====== PCGS Collectors Club slabs ======

In the realm of fringe coin collectibles, the **PCGS Collectors Club** slabs are
one of those items that inspires either rolling eyes or bemusement -- but
rarely serious interest.

The coins contained within are commonplace.  The grades assigned are nothing to
write home about.  But still, there is an interest in these series just below
the surface of //regular// numismatics.
Since their inception, I have followed and collected these slabs.  This page is
here to help those who share my interest.

If you see any mistakes, have a suggestion, or wish to contact me for any other
reason, please visit [[:contact_me|my "contact me" page]].

==== Origin ====

It all started with the horrific attacks of September 11th, 2001.  On that same
day, people on the [[http://forums.collectors.com/|Collectors Universe Forums]]
started asking what they could do to help.  One user ("wondercoin", aka Mitch Spivack)
[[http://forums.collectors.com/arcmessageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=36303|offered
to auction a PCGS MS67 New York state quarter and donate the proceeds to the
New York Firefighters]].  The informal auction was an immediate success, and PCGS
agreed to reholder the coin with a special label.

A dealer then donated 14 more New York quarters (these graded MS66), and the coin
became a series (originally expected to be 50 coins).  Immediately, the bids
(actually donations) began pouring in.  By the end of September 12th, Rick
Montgomery at PCGS had agreed to specially number a total of 100 coins to raise
money for the Firefighters.  The label on the insert would
have an American flag as the background and say **"NY Firefighters 9-11, PCGS
Limited Edition, #X/100"**.

"Wondercoin" bought a bag of New York quarters, and other members donated rolls.
Individual coins were hand-picked with the goal of grading coins #2-50 as MS66
and coins #51-100 as MS65.  In the end, nearly $50,000 was raised for the UFA
Widows & Children's Fund.

I was lucky enough to get in on the action, and my donation netted me coin #29.
(See the table below)

More information about the history of these coins can be found in this article:
[[http://www.wtc911coins.com/319/the-9-11-quarter-a-tribute/]]

==== Pictures ====

|{{pcgs_911_29.jpg?200|Firefighters benefit slab #29}}|{{pcgs_cc2001.jpg?200|Collectors Club Quarter #92 (New York)}}|{{pcgs_cc2002.jpg?200|Collectors Club Silver Eagle (2002, flag)}}|{{pcgs_cc2004.jpg?200|Collectors Club Silver Eagle (2004, no flag)}}|

==== The free giveaways ====

Shortly after the Firefighters coin series was completed, PCGS began offering
New York quarters with the same flag background.  These coins were graded MS65
and the text was modified to read: **"PCGS Collectors Club, Limited Edition,
#X/5000"**.

Each new member of the [[http://www.pcgs.com/join/index.chtml|PCGS Collectors
Club]] (myself included) received one of these "limited edition" slabs.  Into
mid-2002, an unknown number of these coins were released.  I say "unknown"
because in over a decade of observing, I have //never// seen any coins numbered
between 777 and 2501, or above 3454.  My //suspicion// is that PCGS released
fewer than 2,000 coins in this series.  While they started with "P" mint New
York quarters, later numbers in the series featured other mint marks and states
other than New York.  In fact, a complete ten-coin set of MS65 2001 quarters can
be found if you look long enough.

My first coin was #346: A New York "P"-mint quarter that I received in January,
2002. (See the table below)

==== The switch to Silver ====

Sometime in 2002((This is mostly a guess and is based on the fact that the first
Silver Eagles used were dated "2002")), PCGS stopped issuing the "Limited
Edition" state quarters, and began sending new Collectors Club members a
MS68-graded 2002 American Silver Eagle. These slabs continued to use the American
flag background, but the "Limited Edition" terminology was gone (as was any number).
The new slabs said simply **"PCGS Collectors Club Edition"**

The Silver Eagle program continued into 2003, and while the coins released were
all graded MS68, the later coins were dated 2003.  In fact, it appears that the
bulk of the coins issued under this program were dated 2003.  2002-dated Eagles
are easy to come by on eBay, but the 2003-dated Eagles seem to easily outnumber
them.

==== End of the Flag ====

In late 2003 or 2004, the PCGS Collectors Club freebie morphed again.
While the coin stayed the same, the flag background on the insert was dropped
and the coins were graded MS69.  While I have only seen coins dated 2004, it
has been reported to me that a few 2003-dated Eagles also exist with this kind
of holder.

This era of the program also introduced an interesting "error".  Several
(perhaps 100?) 2001-dated Silver Eagles were given out with a label that said
"2004".

PCGS often changes the features included with new Collectors Club memberships,
but as far as I can tell, they have not offered special slabs since 2004.

==== Varieties ====

For those who want even more variety in their collection, the Collectors Club slabs
were issued with several variations to the spelling/font on the label:
  * There are a few "misprints" known for the State Quarters slabs:
    * Several Rhode Island quarters were labeled with "RH" (instead of "RI")
    * At least one slab is listed with the wrong mint mark (#2546: New York "P" coin is labeled as "D")
  * There are two varieties for the 2002 slabs:
    * Type 1) "Normal" font/spacing
    * Type 2) Slightly different font size and line spacing
  * There are four varieties for the 2003 slabs:
    * Type 1) "$1 Silver Eagle" (dollar sign first)
    * Type 2) "1$ Silver Eagle" (dollar sign last)
    * Type 3) "$ 1 Silver Eagle" (space between the dollar sign and one)
    * Type 4) Slightly different font used
  * There are three varieties of the "flagless" slabs:
    * Type 1) Coin is 2003 (with a matching label) (//Note: I have never personally seen one of these -- if you have a picture, please [[:contact_me]]!//)
    * Type 2) Coin is 2004 (with a matching label)
    * Type 3) Coin is 2001 (misprinted label says "2004")

==== Tables ====

[[pcgs_911|9/11 Firefighters Coins]]

[[pcgs_cc|Collectors Club Quarters]]