The Good Collection

About This Set: A collection of women who inspire us, lead us, entertain us, amaze us, impress us, and so many things more. Fittingly, it starts with the Virgin Mary. She's appeared on the cover of TIME magazine more than any other woman. And of course QE2 who's on more different coins than any other woman (she's on over one quarter of the coins that make up this list of 100). There are goddesses thru the ages, from Nike to Monroe; women we admire like Jackie and Di and Mother T; and women who were at the right place and time in history and were able to make a difference like Sacagawea, Betsy Ross, Dolly Madison and Florence Nightingale. Over 60% of the coins in this set depict real people with real names who had a special place in this world of ours. Some coins in my collection qualify for more than one slot in this set (many but not all due to QE2). Four slots require two or more ladies; and one of these include four saints! Twenty coins in my set feature Royals, 9 present First Ladies, 7 show National Personas, 6 are Mythological Characters, 4 are Heads of State and 1 is a pirate featured in the Starz drama "Black Sails"! And following the death of QE2, only one woman contained in this set remained alive. The coins themselves are as varied as the woman. Most are round; but, not all. There are oval coins, ingot-shaped coins, hexagonal coins, and even a coin that can stand alone as a 3-ounce antique silver paperweight statue. The coins in my collection are mostly silver or gold; but materials to complete this collection include platinum, copper, steel, enamel and plastic! Some are enhanced with coloring, polished stones and Swarovski crystals. Finding PCGS pre-graded coins can be a challenge. Use "What If' tool to check what to seek, or checkout what others have found. But be careful: This led me to consider coins from the Isle of Man to fill the "Angel" slot. There are a lot of them; but all of them showing the Archangel Michael. And believe me, this dude ain't no lady which after all is the point of this set. Even better, buy the book, and see what Ron Guth included in his search for "The 100 Greatest Women on Coins"!

Putting together this set during the pandemic was an enjoyable pastime that took me virtually around the world to acquire coins from sellers in twenty countries including some in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, North and South America. Most needed to be graded and it was always a thrill when one of these would come back perfect. My initial goal was to achieve a gem grade or better for all coins (which occurred in 2022). The next step is shooting for a PQ Gem ("67") or better for all coins. The Princess Gina of Liechtenstein will make this goal tough to reach! Fully one-third of the coins in my collection come from Great Britain, its overseas territories or former territories most bearing QE2. Half that many come from the USA. Twenty-five plus come from other countries. When originally completed coins in this set spanned four centuries. Today the earliest coin comes from the early 20th century and the remaining since 1950 spanning the last hundred years in human history, despite many subjects that pre-date Christ. Many 21st century coins are turning up, often coming from the South Pacific where making commemoratives is an off-shore profitable business and represent approximately 25% of this set! Emerging minting technologies are creating some impressive 3-dimensional ultra-high relief specimens. A recent coin from Niue offers Medusa expertly chiseled from an antique sterling silver mass exceeding one-half pound. When do coins stop being coins and become novelties or bookends or a knick-knack that belong in your grandmother's curio cabinet? All coins meet the criteria that only legal tender issues be included; albeit most of them are commemoratives and many are proofs. The point is, tokens and exonumia are not included in this set.

When I started this set in 2020 there were 85 coins required to complete this set of 100 coins. All known remaining coins that could complete this set were ancient coins currently not graded by PCGS and were consequently identified as "optional" to complete the set. Since then, seven of these optional coins have been found to exist in modern coins (most of them recent issues from the South Pacific).