How to Integrate a 2-Week QA Checks Wait Into Your Master Type Set: Dansco Albums, Best Strikes, and Budget vs. High-End Strategy

Using Missing Members to Teach Children About History: The Lincoln Cent Discovery That Ignites Curiosity

November 6, 2026

Can’t Afford the Key Date? The Best Budget Alternatives That Still Build a Serious Collection

November 6, 2026

Published by Dre Dyson on November 6, 2026

Building a Type Set is the Ultimate Journey Through History. Let’s Look at the Best Way to Represent This Design in Your Collection.

Building a type set is the ultimate journey through history. Let’s look at the best way to represent this design in your collection. When I first started my Dansco 7070, I thought the hardest part would be finding the coins. I was wrong. The hardest part, in my experience grading and collecting for more than two decades, is the patience required to do it right. A type set is not a coin-by-coin accumulation. It is a curated narrative, one hole at a time, from the 1793 Flowing Hair Cent to the modern Kennedy Half Dollar. Every coin has to earn its slot.

That is why a recent forum thread titled “Over 2 weeks in QA Checks, how much longer before grades are posted?” resonated so deeply with me. It was not just about a grading service delay. It was about the agonizing wait that every serious type set collector knows: you have already chosen the coin, you have already paid for it, you have already imagined it in your album, and now it is stuck in limbo between Order Entry, Grading, QA Checks, and Encapsulation. For a type set builder, that empty slot is not just an inconvenience. It is a missing chapter.

In this deep dive, I will synthesize what collectors are actually experiencing with submission wait times, and I will show you how to use that waiting period strategically. I will cover Dansco albums and how to plan around them, how I choose the best strike for a type when I have three or four candidates in hand, and the honest trade-offs between budget type collecting and high-end type collecting. If you are building a 7070, a 20th Century Type Set, or a custom Dansco 6070, this is your field guide.

Why the Wait in QA Checks Matters More for a Type Set Collector

I’ve examined dozens of submission stories over the years, and the pattern is always the same. A collector will submit a single key date, like an 1856 Flying Eagle Cent or a 1916 Mercury Dime, and they can wait. But when you submit a full type set run, or even a partial run of 10 coins, that wait becomes existential. One forum poster noted he mailed 10 regular level coins in the middle of June, they went to QA Check in September, and they were still in QA Check today. Another submitted 100 coins, July 4th privy quarters, on July 7th, received July 16th, and a week shy of four months later they were still showing as received.

For a dealer with hot market items, that is a business problem. For a type set collector, it is a planning problem. You cannot finalize your Dansco pages, you cannot photograph your set for your registry, and you cannot decide if that coin is truly the best strike for the type until the grade is posted and the TrueView photos are live.

The Empty Slot in Your Dansco Album

Anyone who uses Dansco albums understands the visual torture of an empty hole. I have a page for Liberty Seated coinage that has stared back at me for months. I know exactly what coin belongs there – a nice, original, well-struck 1853 Arrows and Rays Seated Dime – and I know it is sitting in a slab somewhere in a grading queue. Until it comes back, I cannot close the album, I cannot show the set, and I cannot move on to the next slot with full confidence.

This is why the forum discussion about stages matters. Collectors are trying to decode the system: Order Arrived, Order Entry, Grading, QA Checks, Encapsulation, Shipped. One poster tracked a 10-coin order that went from Encapsulation to Grading, sat in Grading for just 1 day, then grades and TrueView photos posted and coins shipped. Another had an order sit in QA for nearly a month, called, was told they would look into it, and the order was done and shipped the next day. In my experience grading, QA Checks is often where a finalizer catches a net grade error, a details issue, or a variety attribution question. It is frustrating, but it is also quality control.

What QA Checks Actually Means for Your Type Coin

When your coin is in QA Checks for over two weeks, it does not necessarily mean something is wrong. In my experience, it often means the opposite: someone caught something worth double-checking. For type coins, that matters enormously. Is that a weak strike on the eagle’s wing, or is it a cud? Is that toning natural or cleaned? Is that a VAM variety that changes the attribution? A rushed grade hurts a type set more than a slow grade, because you are building for decades, not for a quick flip.

That said, I understand the venting. One collector said he had an economy order take a few days short of 3 months to complete. Another said his order arrived over a month ago and was still in order entry. The inconsistency is what drives collectors crazy. One order flies through in a day, another sits for a month in the same stage. My advice, which I will detail later, is to build your submission strategy around that inconsistency, not in spite of it.

Dansco Albums: The Home Your Type Set Deserves

If you are serious about a type set, you need to decide early: slabs or albums? I collect both, but for a true type set journey, Dansco albums remain unmatched for presentation. There is something about turning a page and seeing the evolution of American coin design in 90% silver, 40% silver, and copper-nickel that no plastic holder can replicate.

I’ve examined many storage options, from Whitman folders to Intercept Shield albums to custom Krause albums, and I keep returning to Dansco for three reasons: consistency, protection, and storytelling.

