The finest collection of early United States silver dollars in the PCGS Set Registry^TM program will be displayed at the PCGS booth (#807), Thursday through Saturday afternoon, during the May-June Long Beach Expo. It is known as "The Cardinal Collection," and is valued at more than $3 million.

It was assembled by a California collector who wants to remain anonymous, but who also wants to share the enjoyment of this important collection. Below is the justifiably-proud collector's own account of his appreciation for early dollars, how he put together this historic set, and how it got the name, "The Cardinal Collection."

I believe it was Q. David Bowers who said that we, as coin collectors, are not truly "owners" of the coins, but actually temporary conservators of pieces of history. We owe a debt of gratitude to the prior conservators of the coins in our collection, for preserving them in the condition we now see. Accordingly, we owe a debt of conscientiousness to future conservators to preserve them the best we can during the brief time (in historical terms) they are in our possession.

I have really taken that statement to heart, and realize that these "pieces of history" that we call coins really are "bigger" than any one collector. So, who am I to impose my personal name on them? Consequently, when I was contacted by a reporter in 1996 who wanted to do a story about my collection, I chose to adopt the pseudonym "Cardinal Collection." The name, Cardinal, seemed to have a regal bearing, in keeping with the majestic appearance of these historic early dollars. It also paid proper tribute to my home state, Ohio, where the cardinal is the state bird, appearing in their full brilliance each year as the harbingers of spring.

The creation of the "Cardinal Collection of Early Dollars" has been a long work in progress. I initially set out to put together an early dollar set nine years ago. Back then, my new business (I'm a self-employed bean counter, or as someone once put it, "really sophisticated at adding 2 plus 2.") had just grown beyond the break-even point, actually leaving some money available for some "extras." Curiously, it was the coin bank purchased by a friend for his newborn daughter which brought back the fond memories of a long-ignored childhood hobby. His wife commented that the bank wouldn't go very far in saving for their daughter's college education unless he started putting in silver dollars instead of pennies and nickels.

Back when I had just turned seven, I received a gift from a special aunt -- a shiny 1922 Peace Dollar. That was in the 1960s, when no silver dollars were in general circulation, and even half-dollars were rarely seen, so this coin was really amazing to me. I tried to find out as much as I could about it, but the old family encyclopedias and the school library were of little help. Soon, I was given an old, used copy of the "Redbook" (A Guide Book of United States Coins), and that contained everything I was looking for AND more! I suddenly discovered that the U.S. made silver dollars even OLDER than my 1922 Peace dollar.

To me, there seemed to be something really historic about early silver dollars. These were the coins from era of the historical figures who fought for our country's independence and designed our government. And, we all heard the tale in school about George Washington throwing a dollar across the Potomac River. As a kid, I saw such coins as wildly more expensive than I could ever possibly afford -- but, oh, if I ever hit the lottery or made some money someday -- well, maybe then. As luck would have it, as of nine years ago, early dollars were rather overlooked by collectors. Nice XF Draped Bust/Large Eagle dollars were available for around $700 to $1000 each, and AU's started around $2000. On that basis, I figured I could eventually put together a set of early dollars, with the Draped Bust/Large Eagle dollars in XF to AU, the Small Eagle dollars in XF, the Flowing Hair Dollars in VF, and skipping the 1794 dollar.

Well, one thing led to another. After accumulating a number of nice XF's, I got a couple AU's, and those seemed really nice. So, I figured on putting together a set with Large Eagle dollars in AU and the rest in XF. I was fortunate to acquire an early copy of Bowers's Silver Dollar Encyclopedia, and learned there was life -- and desirable varieties -- beyond those listed in the Redbook. So, I expanded my focus of what varieties I wanted to include in my XF/AU set. Then I came upon a nice AU 1797 dollar. It really did match my AU Large Eagle dollars better than my XF 1797 dollar, so I figured I should also go for those in AU. As I was selling or trading-in my lower grade coins for the higher grade pieces, I found I was typically able to get more in trade than I had paid for the coins originally. By horse trading and adding a little more money along the way (business continued to improve as time moved on), I was able to slowly upgrade the set.

Eventually, I found my way into mint state specimens and became enthralled with the shimmering mint luster. It was then that I realized what I REALLY wanted to do was to complete the set with as high a grade as I could -- focusing on AU55's and above. Long ago, Jules Reiver commented in an article in Coin World that a collector should focus on getting the toughest coins first. With that in mind, and a good deal of luck with coins becoming available at auctions, I was able to get some of the really tough ones early on, when prices were much lower than they are now. For instance, one of my earliest "high end" coins was the 1799 Irregular Date/13 Stars reverse variety B-13, BB-151. In 1996, I was able to obtain the finest known (now graded PCGS-AU58) specimen of this tough R5+ variety for $4,000. At a recent show, I viewed a lesser NGC-AU53 specimen, which was offered at around $14,000. Times have certainly changed!

The date set and Redbook set were completed some time ago, but I have continued to actively pursue upgrades. High grade early dollars are in very short supply. In fact, of the 38 varieties of early dollars currently recognized by PCGS, 18 have populations of less than a dozen pieces above XF, and yet, those few that do exist ARE out there, and can be found. On March 8, 2003, the Cardinal Collection achieved a milestone in Early Dollar history, by completing the basic 14-coin date/major type subset with all certified mint-state coins. This was the first time in history that such a set has been completed in certified mint state grades. But other specimens await upgrade. The chase continues...

1799 Irregular Date Dollar graded MS64 -- the single finest ''Irregular Date'' dollar known

1801 Dollar graded MS64 -- the single finest 1801 dollar ever certified by PCGS.