PCGS Set Registry Hall of Fame 2024

Every year, the PCGS Set Registry recognizes members who have consistently been at the top during awards season. We have awarded Platinum, Gold, and Best of Registry awards (to name a few) to nearly 9,000 members around the world in 2024. Our members may have specialized in a certain segment of a market that requires patience, some sets may have been purchased with unlimited funds, and some sets are virtually impossible to put together even if you have more money than the Bank of England! Whatever the case may be, we appreciate all of our members displaying their coins for everyone to view, and thank you for being a member of this special and innovative collecting platform.

PCGS also inducts a few members each year who have been selected for our Set Registry Hall of Fame. Past inductees include Erasmus Hall, Virgil Brand, Eric P. Newman, Jim Gately, and King Farouk. These are a few collectors who have demonstrated a deep passion for numismatics and currently reside in the PCGS Set Registry Hall of Fame with many other members. In 2024, we were honored to induct Bob Lande, Virginia Transplant, and Paul Whenman (“Timbertop”) into the PCGS Hall of Fame. These individuals have each earned the highest honor the PCGS Set Registry awards to any member, and below we share some background about each of the 2024 PCGS Set Registry Hall of Fame inductees.

Bob Lande

In the last issue of PCGS Market Report, Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez wrote a brilliant article for the Collector’s Spotlight featuring Bob Lande. In this article, it was noted that as a kid, Bob would ask his dad if he could check his coin change – and many of us could relate to Bob’s numismatic curiosity as a child. It may have encouraged some of our readers to collect coins as well. With his father’s help, Bob built many U.S coin sets, and his passion continued for decades well into his adulthood. In the late 1990s, Lande veered off into another branch of collecting that he found more affordable and challenging: California Fractional Gold.

The California gold rush began in 1849 and commerce exploded during these times. The U.S. government minted tiny gold coins that were just 0.25 grams, .050 grams, and up to one gram in weight from 1852 through 1856, which is known among California Fractional collectors as Period One. Soon, demand for these pieces increased, and the government had not minted enough of these coins. So, private mints were contracted to fulfill demand. Lande focused on Period One and built his 140-coin set titled California Fractional Gold - Complete Collection, Period One to win Best of Registry in 2002 in the months after the PCGS Set Registry was first brought online. By 2004, Lande had won a Gold award, and he went on to garner a Platinum award for the next 10 years, beginning in 2013. Lande has become an expert in this field of collecting and was invited to co-author the third edition of California Pioneer Fractional Gold. In 2024, PCGS was proud to induct Bob Lande into the Set Registry Hall of Fame.

Virginia Transplant

This PCGS Set Registry member has reigned at the top for many years, and their specialty is assembling circulation coinage of Cuba. In 2009, Virginia Transplant won nine Best of Registry awards during what was their first year of participating within the PCGS Set Registry. In 2010, they won a Gold award for the set titled Cuban Peso, Circulation Strikes (1915-1953). With time and patience, our member collected more Gold awards for Cuban Complete Copper-Nickel & Silver Set with Varieties, Circulation Strikes (1915-1961) and Cuban Peso, Circulation Strikes (1915-1953).

For many denominations, Cuban coinage in grades above PCGS MS64 is difficult to find. However, our member had assembled their collection in these grades with time, and many pieces in their sets are above that level. In 2018, Virginia Transplant achieved a Platinum award for three sets in Cuban coinage. This PCGS member has continued to maintain their number-one position in their circulation sets coinage for nearly two decades. In addition to Cuban coinage, Virginia Transplant displays sets under the countries of Angola, Ghana, China, France, Germany, and many others. PCGS Set Registry proudly inducts Virginia Transplant into the Set Registry Hall of Fame for their many numismatic achievements.

Paul Whenman (“Timbertop”)

That’s the name that Paul Whenman uses for all of his set names in the PCGS Set Registry. Whenman currently has over 350 sets, and his primary focus is within the country of Australia. His interest in coins started in the mid-1960s, as noted in a PCGS Collector Spotlight article that ran in the July-August 2023 issue of PCGS Market Report. The first sets that he built as a teenager were heavily circulated 1/2 penny and 1 penny denominations. During these early years, money to collect coins was a scarce commodity to Whenman, and he was building sets without rarities. He worked with whatever budget was available to him at that time. Collecting silver coinage was out of the question, and uncirculated coins were not in his realm of collecting either. However, with time, Whenman himself entered the field of law to become a patent attorney, and his sets would soon become legendary at PCGS.

Whenman’s primary focus when he started with the PCGS Set Registry in 2011 was on pre-decimal coinage from 1911-1964. Since he joined, he has stayed at the “timber-top” for over a decade under the category of Australian Sterling Coinage. If anybody were to look through Whenman’s sets from this era, they might think he minted these coins himself and stashed them away for the PCGS Set Registry – the surface quality and luster are just that good, as if they were essentially untouched. The following set, Australian Three Monarchs Basic Set, Circulation Strikes (1911-1964), highlights many of his individual denominational-based sets in a collection of 333 coins, which is remarkable to view! Over the years, Whenman has won numerous Gold and Platinum awards for his achievements. The sets he displays from the pre-decimal era are of unmatched quality, and the eye-appeal for some of these coins are out of this world. Whenman also has an extensive collection of exceptional-quality Australian decimal coinage, some U.S. sets, and many world coins. We are grateful for Whenman’s contributions to the PCGS Set Registry, and he is now recognized for these and many other numismatic achievements in the PCGS Set Registry Hall of Fame.

About The PCGS Set Registry

The PCGS Set Registry consists of many types of collectors. Some have the luxury to buy the most eye-appealing coins of all time, yet many of these same individuals often remark on financial difficulties at one time or another in their past. Many of us have limited budgets to work with to build our collections, though this should not discourage you or anyone from working toward long-term goals that could help you achieve great things in the PCGS Set Registry. Our 2024 Set Registry Hall of Fame inductees collected coins throughout their lives because they love numismatics and still love the hobby that they discovered years ago. Maybe some of the struggles and achievements our Hall of Famers have recounted may resonate with you, too.

None of these individuals set a goal to be in the PCGS Set Registry Hall of Fame. They simply followed their passion and ended up there. PCGS congratulates Bob Lande, Virginia Transplant, and Paul Whenman as our newest inductees into the PCGS Set Registry Hall of Fame for 2024. Thank you for displaying your sets for the world to view – they will be difficult to match! However, your splendid perseverance may rub off on many of our other members, who one day may join you in the PCGS Set Registry Hall of Fame!