The Pinnacle Age of Coin Collecting

When I was in elementary school... sometime around the 3rd or 4th grade... I almost started a coin collection.  One day I was digging through my parent's closet when I came across a box filled with "proof" sets.  I asked my parents about them and they said they bought them to honor our birth year.

Right around the same time I made that discovery... my mother was volunteering at my school's book fair and she asked me if I wanted a coin collecting kit.  Although I was tempted... ultimately I passed... and focused on baseball cards.

Almost two decades later... Pinnacle attempted to bring the two hobbies together by releasing a product called Pinnacle Mint which included both cards and coins.  I'm pretty sure I thought they were kind of cool, but at the time money was tight... so I only opened up a few packs here or there.

Fast forward to 2023... and I stumble across a blog post featuring one of these coins... which inspired me to look for some on eBay.  There was an auction with a $1 starting bid (+ $10.40 shipping), so I added it to my watch list and waited patiently.  A few days later, I placed my bid with seconds remaining and won the auction.  After shipping and taxes, the 1997 and 1998 Pinnacle Mint Coin sets set me back $11.77.

In the spirit of this being National Coin Week, I figured I'd show them off for your viewing pleasure.

Let's start off with the thirty bronze coins from the 1997 set:

1997 Pinnacle Mint Coins #1-#6

Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez,

Cal Ripken Jr., Mo Vaughn, and Juan Gonzalez

1997 Pinnacle Mint Coins #7-#12

Mike Piazza, Albert Belle, Chipper Jones,

Andruw Jones, Greg Maddux, and Hideo Nomo

1997 Pinnacle Mint Coins #13-#18

Jeff Bagwell, Manny Ramirez, Mark McGwire,

Derek Jeter, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds

1997 Pinnacle Mint Coins #19-#24

Chuck Knoblauch, Dante Bichette, Tony Gwynn,

Ken Caminiti, Gary Sheffield, and Tim Salmon

1997 Pinnacle Mint Coins #25-#30

Ivan Rodriguez, Henry Rodriguez, Barry Larkin,

Ryan Klesko, Brian Jordan, and Jay Buhner

Overall... the checklist is filled with big names from the 90's... including eleven guys who eventually got into Cooperstown.  Honestly... the only questionable name that popped out was Henry Rodriguez.  However after looking at his stats over on Baseball Reference, he had some solid seasons for the Cubs and Expos in the mid to late 90's.

The coins themselves are pretty cool for being a novelty item.  Here's a closer look at the Tony Gwynn:

1997 Pinnacle Mint Coins #21

The front of each coin features the player's head and name, along with the team logo and coin number.  All of the coin backs look exactly the same:

Pinnacle made sure to remind collectors that these were produced in limited quantities.  How limited?  Well... according to Baseballcardpedia, there were approximately 94,400 bronze coins produced for each player.  That's a lot of coins floating around the hobby.

If that weren't enough... collectors could also pull nickel-silver, 24kt. gold plated, solid silver, and solid gold coins too, but the bronze are considered the common coins.

Back in the day... the suggested retail price was $3.99 a pack with each containing three cards and two coins.  That price seems a little steep, but it must of sold well enough, because they released another baseball set in 1998... with 30 coins too:

1998 Pinnacle Mint Coins #1-#6

Jeff Bagwell, Albert Belle, Barry Bonds,

Tony Clark, Roger Clemens, and Juan Gonzalez

1998 Pinnacle Mint Coins #7-#12

Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Gwynn, Derek Jeter,

Randy Johnson, Chipper Jones, and Greg Maddux

1998 Pinnacle Mint Coins #13-#18

Tino Martinez, Mark McGwire, Hideo Nomo,

Andy Pettitte, Mike Piazza, and Cal Ripken Jr.

1998 Pinnacle Mint Coins #19-#24

Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa,

Frank Thomas, Mo Vaughn, and Larry Walker

1998 Pinnacle Mint Coins #25-#30

Jose Cruz Jr., Nomar Garciaparra, Vladimir Guerrero,

Livan Hernandez, Andruw Jones, and Scott Rolen

Another solid checklist... with nearly 50% of the players being hall of famers.  This year's coin design was a little more intricate and attractive (in my humble opinion):

1998 Pinnacle Mint Coins #8

Each of the bronze coins in the 1998 set have same mesmerizing design on the back:

Personally... I think the back design is a little too busy.  It makes me feel like I'm staring into  one of those Magic Eye posters from the 90's.

In the end... I feel like collectors either like gimmicky products like Pinnacle Mint or they really, really don't.  I like them enough... if the price is right.  I was willing to spend up to $16 (that includes shipping and tax) for these two sets.  The fact that I was able to get them for a little under 20¢ per coin is a win in my book.

