Winning Set Details

2022 Best Presented Set

2181 Points

Lehigh96's Polar Bears

By lehigh96

This collection has a special place in my heart. Since I was a little kid, polar bears have always been my favorite animal. I don't remember exactly what year it was as I was just a child, but in the early 80's, the Philadelphia Zoo opened their polar bear exhibit and brought two young polar bears named Klondike and Coldilocks to the zoo. Whenever my parents would take my brothers and I to the zoo, I would immediately head to the polar bear exhibit to watch my favorite animals play in the water, the exhibit had a large glass wall that allowed viewers to see the polar bears underwater. Sadly, over the last decade, both Klondike and Coldilocks had to be euthanized, and the exhibit was closed. As children do, I lost interest in my favorite animal as a teenager, but almost as if it was destiny, I was reunited with my love for polar bears as a freshman at Lehigh University in 1990. I was an engineering student, but the university required all freshman to take a English course as a prerequisite. The professor assigned a book called Arctic Dreams written by Barry Lopez in 1986. After surviving dozens of pages dedicated to the migratory patterns of arctic birds, Lopez penned an enthralling account of the majestic polar bears (Ursus Maritimus). I was fascinated to learn that polar bears actually have black skin and that their fur isn't actually white, rather the individual hairs are translucent, but when grouped together appear white due to their interaction with the light. A polar bear can swim up to 100 miles, run at speeds of 30-40mph, and when running directly towards you, their gate is mesmerizing, giving the appearance that they aren't actually moving, until its too late. I thank that professor, and Lopez for rekindling my love for my favorite animal. In the decades after college, I became a collector of all things polar bears. From stuffed animals (Mini, Orion, and the gang), to Coca-Cola polar bear memorabilia, to a Swarovski crystal polar bear family, and a Lladro porcelain figurine named "the Snow King," I surround myself with polar bears. My other childhood passion was coin collecting; around a decade ago I stumbled upon an NGC MS63 1926 Greenland 1 Krone polar bear coin and immediately purchased it. My coin collecting passion for the last 20 years has been centered around my top 10 Jefferson Nickel collection, but in November of 2020, I found the Greenland Milled Coinage (1926-1944) short set in the NGC Registry, and this collection was born. In December of 2020, I was stricken with COVID19 and spent the better part of two weeks in bed, unsure if I would ever recover. Once the fever finally subsided, and my O2 levels returned to normal, my first coin purchase was a 1926 Greenland 50 Ore NGC MS66. It was at that point that I dedicated myself to become the king of the polar bear coins. Although I achieved the top spot last year, my journey is not complete. I have two goals that I still want to complete in relation to this set. First, is to find an uncirculated 1926 25 Ore with a hole, which will be an incredibly difficult feat as NGC has graded less than 10 coins in the uncirculated grades. Secondly, I want every coin in this collection to be a "homemade" coin that I submit to NGC personally. So far, only two meet that requirement. To find out which two, please investigate my collection, and enjoy Lehigh96's Polar Bears. Read more...

Lehigh96's Polar Bears

By lehigh96

Owner Comments:

Gallery

NGC Expert Comments:

Erik the Red, the Icelandic murder exiled to Greenland who gave it its misleading name to attract settlers, might be surprised that the Danish Colony – Milled Coinage, 1926-1944, has 23 competitors and that the majestic polar bears adorning the coins were what attracted Lehigh96 to the set. We imagine Erik the Red might have chosen gentle seals, not ferocious polar bears. In a warm essay, Lehigh96 details his lifelong love of polar bears which began with visits to the Philadelphia zoo as a child. Lehigh96 has the top-ranked set of five coins and each coin is accompanied by a perfect photo and comments on how the coin was obtained.

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