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Posted 03/28/2008 11:15 am
quote:
I don't think the clad dimes, modern Lincoln Memorial Cents, or clad quarters will take off any time in the next 20 years and maybe not even in 40-50 years (except for the higest grades). There were just far too many made- unless there is a great big melt in the future due to us moving away from coins and to a completely cashless society (which is very likely).
It's not just the highest grade coins that can be in short supply. There are numerous varieties whch don't appear in mint sets and weren't saved. Some of these were made in small numbers. For instance there were about 10,000 '82-NMM dimes produced and released mostly near Sandusky Ohio. There are only a couple of '75 No-S dimes known. The examples that can be listed here are nearly endless.
There's also some issue with just what constitutes "high grade". Most clad came off the dies looking pretty ratty because of worn dies and poor strikes. Then they were beaten before making it out of the mint. Many dates were notorious for planchet scratching or other systemic types of problems.
It's often not so much a matter of finding high grades but just finding one that looks nice. Every date has a few gems and for now that's enough to satisfy the market but supply is hardly boundless of nice coins. There are extremely few nice looking coins surviving in unc of some dates and any real demand will push up the price of attractive circulated coins.
The reason prices are up so much is because collecting is up so much. The reason that varieties aren't up a lot is that many clad collectors are relative newbies and either aren't collecting the varieties yet or aren't aware of them. You wouldn't recognize the price structure on these coins if this set attracted one tenth the interest that is in something like the old Lincolns. But I still think, in the long run, it's going to happen. Two generations of people have grown up with clads now. Eventually most people want reminders of their younger times and they usually turn to things that were common and widespread. What could be more common than a 1965 quarter? What could be tougher than a nice still unc '65 quarter?
I think it's mostly a matter of time and the recent price changes are saying that the time might be at hand.
As always I would not try to encourage people to invest in any coin. Collecting is more fun and has a higher probability of profit. It's OK to collect a coin because you think it might go up but don't try to collect something you don't like; it's still investing.
Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
Edited by cladking
03/28/2008 11:16 am
03/28/2008 11:16 am
Jan 
