Expert comments:

The PCGS Currency Registry saw a 40% growth rate over the past year with nearly double the number of participants.  There are some mind-blowing sets being listed in the Registry which makes selecting just one winner in each category challenging. Therefore, we would like to give an honorable mention to the following runners-up: Kraig Tripp  ($5 Silver Certificate Type Set), RayNY2E  ($2 Federal Reserve Notes 1976-Date District Set with Stars), The R.S. Gore Collection (Fractional Currency Complete Basic Set), aspenrtc (Legal Tender Type Set $1-$100), RayNY2E ($2 Federal Reserve Notes 1976-Date District Set with Stars), Wild Bill (Gold Certificate 1928 Denomination Set $10-$1,000), The Larry Emard Collection ($1 Federal Reserve Notes 1963-Date District Set with Stars), and the owners of the 126 sets who will receive "Best of the Registry" certificates for being at least 75% complete and #1 in their category.  Great job to everyone participating in the PCGS Currency Set Registry.  We would to thank all of the currency collectors and dealers who participated and entrusted PCGS Currency with the honor and responsibility of grading and authenticating their notes.  We look forward to another exciting year of Set Registry competition in the year to come, and plan to add many new exciting sets and categories in the months to come.

Laura A. Kessler
Vice President, PCGS Currency

Best Collection of 2010

Gopher State Collection

Each year we choose an overall winner with the most impressive array of collections across the entire spectrum of the Set Registry competition. This year’s winner exemplifies the Set Registry concept, as many of his sets were begun in years past but with continual additions and upgrades. The “Gopher State Collection” is a work-in-progress of a Set Registry enthusiast who continues to build set after set of Large and Small Size and Fractional Currency. Competing in 33 different sets, this participant is ranked first in an incredible 17 different categories. All but one of his sets is 100% complete! This is always our most important award of the year, and a finer gentleman could not have won this distinction. Congratulations, “Gopher State Collection!”

Best New Set of 2010

West Coast
$20 Small Size Design Set

When the judges waded through the innumerable sets that qualified for contention as winners for individual categories, this set stopped us in our tracks. The consensus among the judges was a gasp—this is simply an incredible set and easily ranks as the best new set of the year. It consists of one each of the 16 different design types of small size $20 notes since 1928, an easily obtainable goal if one isn’t too concerned about condition. This Set Registry competitor obviously takes quality seriously—not a single note in this set grades less than Superb Gem New 67PPQ, and two different notes achieved the “Perfect New” 70PPQ rating. Perhaps even more impressive than his 69.88 overall GPA is the fact that the finest theoretically possible set would grade less than half a point higher. An even more incredible statistic is that of the 16 different Fr. Numbers that represent the different design types in his particular set, all but three are “top pops”—and just one note for each of these three notes exists any finer! A better representation of the Set Registry concept cannot be imagined, and we applaud this winner for his “Best New Set” of the year!

Best Large Size Currency Set of 2010

Wayne Soifer (edman)
1896 Educational Series Denomination Set

While this set includes just three notes, this trio of notes obtained by collector Wayne Soifer is exactly why the Set Registry concept was created. Each of these three handpicked Educational notes, one of each denomination from the most beautiful and artistic of all U.S. Currency series, is graded Superb Gem 67PPQ. Each of the three notes are “top pop” for their individual Fr. Numbers, quite a feat given the popularity of these notes. There are only four notes in the entire series (one each of the $1 and $2, and two $5s) graded 68PPQ, so while it would theoretically be possible to improve this set, we challenge anyone to try!

Best Small Size Currency Set of 2010

Ron Foley (cccurrency)
Federal Reserve Bank Notes 1929 Denomination Set- All Districts

Mr. Foley was last year’s “Best Collection of the Year” winner, and has spent the last 12 months adding additional sets and upgrading many of his current sets. This is just one of his many impressive sets. This was an exceedingly difficult category to judge as it is one of the most popularly participated categories, and there were many sets worthy of winning. Mr. Foley’s nearly complete FRBN set by district won the judges over with its impressive statistics, with 46 of 49 possible notes present, a weighted grade point average of  65.887, and an incredible 25 notes that were “top pop” with no notes graded finer! This collection already ranks as one of the finest collections of Small Size FRBNs ever assembled, and we applaud Ron and look forward to the future completion of this collection!

Best Small Size Modern Currency Set of 2010

Michael Skourtes (The Skourtes Collection)
$2 Federal Reserve Notes 1976-Date District Set with Stars

We decided to separate “Modern” (post-1957) Small Size notes into a different category this year for competition reasons because there were simply so many great sets! We’ve watched this particular set grow and increase in ranking throughout the year, as it was the goal of the owner of this collection to beat out all others in this popular set. Mr. Skourtes won this specific category by an overall set rating difference of just four-one hundredths of a point (RayNY2E, we feel for you but it’s possible to win this one next year!). His overall rating of 69.42 is out of an overall possible set rating of 70.107, and out of a total of 67 notes required for this set Michael has an incredible 29 of them that are “top pop” with no notes graded finer.