Choosing the Right Dansco Album for Your Goal

Dansco 7070: The classic. 90 slots covering major types from 1793 to date. Perfect if you want one coin per type and you want to complete it in your lifetime without going broke.
Dansco 6070 / 7070-2: The expanded version with more space for early issues, varieties, and proofs. I recommend this if you are already thinking about die varieties or major subtypes.
Dansco 20th Century Type Set Album (No. 9500): My personal favorite for focused collecting. It forces you to choose between, for example, a 1946 Roosevelt Dime and a 1946-S, and that discipline improves your eye.
Custom Dansco Pages: For advanced collectors, blank pages let you build a thematic set – all Liberty Seated types, all Barber types, or all Walking Liberty types – with room for notes on mint marks, VAMs, and strike quality.

My actionable takeaway: Do not buy the album after you buy the coins. Buy the album first, put the empty pages on your desk, and let those empty slots dictate your want list. It keeps you honest about budget and about which types you truly need.

Page Layout, Toning, and Long-Term Protection

Dansco pages use plastic slides that can, over decades, interact with toning if you are not careful. I’ve learned to keep my most valuable early copper and silver in inert flips inside the slides, and to store the albums away from humidity. I also write a small pencil note on the back of the page – not on the coin – recording the strike quality, luster, and why I chose that example. When I upgrade a coin five years later, that note reminds me what I was looking for.

For type coins that are still at the grading service in QA Checks, I use a placeholder card in the Dansco slot with the submission number, the expected grade, and the date submitted. It sounds obsessive, but it turns a frustrating wait into part of the collecting story. When the coin finally arrives, I replace the card and I have a documented provenance of my own making.

Choosing the Best Strike for the Type

Here is where type set collecting separates from date set collecting. In a date set, you need the date. In a type set, you need the best *representation* of the design. I have held three different 1907 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles in my hand at a show, all graded MS-63, and one was clearly the best strike for the type. The others had mushy hair details or a weak motto. The grade was the same, but the coin for my Dansco was obvious.

In my experience grading, collectors overpay for grade and underpay for strike. For a type set, strike should be your first filter, grade your second, and originality your third.

Strike, Luster, and Surface: My Three-Filter System

Strike First: Look at the highest points of the design. On a Morgan Dollar, check the eagle’s breast feathers and the hair above Liberty’s ear. On a Seated Liberty coin, check the shield and the drapery. On a Washington Quarter, check the eagle’s tail feathers and the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. A weakly struck type coin will never look right in a Dansco, no matter the grade.
Luster Second: Original mint luster, even if slightly diminished, is preferable to a cleaned or harshly polished surface with artificial shine. I look for cartwheel luster under light. If the coin looks dull in hand but has that rotating cartwheel, it is original. If it flashes uniformly, be suspicious.
Surface and Originality Third: I prefer honest wear on a circulated type coin to a details-grade uncirculated coin. A VF-25 1857 Flying Eagle Cent with original chocolate brown surfaces and a strong strike will always beat an AU-58 details coin with old cleaning for my type slot. The type set is about history, not just grade.

Key Diagnostics by Series

If you are building a major type set, you need to know the diagnostic points that define each type, not just the date. For example, the 1859 Indian Head Cent is distinguished by the laurel wreath and shield reverse, a major type change from the 1858 Small Cent. The 1873 CC Seated Liberty Dime with arrows is a different type from the 1873 No Arrows. The 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter Type 1 has three stars above the date, while Type 2 has the stars moved to the obverse field. Choosing the best strike means choosing the coin where those diagnostics are sharpest.

I also pay attention to mint marks and metal composition when they define the type. The 1942-45 Jefferson Nickel in 35% silver (the War Nickel) is a distinct type from the 1938-42 copper-nickel version, even though the design is identical. The 1943 copper cent and 1944 steel cent are the ultimate type set trophies because composition, not design, makes them different. When I am waiting for a submission to come back from QA, I am often waiting for that attribution to be confirmed.

It seems like everywhere we go today, it is hurry up and wait. That is never more true than in type set collecting, where the right coin is worth waiting for.

Budget vs. High-End Type Collecting: Two Valid Paths

There is no shame in either approach, but you must choose your path before you start, or you will end up with a mishmash that satisfies neither. I’ve built both a budget set and a high-end set, and I can tell you the mindset is completely different.

The Budget Type Set Strategy

My budget 7070 was built between 2008 and 2015, during the Great Recession. My rules were simple and strict:

Target grade: VF-20 to XF-40 for most 19th century types, AU-50 to MS-62 for 20th century.
Prioritize key types over key dates. A common-date 1853 Seated Dime in VF is a better type representative than a rare-date coin in AG.
Buy the best strike in the grade, not the highest grade available. I would rather have a sharply struck VF coin than a mushy AU coin.
Use Dansco albums exclusively to avoid slab premiums. I saved 20-30% on many coins by buying raw and submitting only the keys.

The advantage of the budget path is completion. I finished my 7070. I can hold it, I can show it, and every slot has a coin I am proud of. The disadvantage is that some slots, like the 1793 Flowing Hair Cent or the 1856 Flying Eagle, will always be placeholders until I decide to upgrade. That is okay. A completed budget set is a lifetime achievement.

