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CoinTalk Member Shares a Partial 1801 U.S. Year Set Assembled Over About Eight Years

On the collector forum CoinTalk, a member posting as Eduard shared a year set of U.S. coins dated 1801. According to the post, it includes the dime, half, dollar and large cent, while the half dime is missing. Eduard wrote that the set took about eight years to assemble and that the first coin, the dollar, cost $650 at a Bowers auction in 1987.

Correction (Oct 13, 2026): We corrected the headline, summary and body to match the source. We made clear that the source is a forum thread, removed unsupported passages about antique coin market trends, investment advice on specific grades, the set's supposed contents such as a quarter, and historical background, and rewrote the article as the posters' own statements. The previous headline was "Discovering Insights from 1801 U.S. Partial Coin Set in Numismatics."

A man examining coin trays with a magnifier in a room behind a stone doorway carved 'MINT' (AI-generated illustration)
Illustration (AI-generated)

This article is based on posts in the CoinTalk forum thread "1801 Partial Coin Set." The content consists of the posters' own statements and opinions and has not been verified by GNJ. The thread as retrieved does not show a posting date, so no date is given here.

An 1801 Year Set

The original poster, Eduard, wrote that one of their U.S. collecting interests is putting together year sets. Eduard said they love the history and seeing together the coins struck in a given year.

According to the post, Eduard's sets contain no gold, which the poster said they cannot afford. Some major year rarities are also missing, such as a 1794 dollar or a 1796 half.

The 1801 set includes the dime, the half and the 1801 dollar. Eduard wrote that the large cent could be in better shape but is an interesting variety, the "3-errors" variety. The 1801 half dime is missing; Eduard described it as scarce.

About Eight Years to Assemble

Asked how long the set took, Eduard said they think it took about eight years. The first coin was the dollar, for which Eduard paid $650 at a Bowers auction in 1987. The last addition was the 1801 cent, which cost $320; Eduard called that price disproportionately high.

Replies From Other Members

mark_h told Eduard that Eduard had also made them realize that, by coincidence, they have an 1806 half cent, quarter and half dollar in their type set. All mark_h needs is a large cent, and mark_h noted that no dimes or half dimes were made that year. Eduard replied that 1806 would be a good year, since four coins make the set.

SensibleSal66 said they found an 1801 large cent while metal detecting, also not in great shape.

CoinCorgi said that, to save money, they are putting together "fantasy" year type sets using pictures borrowed from the internet. CoinCorgi's 1801 set shows a large cent, half dime, dime, half dollar and dollar. Eduard said it shows nicely what a complete silver and copper set of 1801 would look like.

johnmilton posted an 1801 half dime graded EF-45. johnmilton wrote that it should be an AU-50, but it is a late die state with the entire obverse cracked in half. johnmilton said the only year set they have finished is the 1795 set.

Finally, micbraun, writing from the ANA WFOM, jokingly offered to buy the missing 1801 half dime for Eduard. Eduard replied that they can no longer afford it, as those coins are expensive, and that they need to save for a big project.

Source: CoinTalk, "1801 Partial Coin Set."

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