The F. Randolph Estate Holdings

About This Set: I started my numismatic hobby some fifty-five years ago as a wee young lad growing up in a small village in the south of England, near Portsmouth. I story-book town where Charles Dickens may have written Oliver Twist, my favorite novel of all of his work. This is where I fell in love with the greatest coins in the world…the farthings. Though, it wasn’t until my time at the University of Oxford that I acquired my vast holdings of both farthings and groats. My 1714 Queen Anne pattern farthing is my most precious and valuable of holdings, the finest known example in existence. It was my time working (and buying) at Spink in London where I found some beautiful examples of James II guineas, including the exceedingly rare 1686 elephant and castle guinea.
Oh, but I digress. I am now living in the states and have a fondness for bright and shinny things. I am simply mesmerized by all things shinny. My time therefore is now focused on the assembling of the very common Lincoln “wheat” cent. The cent is the coin valued at one-hundredth of a dollar, or more commonly known as the “penny.” It was not until 1909 that Mr. Victor David Brenner made the famous bust of Lincoln with which we are all so familiar with today. My goal is to obtain all of the 140 year and mint varieties, all in red. I anticipate this will only run me about a half a million US dollars. A mere drop in the preverbal bucket as you Yanks like to say. I even have my personal man-servant, Butch, running all over the country tracking down those difficult to find gems, when he’s not washing my Aston Martin.
As you may see, I have many other registry sets linked to this one. I have started collecting proof 70 statehood quarters. You may not realize it, but proof is not a condition, but it is a method of manufacture.
Once all of these sets are completed, I shall turn my attention to collecting miniature crochet hooks. Thank you for your interest in this collection.