PCGS The Standard for the Rare Coin Industry

Robert H. Lande

About this set: This collector's goal is to collect as complete and high grade a set of Period 1 California Small Denomination Gold coins as possible. He has barely started in this quest, and understands that he will never be able to finish. Many of the coins are simply too rare and seldom come onto the market. Even though his set will never be close to complete, the process of trying to collect Cals is proving to be a lot of fun, for several reasons. The first is the romance of collecting the small change of the California Gold Rush. What could be a more interesting focus for one's collecting energy? The second reason is that the prices of Cals are reasonable considering their scarcity. Even varieties with total PCGS populations of less than a dozen coins often can be purchased at relatively reasonable prices. Although only the very wealthy can seriously collect the larger Territorial Gold coins, many more people can afford to collect California Fractional Gold coins. A final attraction of this series is because the quest is so challenging. There are many complete series of United States coins that can be purchased within a month by anyone with enough money. What is the fun in collecting such coins? Cals, by contrast, must be diligently searched out, piece by piece, over many years, to build a respectable collection. This is collecting at its finest! If you would like to correspond with Mr. Lande about this fascinating series, please contact him at rlande@ubmail.ubalt.edu. He also has several scarce Cals to trade, including a couple with total PCGS populations of less than a dozen pieces.