Snagged This 38-D Walker On Ebay... How'd I Do?

In the last few years date rarity has taken a back seat to silver content. Most dealers now when buying your raw Liberty Walking half dollars don't give a darn about numismatic value (date rarity or variety).

So maybe now is the time to pick up rarer dates and varieties in the Walkers (zig when others zag).... however I would be buying nice certified examples.

Good buy on this VG 38-D.

While the 38-D's do have a low mintage, they are readily available in large numbers in the marketplace; this, akin to the low mintage 31-S Lincolns. One dealer, at a show that I attended over a year ago now, had fourteen rolls of 38-D's for sale in his case. Despite the higher book values, I've been able to buy these at shows in the $56-$65 range for VG-VF; this, given that the bigger dealers tend to be overstocked on this date. The only reason I buy these is that there is such a large disparity in book value vs. marketplace. Looking through dealer inventories, other "rare" dates that seem to be in abundant supply are 1921 & 1928 Peace dollars, Fair-AG 1916-D Mercuries, and all the key date Lincolns - error issues aside. Many of these lower mintage coins were scooped up and hoarded over the years. There have even been collectors who hoarded 1893-S Morgans, 1844 "Orphan Annie" dimes and 1856 Flying Eagle cents!

When it comes to the 38-D's, I don't see all that many in XF-AU grades in dealer stock. For the fun of it, I just ran a search on ebay. Of the 569 38-D's now up for bids, just 34 were being touted as XF or better. This date is far more of a "condition rarity" than simply a date rarity. This is true of many other 20th century coins, like many S-mint, full horn Buffalo nickels, VF and better 21-PD dimes, etc. Then too, try to find a problem-free, AG 38-D Buffalo nickel!