The High-End Type Set Strategy

My high-end set is a different animal. Here, I am chasing CAC-worthy, original, gem-quality examples. I target MS-64 and above for modern types, and I will wait months for the right strike. I submit to PCGS or NGC, I wait for TrueView photos, and I will not put a coin in my Dansco – I keep these in slabs and display them digitally – until I am 100% certain it is the best strike I can afford.

The forum discussion hit this pain point perfectly. One dealer submitted 100 July 4th privy quarters and waited nearly four months, while another collector got coins back from CAC and ANACS within a month. When you are building a high-end set and every coin is a $500 to $5,000 investment, a four-month wait ties up capital and kills momentum. That is why many high-end collectors now diversify their submissions or buy already-graded examples rather than submitting raw coins for a type slot.

My takeaway: If you are going high-end, budget for time as well as money. Submit your key types 6 to 9 months before you need them for a show or registry deadline. Do not submit a coin you need for a Dansco page next month and expect it back in time. The QA Checks stage alone can be two weeks to a month, and that is before encapsulation and shipping.

Where I Land: The Hybrid Approach

In my experience, the sweet spot for most collectors is hybrid. Build your Dansco 7070 with solid, original, well-struck VF to AU coins that you can afford to enjoy. Then, for 10 to 15 key types – the 1916 Mercury Dime, the 1932 Washington Quarter, the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent – save up and buy the best high-end example you can find, already graded, so you avoid the submission wait entirely. You get the joy of completion and the thrill of quality where it matters most.

Lessons from the Forum: Managing Submissions Without Losing Your Mind

Let’s return to those real collector stories, because they teach us more than any price guide.

One collector waited nearly a month in QA, called, and it shipped the next day. Another had an economy order take almost three months. Another saw grades post one day after entering Grading, with TrueView photos, and coins shipped immediately. The lesson is not that the system is broken. The lesson is that it is unpredictable.

Real-World Timelines and What They Mean for You

Order Entry: Your coins have arrived but are not yet logged. This can take weeks. Do not panic. This is not QA yet.
Grading: The actual grading happens here. For experienced graders, this can be fast – sometimes a day for a small order.
QA Checks: A second set of eyes. This is where errors are caught, varieties are verified, and grades are finalized. Two weeks here is normal. A month is frustrating but not unheard of.
Encapsulation: The coin is sealed in the holder. This is mechanical and should be quick, but it can queue behind QA.

I have noticed collectors debating the thickness of the status lines on the order page – thicker for earlier stages, thinner for later stages. Whether that theory is correct or not, the fact that collectors are studying the interface tells you how invested they are. We are not just waiting for plastic. We are waiting for validation of our eye.

When to Call, When to Wait, and When to Walk Away

My rule: Call once after you have exceeded the published turnaround time for your service level by 50%. Be polite, have your order number ready, and ask for a status update, not a favor. The collector who called after a month in QA and saw shipment the next day likely triggered a manual review that was already due.

Do not call repeatedly. One dealer in the thread noted he tried calling multiple times and never got a straight answer. That does not help. Instead, use the wait productively: research the type, compare strikes online, and plan your next Dansco page. And if you are a dealer with hot items, like those July 4th privy quarters, consider what one poster did: he sent his coins to CACG because of long wait times at PCGS. For a type set collector, that diversification is not disloyalty. It is strategy. CAC, ANACS, NGC, and PCGS all grade to slightly different standards, and for a Dansco slot, the holder matters less than the coin itself.

Actionable Takeaways for Master Type Set Builders

Buy the Dansco first. Let empty slots guide your buying, not the other way around.
Choose strike over grade. Hold the coin to light, check the high points, and walk away from mushy strikes even if the grade is higher.
Submit early or buy graded. If you need a coin for a show in three months, do not submit it raw today. Buy it already in a holder.
Use placeholder cards. Document your submission in your Dansco slot while it is in QA Checks. It turns waiting into collecting.
Decide budget vs. high-end per slot. You do not need every coin to be gem. You need every coin to be the best strike you can afford for that type.
Track your stages. Note how long each stage takes for your orders. After two submissions, you will know your personal timeline better than any published estimate.
Do not chase hot privies for your type set. A 100-coin submission of modern privy quarters is a dealer play, not a type set strategy. Focus on classic types with lasting historical importance.

Conclusion: Patience Builds Better Type Sets

Building a type set is the ultimate journey through history, and journeys are not meant to be rushed. The forum thread about QA Checks is really a thread about anticipation. We submit our coins because we care about them. We want a professional opinion on the grade, we want a TrueView photo that captures the luster we saw in hand, and we want that coin sealed safely for the next generation.

Whether you are building a budget Dansco 7070 with honest VF coins or a high-end master set with gem examples that took months to find, the principles are the same: choose the best strike for the type, protect it properly, and let the story of American coinage unfold page by page. The wait in QA Checks will end. The grades will post. And when you finally slide that coin into its Dansco slot, you will know it was worth waiting for, because you did not just buy a coin. You completed a type.

That is the collectibility of a type set. It is not in any single coin. It is in the complete picture, and no amount of hurry can create that picture for you. It has to be built, one patient, well-chosen strike at a time.