What about you?

Did you buy any of these coins back in the 90's?  Do you collect them as part of your player and team collections?

Leave your thoughts down below.

The coin collecting saga doesn't end there.  Back in February, my father gave me some quarter sets from the 2000's.  He wasn't exactly sure why he bought them, but he made it sound like it was part of a subscription program where they'd send him new coins each month.  I haven't had the time to go through them yet.  Maybe I'll write up a post in honor of next year's National Coin Week.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Spot the Difference

When I was little, Highlights was my favorite magazine before I graduated to Boy's Life, Sports Illustrated, and Baseball Digest.  That's one of the reasons I've always found puzzles, word games, and riddles so fascinating.  Highlights was filled with activities for kids... and Spot the Difference was one of them.

You all know that routine.  There are two pictures that are almost identical with the exception of a handful of things.  Usually it involved a missing tree branch, an extra bicycle spoke, or an eye color change.  Today I thought I'd try it out with pages from my 1982 Topps Sticker album.

See if you can spot the difference...

Okay.  Okay.  Maybe this is a little too easy for adult collectors.  It's probably better suited for comparing some of those late 80's Donruss variations with missing "periods".

Unfortunately... I don't have any of those to show off today, so you're stuck with these four pages from my newly completed sticker album.  Here are the other three pages... 

In case you struggled with spotting the difference, here are the final four stickers I needed...

1982 Topps Stickers #34

1982 Topps Stickers #53

1982 Topps Stickers #105

1982 Topps Stickers #144

Last month, I showed off the sticker album and explained how it was incomplete.  Well Jon over at A Penny Sleeve for your Thoughts commented that he had a bunch of these stickers and offered to help me out.  A week or two later, they safely arrived in my mailbox.  It took a few weeks to adhere them to the pages, but the project is officially complete.

He also sent me this shiny and serial numbered Steve Largent:

2019 Prizm Blue Ice #284 (#'d 87/99)

I've been clinging on to the top ranking among Steve Largent collectors over on TCDB and this card gave me a little more breathing room.

Speaking of Largent... I recently purchased another one of his autographed cards of his last week after learning about it on The Angels, in Order.  Tom opened a couple of packs of 1992 Pacific football and mentioned that there was a chance of pulling a Largent autograph.  I immediately headed over to eBay and picked this card up for $10.80 (+ $6 tax & shipping):

1992 Pacific Autographs #NNO

The card back features Steve Largent and his glorious head of hair...

There's also a seal that this card is limited to 1,000 and that it was personally autographed.  However when I compared it to the one listed on TCDB, I noticed mine was slightly different.  Can you spot the difference?

Pacific was based out of Washington and probably had Largent sign a few extras in case some were damaged.  I'm guessing mine is not numbered, because it was one of those extras that somehow made its way into our hobby over time.

Well that wraps up another post.  Thank you Jon for the shiny new Largent and for helping me complete my 1982 Topps sticker album!  And thank you Tom teaching me about this affordable on-card Largent autograph.

Oh... I should also thank Night Owl since he's the blogger that opened my eyes to these Spot the Difference type of posts.  There might have been other bloggers who have done these as well.  If you're one of them, leave a link down below and I'll check it out.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Challenge Accepted

Back in February, Chris over at Nachos Grande challenged himself to come up with a list of his favorite games with one tiny catch.  The names of these games had to start with the appropriate letter in the name of his blog.

A week later, he tweaked the rules and turned it into a Blog Bat-Around.  Here's the challenge...

Take the letters in your blog's title and pair each letter with a baseball player that you like.  Feel free to use either first or last names when pairing your letters.

I enjoyed reading several bloggers' response posts, but haven't had time to hammer out one myself.  Well... I've been slowly adding names and scans to this post and I'm finally ready to reveal my first BBA contribution of 2023.

However I tweaked things a little myself.  Since my card collection isn't only focused on baseball, I opened it up to all sports.  So sit back, relax, and see enjoy my response to The Alphabet Challenge...

T:  Tony Gwynn

1998 Paramount Fielder's Choice #14

Tony has been my favorite athlete for most of my card collecting history.  It's fitting that he kicks off this post.

H:  Rickey Henderson

1981 Fleer #574

Henderson was my favorite baseball player before Gwynn.  If only he hadn't gotten traded to the New York Yankees on December 5, 1984.

E:  Ed Reed

2002 Topps Chrome Refractor #208

There are two E's in my blog title.  One was a no-brainer.  The other was a tough call.

Ed came down to a last minute audible.  Eckersley was originally in this slot, but ultimately I swapped him out for one of the most exciting football players in the history of the game.  The other E that I considered was Eddie Jones of the Lakers.

