Top Coin Purchases of 2022

While looking at CoinTalk (CT) chats on New Year’s Day, a couple of threads with similar titles caught my eye. Both were dedicated to listing the poster’s top three coin purchases in 2022.

That got me thinking about what my top three purchases were last year. Before I get to those, I’ll tell you a little about what the CT posters bought.

The first one I encountered was obviously a Morgan dollar aficionado, as his top three purchases were PCGS-graded uncirculated Morgan dollars: 1885-CC MS64, 1889-O MS64, and 1892-CC MS62. All three required a fairly sizable budget to acquire, as the two MS64 dates list in this magazine’s value guide for $1,200 and $1,100, respectively. Although the 1892-CC isn’t priced in MS62, its value is somewhere between $1,750 in MS60 and $3,000 in MS63.

Surprisingly, only two CT members responded to the (Original Poster) OP. A dealer member noted that the 1889-O was well struck. To this, the OP wrote, “Thank you. I think it has a 65 strike. But unfortunately, there is probably too much chatter on the obverse.”

This same CT member then asked about the 1885-CC’s authenticity. “The mintmark looks wrong to me. Aren’t the letters too tall and narrow to be the real deal?”

To this, the OP wrote: “Yeah, as far as I know it’s authentic. I got it from a really good, trusted seller, but thanks for looking out.”

The second poster to list his top three coins of 2022 received only one response to his posting. The collector’s purchases were two Mexican coins graded by NGC. The first was an MS62 1801 1/2 Real that he bought for $300. The second was a 1783 8 Real Shipwreck coin that NGC certified as genuine. This interesting piece had cost the poster just $100.

The third coin, which appeared to be uncertified, was a 1942-S Jefferson nickel with an RPM (repeat mintmark). The poster paid $35 for what was obviously an uncirculated piece. A normal version of this date lists for either $10 or $19 depending on whether it certifies as MS63 or MS65.

The single response to these coins was, “Nice trio with plenty of history!” Although I didn’t respond, my favorite was the Shipwreck coin. For one thing, it was minted in the 18th century, and, for another, it spent many years at the bottom of the sea, where it failed to circulate among the fishes. Talk about history!

When I looked at my purchases for the year, I was amazed to find that I had bought at least 13 different coins. If that shocked me, you can imagine my reaction to what I spent. Don’t tell my wife.

Anyway, my top three acquisitions included two coins that completed series I’ve been working on for years. The first of these is a coin that completed my Standing Liberty quarter set. As you can probably guess, the coin is a 1916 25c.

Although the target grade for the coins in my set began as MS65, it soon became apparent that if I stuck to this grade, I would never be able to complete the set. There are some of the dates that are just too expensive for my numismatic budget. For example, the 1916, with a mintage of just 52,000 pieces, lists for $26,750 in MS65. That is more than my total expenditure for 13 coins in 2022.

I opted for a 1916 in VF30, which cost me $8,500, its PCGS value. My coin has a decent, well-circulated color and a full, four-digit date. If you’re familiar with the pre1925 Standing Liberty quarters, you know that a full date can be hard to find even in VF and better circulated coins.

The second coin purchase that completed a series was a 1915-S Panama-Pacific International Exposition half dollar. This was the last piece I needed for my 50-coin type set of early (1892-1954) commemoratives.

I looked at dozens of Pan-Pac coins on eBay and other online sources before finding one in PCGS MS64 for a more-or-less reasonable price ($1,318). Although this magazine says it’s worth only $1,040 in this grade, the PCGS value is $1,750.

There’s an MS64 Pan-Pac currently listed on eBay for $1,260. However, with state tax, this coin would cost me $30 more than I paid. In addition, the eBay coin has what I consider ugly toning.

The third coin comprising my top three is a 1927-S Standing Liberty quarter. This is considered a classic example of a condition rarity, a coin that’s relatively common in lower grades, but scarce to rare in higher grades.

In the S-L series, the 1927-S has the second lowest mintage (396,000) of the regularly issued dates, behind only the 1916. Because of its low mintage, many of these were saved in lower grades, and for many years you could buy one in G4 or VG8 for less than $50. The current VG8 value in Coins magazine is $95, and it’s not listed in G4.

You wouldn’t believe how many of these I looked at online that were certified as being XF or AU that had the detail of a coin that might receive either a VG8 or F12 grade. In other words, most of the ones I saw were incredibly weakly struck. I remember seeing a coin graded AU58 that back when I started collecting coins might have received a grade of Fine at best.

I finally found a 1927-S graded AU53 that looks like it might really be an AU coin. With a PCGS value of $2,750, I was happy to pay $2,568 for it.

That’s the last of my top three coins. Nine of the remaining 10 coins that joined my collection were mainly upgrades of dates I already had in my Standing Liberty quarter or commemorative sets.

The one oddball was a quarter-ounce platinum piece that I paid too much for. However, with platinum going up as I write this, this coin may prove to be a winner after all.

After reading this, have you thought about your top three 2022 purchases? Did you enjoy adding them to your collection? If so, then it was money well spent. If not, then there’s always the new year and new additions.