Though we collect many different things, I believe most collectors share at least one common trait. I believe we all dream the potentially impossible dream of owning a coin, bank note, token, or medal that carries a price tag that mat forever be beyond our means.

This month I offer up two pieces that I hope to someday add to my collection, but wouldn't be at all surprised to find that I never own more than just a nice color photograph of either of them. In writing this piece, I hope that it encourages you to jot down a few thoughts about a coin or bank note you currently dream about, and send your thoughts to David Boitnott so that he can feature your "dream" coin in an upcoming issue of The RCC Newsletter.

As a collector of U.S. commemoratives, I hope to someday assemble a complete major variety type set of our nation's commemorative coinage. I am currently working on the silver pieces, and plan on completing my 55-piece type set, in MS-63 or better, over the next twelve to eighteen months. Once I do, I'll begin work on the gold pieces, and that's where my dream comes into play!

Though the gold pieces are typically more expensive than most of the silver half dollars, I believe that I can put together a gold type set if I budget properly and spread my purchases over a reasonable period of time. That is, of course, with the exception of the two keys to the gold set - the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition $50.00 Gold pieces (Round and Octagonal).

The Pan-Pacs were the most prolific commemorative issue of the traditional commemorative period, with five different issues: a silver half dollar, a gold one dollar, a gold $2.50 piece, and two quintuple eagles ($50.00). All were sold at the exposition for just a small premium over their face value, and all but the $50.00 piece sold by the thousands. The final mintage, after the melting of the unsold pieces, for the round variety of the $50.00 piece was just 483, while the octagonal mintage was just 645.

The two $50.00 varieties largely share a common design. The obverse of each features the Roman mythological figure Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, invention, and the arts. The reverse features an owl, another symbolic reference to wisdom. The coins were designed by Robert Aiken.

With the mintages in the hundreds, these two pieces are unquestionably the keys to the commemorative series and carry price tags to prove it. In uncirculated grades, the two coins each sell for over $20,000! For now, I'll keep looking at the pictures and dream! How about you?