C:  Steve Carlton

1983 Topps #70

Carlton was my favorite pitcher growing up and this card has been treasured for forty years.

H:  Tim Hardaway

1990 Fleer Rookie Sensation #8

Hideo Nomo was the first "H" person that came to mind, but I moved him into another slot during the final revision of this post.

Hardaway was one of my favorite non-Lakers from my childhood and I'm a little ashamed that he didn't come to mind until right before I published this post.

R:  Jackie Robinson

1997 All-Star Fan Fest Tribute to Jackie Robinson #5

I've had a deep admiration for Jackie Robinson for as long as I can remember.  I only wish that I had started collecting his cards before the late 2000's.

O:  Shaquille O'Neal

1999-00 Skybox E-X E-Xceptional #12XC

Not gonna lie... it feels weird having O'neal in this post when he isn't even in my Top 5 Los Angeles Lakers of all-time.  But he's in the Top 10.

N:  Hideo Nomo

1996 Upper Deck V.J. Lovero Showcase #VJ2

Nomo was the first Japanese athlete I can remember actively collecting.  Sorry Lynn Sakata.

I:  Ichiro Suzuki

2008 UD Masterpieces #81

When I returned to the hobby in 2008, Ichiro was one of the first baseball players I started chasing.  Fifteen years later, I'm just as excited to add a new card of his to my binder as I was back then.

C:  Steve Caballero

2019 Goodwin Champions 3D Lenticular #LB-SC

There's an outside chance I'm overlooking another athlete out there whose name starts with a "C"... but Caballero came to me early and I didn't even bother thinking about anyone else.

L:  Steve Largent

1990 Action Packed #254

The third or fourth no-brainer on this list.  Largent is my favorite football player of all-time.

E:  Earvin "Magic" Johnson

1986-87 Fleer #53

The Showtime Lakers were the reason I became a Lakers fan in the 80's.  They were super fun to watch... and Earvin was a huge part of that.  

S:  Kurt Suzuki

2012 Sega Card-Gen #J12-129

I'm sure glad there was an "S" in the title of my blog, otherwise I might have to rename it:  The Khronicles of Fuji.  Heck... I'm debating changing it for Kobe.

O:  Shohei Ohtani

2018 SI for Kids #735

Yup.  I'm definitely on the Ohtani bandwagon and I'm crossing my fingers he'll be a San Diego Padre in 2024.  I'd rather see him in an Oakland jersey, but we know that won't be happening in my lifetime.

F:  Brett Favre

1997 Green Bay Packers Police #4

Favre was my favorite football player throughout the 90's and most of the 2000's.  And over the past few years, he's reclaimed the title of being my all-time favorite Green Bay Packer.

F:  Jeff Friesen

2000-01 Topps Chrome Refractors #124

My all-time favorite San Jose Shark doesn't qualify for this post, but Friesen is a nice consolation prize as he's easily in the Top 5.

I thought about using Fernando Tatis Jr. and Mr. Fuji, but I've already picked eight baseball players for this post and Mr. Fuji was never considered my favorite wrestler.

U:  Kanako Urai (Asuka)

2018 Topps WWE Women's Divison Champions #WC-15

On the other hand, Asuka is the only wrestler I really follow these days and her real name happens to fill the only letter I was seriously struggling with.

Before Urai... I was gonna use either Bob Uecker or The Undertaker.  Both of these guys would have been a huge stretch.

J:  Michael Jordan

1999-00 UD MVP Sample #S1

Jordan is one of my favorite player collections... even if I rarely write about it.  He's also another consolation prize since I'm not able to use my all-time favorite basketball player:  Kobe Bryant.

I:  Arturs Irbe

1995-96 Parkhurst Goal Patrol #10

This post literally took me several weeks to write... and over that time Irbe was the only "I" name I considered.  I'm sure there's another athlete I'm overlooking, so if you think of any... leave them down in the comment section below.

Heck... if you there were any athletes you thought I'd use for this Blog Bat-Around that I missed, let me know.

Here are four that I wanted to use, but couldn't because their names don't fit my blog title:

1.  Kobe Bryant

2.  Greg Maddux

3.  Patrick Marleau

4.  Kristi Yamaguchi

And here are a few other athletes that were candidates that were eventually cut from the list:

1.  Fernando Tatis Jr.

2.  Eddie Jones

3.  Byron Scott

4.  Joe Sakic

5.  Devin Setoguchi

6.  Aaron Rodgers

7.  James Lofton

8.  Russell Wilson

9.  Ricky Steamboat

Alright... I'm pretty confident that I left a few of my favorites out.  If you think of any, let me know in the comments.

Thank you Chris for kicking off this BBA!  Sorry it took so long for me to write this post.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!