Best National Bank Note Set of 2010

Godot
Small Size 51- Note National Bank Note State Set

While this set category was added late in the year with the our new ability to break down National Bank Notes by state, city, and charter number, this 51-note set is rapidly becoming one of the most popular sets for National collectors. The winning set here is really no contest, as it is currently missing only the Alaska note, has a weighted GPA of 60.94, and—most impressive of all—includes almost all serial number 1 notes! We are told that this collector plans on competing in more National Bank Note sets as we create them, so all you National collectors prepare for a tough competition next year as we introduce many new sets during the coming months!

Best Fractional Currency Set 2010

Ron Foley (cccurency)
Fractional Currency 24-Piece Design Set

For the second year in a row, Mr. Foley takes top honors in the Fractional Currency Category with his 24-piece design set. When Mr. Foley won this category last year, we stated in our press release that a better fractional set would be difficult to imagine. Ron did not rest on his laurels—his weighted GPS improved by six-tenths of a point to 67.85 out of a theoretically possible 68.963 with several upgrades. This is one of the most popular Set Registry sets, and with more and more collectors attempting to complete this challenging yet obtainable set it will be increasingly difficult to catch Ron—although three other collectors are close behind!

Best Military Certificate Set of 2010

Jeff Smith
Military Payment Certificates Complete Set

This is our first and only three-time winning set, and once again the choice was easy—Jeff won every single set in the MPC category. His complete collection was improved upon once again this year with several upgrades, as his weighted GPA rose from 64.48 this year to 65.80 out of a possible 67.832. Jeff’s set includes many “top pop” notes and some great rarities. While the competition was a little tougher this year as a couple of sets are beginning to challenge that of Mr. Smith’s, he continues to excel in adding to his impressive collection with more upgrades and it will be a challenge for any collector to catch up!

Best Block Set of 2010

Marc Fontes (mfontes)
1957A $1 Silver Certificate Block Set AA - *A

Mr. Fontes’ winning entry in this popular new category exemplifies the concept of the Set Registry—it includes not only a complete collection of the notes possible for the set, but the grades are impressive as well. His overall set rating of 68.353 is just below theoretically possible top rating of 71.0, so while not an “unbeatable” set it will be a challenge to complete any block set with a higher rating! Block sets will undoubtedly continue to be one of the fastest growing areas of the Set Registry, especially as new sets are introduced, and the popularity of this specialized area of collecting cannot be underestimated. With so many possibilities, and with the exciting concept of challenging sets from “common” series that can be completed even with limited funds in the highest grades, get ready for the future of Block set collecting!

Best Low Ball Set of 2010

Cliff Andrews (Cliff’s Incredibly Low Ball Large Size Design Set)
$1 Large Size Design Low Ball Set

Mr. Andrews is a three-time winner in this category, and while we didn’t think he could do any worse than last year he proved us wrong. This category always takes a bit of reverse logic to comprehend, as the idea here is to locate and acquire the worst possible examples of each type, although bonus points are given for notes that are not graded “Apparent” with damage or repairs out of context with the assigned grade. This is not as easy a task as it may seem, as so many low grade notes were destroyed as they were worn out and removed from circulation. Cliff truly outdid himself this year, as he reduced his weighted GPA from 3.93 to just 3.298! Even more impressive is the fact that it would be nearly impossible to “improve” this set—his overall set rating of 67.809 is out of a possible 67.957 points! Nobody has more fun with the Set Registry than Cliff, and his enthusiasm is contagious—and we challenge anyone (including Mr. Andrews) to, er, “outdo” this set and improve upon his record of futility.

Best Exonumia Set of 2010

Larry Emard (The Larry Emard Collection)
1987- 2009 Complete Disney Dollar Set

Mr. Emard is a past Set Registry winner, but this new entry is in one of the most exciting new categories we’ve ever introduced. In a few short months since introducing Disney Dollars to the Set Registry, we’ve graded several thousand notes from this popular series of collectible currency that is spendable at all Disney theme parks and stores. Mr. Emard’s set is more than two-thirds complete, but more impressively carries a weighted GPA of 68.98! The popularity of Disney Dollars and other currency-related collectibles continues to grow, and we expect the future competition in this category to be truly challenging and exciting. Can you imagine what will happen to this category when all the collectors of Disney memorabilia who aren’t otherwise collectors of currency discover this competition?

Best of the Registry Certificate Winners of 2010

(#1 set in each category with at least 75% completion, 5/31/10 5:00pm EST)