The MnS Joint Venture Seated dollar set

The MnS Joint Venture Seated dollar set is being put together by my father and I. We started collecting in 2002 or 2003 with liberty nickels and within 3 years we had a whole set, and up to 4-5 of some dates with a nearly complete second set. Time to look for a new series.

The seated dollar set was our second set we set out to tackle. It presented a challenge at a reasonable cost in the XF grade range that we started to look at. A few XF's in and a tough decision had to be made. Take the plunge or not. I was able to locate a choice XF 1873-cc in a dealers website and it was an easy decision. The coin was in our possession and quickly followed by an 1871-cc in XF. Some of the keys were down and there was no turning back from here.

The next big step of the collection was the upgrading. Within a year or so our tastes changed from XF to AU-MS. Of course, for the seated dollars there is a BIG difference in price for MS over AU so it was convenient that my dad's company had taken some large chances that were starting to pay off.

The next milestone came in May of 2007. We walked by Tony Terranova's table at the St. Louis CSNS show and saw an AU-58 1852 that was gorgeous (and double the price of any other coin we had ever bought for the set!). We left the show with me dreaming and my dad scheming. Unbeknownst to me, my dad had gathered Tony's number and struck up a deal for the coin when we got back home.

In May of 2008 another milestone was reached. An AU-55 1872-cc was purchased and was the last of the CC's needed. Two months later at the Baltimore show we upgraded our 1871-cc and with that we are pleased with these four coins!

In October of 2008 a complete set was sold by Alpine Numismatics. From the sale we were able to pick up the 1851, 1870, and 1873 in MS-63 and the 1871 in MS-64. Thus completing the key dates (minus the 1870-s).

Since then, we have upgraded various dates and added a few more and currently are just missing the 1845, 1856, 1863, and 1872. We've seen and passed on many coins for these dates,
patiently waiting for the right coins to come along.

There are another 5-6 coins I'd like to upgrade before I consider the set "complete" and a few more that I would upgrade if the right coin came along. And who knows, at some point that elusive 1870-s might get added.