PCGS SET REGISTRY HALL OF FAME 2024
Soon, demand for these pieces increased, and the government had not minted enough of these coins. So, private mints were contracted to fulfill demand. Lande focused on Period One and built his 140-coin set titled California Fractional Gold - Complete Collection, Period One to win Best of Registry in 2002 in the months after the PCGS Set Registry was first brought online. By 2004, Lande had won a Gold award, and he went on to garner a Platinum award for the next 10 years, beginning in 2013. Lande has become an expert in this field of collecting and was invited to co-author the third edition of California Pioneer Fractional Gold. In 2024, PCGS was proud to induct Bob Lande into the Set Registry Hall of Fame.
PCGS PR64RD 1956(p) Australia Penny from the collection of Timbertop. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView. Paul Whenman (“Timbertop”)
PCGS MS66 1949 Cuba 20 Centavos from Virginia Transplant’s collection. Courtesy of PCGS TrueView. Virginia Transplant This PCGS Set Registry member has reigned at the top for many years, and their specialty is assembling circulation coinage of Cuba. In 2009, Virginia Transplant won nine Best of Registry awards during what was their first year of participating within the PCGS Set Registry. In 2010, they won a Gold award for the set titled Cuban Peso, Circulation Strikes (1915-1953). With time and patience, our member collected more Gold awards for Cuban Complete CopperNickel & Silver Set with Varieties, Circulation Strikes (19151961) and Cuban Peso, Circulation Strikes (1915-1953). For many denominations, Cuban coinage in grades above PCGS MS64 is difficult to find. However, our member had assembled their collection in these grades with time, and many pieces in their sets are above that level. In 2018, Virginia Transplant achieved a Platinum award for three sets in Cuban coinage. This PCGS member has continued to maintain their number-one position in their circulation sets coinage for nearly two decades. In addition to Cuban coinage, Virginia Transplant displays sets under the countries of Angola, Ghana, China, France, Germany, and many others. PCGS Set Registry proudly inducts Virginia Transplant into the Set Registry Hall of Fame for their many numismatic achievements. 10
That’s the name that Paul Whenman uses for all of his set names in the PCGS Set Registry. Whenman currently has over 350 sets, and his primary focus is within the country of Australia. His interest in coins started in the mid-1960s, as noted in a PCGS Collector Spotlight article that ran in the July-August 2023 issue of PCGS Market Report. The first sets that he built as a teenager were heavily circulated 1/2 penny and 1 penny denominations. During these early years, money to collect coins was a scarce commodity to Whenman, and he was building sets without rarities. He worked with whatever budget was available to him at that time. Collecting silver coinage was out of the question, and uncirculated coins were not in his realm of collecting either. However, with time, Whenman himself entered the field of law to become a patent attorney, and his sets would soon become legendary at PCGS. Whenman’s primary focus when he started with the PCGS Set Registry in 2011 was on pre-decimal coinage from 19111964. Since he joined, he has stayed at the “timber-top” for over a decade under the category of Australian Sterling Coinage. If anybody were to look through Whenman’s sets from this era, they might think he minted these coins himself and stashed them away for the PCGS Set Registry – the surface quality and luster are just that good, as if they were essentially untouched. The following set, Australian Three Monarchs Basic Set, Circulation Strikes (1911-1964), highlights many of his individual denominational-based sets in a collection of 333 coins, which is remarkable to view! Over the years, Whenman has won numerous Gold and Platinum awards for his achievements. The sets he displays from the pre-decimal era are of unmatched quality, and the eye-appeal for some of these coins are out of this world. Whenman also has an extensive collection of exceptional-quality Australian decimal coinage, some U.S. sets, and many world coins. We are grateful for Whenman’s contributions to the PCGS PCGS MARKET REPORT JAN/FEB 2025