Overton achiever with PCGS

Take a look at the Professional Coin Grading Service website.

It proclaims the completion of a Capped Bust half dollar set by Overton numbers.

It took 30 years to do it and there are 453 coins in the set.

This is nothing short of stunning.

PCGS is to be commended for announcing the news as well as operating its Set Registry, which encourages collectors to build the best sets possible.

Set building is the very basis of all coin collecting, whether it be to privately fill a Whitman album, or to compete with the best and build a Registry Set publicly.

Baltimore collector Chuck Link guided by the 1967 book, “Early Half Dollar Die Varieties 1794-1836” by Al Overton has assembled the first complete set to be graded by PCGS.

Wow.

And interestingly, the final coin showed up on eBay.

The piece is an 1829, O-120.

Link bought it.

PCGS quotes Link saying, “It was discovered on eBay as a new variety. My understanding is that it cost less than $100 on eBay as a cherry. One of the greatest cherries ever.”

PCGS graded this final coin as VF-25. There are just three known.

However, the full 453-coin set averages MS-63. No wonder it is a PCGS Registry Set.

Link is no stranger to the Set Registry. PCGS says he owns multiple sets that are listed.

PCGS also does a little understandable bragging. The PCGS Set Registry is home to 79,000 coin collections. That truly is an amazing number.

Congratulations to Chuck Link. Congratulations to PCGS. Congratulations to numismatics generally for inspiring such an incredible feat.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper has twice won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."