Romaldkirk Dent Collection

A few coins came from my grandfather's collection (the 1953 MS66 and a really nice 1920 MS65 that I have since upgraded). He had a single digit RCNA membership number and I remain indebted to him and his daughter (my aunt) for spurring my interest in coin collecting.

I was lucky to acquire a few coins from the Stewart Blay collection which improved my George V set.

Many of the coins in this set came to me through hard work. I have bought and searched many, many mint rolls from the 1960s to the 2000s.--well more than a thousand.

To build this set, I have submitted a large number of coins to PCGS in raw state. I have bought maybe 25 that were already in PCGS holders.

I have also bought hundreds of ICCS-graded coins and tried to cross grade many without success. I have received many MS65 grades from PCGS on coins that were formerly in ICCS holders with higher grades.

While searching for the best in mint rolls, I have sent well over 1000 "reject" coins to ICCS which have generally graded from MS65 to MS67. So be careful about buying ICCS Elizabeth small cents if you are expecting an upgrade or even a cross from PCGS.

Given the ongoing decline in the availability of raw rolls, I am not sure this collection can easily be replicated.