Carl J. Unger (1942–2020) grew up on the streets of Chicago collecting baseball cards and later, Gem Morgan dollars and type coins. He says in the introduction to his “Abe’s Coloring Book” Toned Lincoln, Wheat Cents PCGS Registry Set (which he retired in the #1 All-Time Finest position in 2019), that “I always had a sweet spot for Lincolns, especially the ones with color.” Carl was an old-school gentleman whose principles I try to emulate. His word was as good as gold. We traded many coins—mostly me buying from him—and trusted each other completely. We both knew our word was as good as our checks and our coins, and never had a problem.
When Carl retired his set, I was already seriously into assembling my own Toned Lincolns Wheat Cent Registry Sets, and I bought hand over fist as many of his pieces as I could. We will soon retire our two sets, ranked #4 and #8 All-Time Finest. Those sets still include many of Carl’s gorgeously toned Lincoln cents. We thought we would feature them here, in memory of a true numismatist, family man, and a fine gentleman.
These cents formerly in Carl’s “Abe’s Coloring Book” set are currently in the VDB Collection consignments at Great Collections auctions ending Sept. 1st, 8th, and 15th. (Or else they are in GC auctions following soon after.) While we have sold a few of his finest coins privately, it is noteworthy that now, even five years later, many of his coins have never been surpassed in quality or beauty.
1909 VDB MS66BN Pop 40/3; 1912-S MS64BN Pop 116/16; 1918-D MS65BN Pop 26/1; 1919 MS65BN Pop 12/1; 1919-S MS65BN Pop 23/1; 1920 MS65BN Pop 20/1; 1924-S MS64BN Pop 76/10; 1925 MS65BN Pop 12/2; 1926-D MS65BN Pop 14/0; 1926-S MS65BN Pop 14/0; 1928 MS65BN Pop 15/1; 1929-S Pop 16/1; 1930-D MS65BN Pop 23/1; 1932 MS65BN Pop 11/1; 1935-D MS66BN Pop 3/0; 1944-S MS64BN Pop 8/7; 1946-S MS65BN Pop 9/2; 1955-S MS66BN Pop 7/0; 1956-D MS66BN Pop 27/4; 1958 MS65BN Pop 36/4.
Click this link to see all Lincoln cents from the VDB Collection currently on auction at Great Collections.