets are dated through 1964. The purpose of the Classic Set is to allow your current collection to be compared to the great collections of the past, such as the Louis Eliasberg collection, the only “complete” collection of U.S. coins ever assembled.

Major Variety Set (Date, Mintmark, and Major Varieties) – The Major Variety Set includes one of each date, mintmark, and major variety currently recognized by PCGS. Major varieties are defined as coins that are easily recognized as having major differences from other coins of the same design, type, date, and mint. Generally, major varieties are significant and can be easily seen with the naked eye. And where there are various “states” to a variety, the major variety is the state which is considered the strongest by the collecting community. For example, there are three states, or types, for the 1936 Double Die Obverse Lincoln cent. Only the Type 1, the strongest and most apparent of the three states, is considered a major variety and is included in the PCGS Major Variety Set for Lincoln cents.

Note that new varieties are recognized each year and the number of coins needed for a Major Variety Set may increase over time. Also note that it is possible for varieties to be “delisted,” i.e. removed from inclusion in the Major Variety set. Sometimes varieties are misattributed by the numismatic community. For example, for years the pricing guides listed an 1869/8 Indian cent. Experts now state that this is not a 9 over 8, but “recut 9,” or “9 over 9.’ This minor recutting is a much more common occurring variety and is not considered major.

Complete Variety Set (Date, Mintmark, and all Varieties) – The Complete Variety Set includes one of each date, mintmark, and all major and minor varieties recognized by PCGS. Using the example of the 1936 Double Die Obverse Lincoln cent mentioned under the Major Variety Set above, for the Major Variety Set, only the Type One 1936 DDO cent is allowed in and necessary for the set. However, in the Complete Variety Set, all three types of 1936 DDO Lincoln cents are required for the set. Note that for early series, such as Large cents, Bust half dollars, Half cents, etc., the Complete Variety Set includes all die varieties as listed in the most recognized reference books.

We estimate that the update of sets will be a 4-6 month process, so your patience will be appreciated. Should you have any questions, please contact BJ Searls.

7/18/07
Set Registry Award Winners Announced!
It has been a fantastic year with many awe inspiring sets now being listed in the Registry. Congratulations to owners of The Law Collection, The GBW Collection, and DRG for their induction into the PCGS Set Registry Hall of Fame for individual sets.

This year the Registry judges decided to increase the number of Classic and Modern awards from 20 to 30 in each category. There were so many great sets that they couldn't pick just 20! To view the award winning sets and read descriptions, please click here.

If you were one of the over 1,100 "Best of the Registry" certificate winners and you would like a name different than your set name listed on the certificate, please email setregistry@pcgs.com before Friday, July 29th.

Once again, congratulations and thanks to all!

2/2/06
VAM Issues
When we launched the VAM sets last year, PCGS operations had not yet issued numbers for PL and DM VAMs. This means that those numbers are not in the VAM sets and we are adding them on a case-by-case basis. Should you attempt to add a VAM designated coin to one of your sets and you receive an error message, please contact setregistry@pcgs.com and we will immediately update the set with the missing number. Also, none of the VAM numbers were added to the non-VAM basic, variety, basic PL and variety PL sets. We are also adding those numbers as they come up.

8/21/02
Set Registry Weighting Policy
We have had many requests over the last year to explain what criteria is used when weighting sets. The Registry weighting is done by taking three things into account:

1. The overall rarity of the coin, i.e. the rarity in all grades
2. The rarity in the highest 2 or 3 grades
3. The price (because this is an indication of demand and importance to collectors)

The weighting steps are as follows. First, our expert (David Hall) makes a spreadsheet which summarizes these three factors for the entire series. Then he assigns the weights based on each factor, combines the weighted factors, and assigns a "total" weight. Next, the proposed weights are posted on the Set Registry News page. We then usually get feedback from the interested Registry participants. Finally, David Hall looks at the feedback and makes adjustments if appropriate. It's not 100% scientific, but we feel the weights accurately represent the relative rarity and importance of the individual coins.

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