It's Getting Hard To Find Nice Coins From The '70's And '80's.

In the last couple years the demand for Mint State examples of the '65 to '67 coins has been increasing enough to allow some retailers to ask as much as $12.50 for the coins. They are by no means "scarce" but they are not readily available. Many BU rolls of these were set aside. Even more '67 rolls of quarters were saved than the '83-P but these rolls have had huge attrition over the years because of their perceived commonness. Many have been spent and a few allowed to tarnish in poor storage.

Every once in a while I'll see a '66 or '67 set where someone has swapped out the SMS quarter for a MS. I remember also hearing of 1983 Proof sets with a nice chGem Philly dime instead of the no-S dime. chGem '83-P dimes are often worth more than the set now days. Of course they are pretty scarce so odds are good most aren't of that quality.

The '65 SMS quarter is underrated. Nice attractive pristine examples are far tougher than most people realize. The sets are not so common as they once were and more than a third of them have bad tarnished quarters.

There are only a few thousand rolls, a quarter million mint sets and maybe one million nice VG+'s and better left in circulation of the 1965. But with the low demand we see only wholesale and buying pricing with a lot of retail anomalies like MS singles at $12 and Walmart and similar venues selling SMS's at prices up to $30. Even more surprising is that some of the venues with higher retail prices are continually running out of stock!!! If you're selling a set that lists for $12 for $30 how can you ever run out of stock? Apparently even the wholesalers are having trouble keeping mint sets in stock.

Meanwhile fewer and fewer of these sets walk into coin shops and coin shops are selling more and more of them to the public.

I will say that after getting tired of never finding 1990 quarters of a grade around low Au and less, I went through a few 1998 Mint sets at my dealers to find a nice one --- it wasn't too difficult but not as easy as one would think. Finding nickels with very strong full steps, quarters, dimes and halves without a bunch of hairlines/light scratches in the open fields from coin contact is not common for mint sets from the 1990's.

Also agree trying to find a nice mint set from the 1970's is getting quite difficult at times. There are plenty on the marketplace but many of the fine quality sets have been pulled or cherrypicked.

I do collect on some classic coinage - Walking Libertys, Gold dollars and when my pocket allows some 19th century cents and Half Cents but I try not to devote my acquisitions to this area. I feel it is a fast maturing area. I know that for what I can afford at most MS65 Walking Libertys from 1934 (well throw in 1917 and 1920) afterwards and, when I can splurge maybe a few prior years, that I am collecting in a rather full market. This is when one collects because they love the design and its nuances. And yes, their popularity remains strong. However, I would think it best to diversify into some modern coin series ---- heck, the lowly Presidential; dollars that were in circulation may be sought after in nice uncirculated grades in a few decades since so many collections when sold dispose of them.

Great points cladking. The only advantage of 90's sets over the 1970's ones is you can find some decent coins without having to go through 200 of them but jut decent. When I went through a few 1998 Mint sets the scratches on coins were hard to NOT find -- especially on nickels, Kennedys and quarters. However I was able to find a Jefferson nickel with very strong, unblemished full steps (I believe 5FS) and the scratches on the open field weren't too bad making it an attractive Unc. Otherwise aside from the cents I found a decent Quarter and Kennedy.

I will say it is more fun to spend the extra money and search Mint sets than circulating coins. So much of it except for the very new issues of the year looks like crap so often.

I was looking through my cents that I have squirreled away and nearly all of them were made in the last 10 years, most of them were 2020s and 2021s.

I think people are going to be surprised just how few of these coins survive in BU and they might not come to realize it until they aren't available in circulation any longer.

I can't remember the last time I saw a 1971 Philly coin of any denomination in circulation that wasn't a cull. Usually they are not only heavily worn but also mangled and corroded. Even the culls are getting hard to find.

I don't know why so many people seem to think that there are nice choice coins of every date in circulation and even BU's can be found with patience. The coins weren't set aside and time has been most unkind to them.

Poorly stored coins often have problems. I've found only about 40% of the '65 SMS are bad though another 50% need cleaning to remove the haze. This usually means a soak in acetone. If you're trying to assemble nice sets it's the cent that is limiting in my experience.

I usually picked sets based on the half dollar as well. But, of course, I often saw nice gemmy coins or varieties in other denominations.

This reminds me of another bet that collectors are overlooking; FB and FS coins in these sets. Somehow collectors have it in their heads that these aren't attributed by the grading services because they are all common. WRONG. They aren't attributed only because they aren't attributed. There's so little collecting and demand that people don't know how tough they are. There are virtually none made for circulation and the SMS coins are as scarce as .4% and none are more common than about 3%. This leaves very very few coins since there are so few of these sets surviving.

Well struck quarters with nice sharp claws and leaves are none too common either. The cent reverse is usually lacking on the bottom steps and/ or the statue of Lincoln.

It's amazing moderns have been around so long without collectors picking up on all the rarities. But there are no guides that will tell you how scarce a nicely struck and well preserved 1984 cent really is. People figure every 1984 mint set has a beautiful attractive Philly cent so they never even looked. These coins besides have plating issues also have uneven surfaces and are often blemished with carbon spots. No problem, right?, just buy a few BU rolls. But these rolls are 100 times worse and additionally usually have extensive zinc rot. If you can find a nice one (I don't know) odds are good it will be poorly struck by worn dies.

Collectors take them all for granted. The price guides agree they are all common and it's easy enough to find most moderns in lists and on ebay. But the principle reason they can be found is lack of demand. Who are you going to call to get a 1965 quarter with a full strike or a 1966 dime with FB? Just try finding a 1967 nickel with full steps! Across the board these coins are still being largely ignored. Many years of neglect have decimated all of them but even in 1967 you would be hard pressed to find nickels with FS. Even in 1965 you'd use up a lot of shoe leather finding a nice frosty Gem '65 quarter. There was no internet or grading companies to help your search and there still is no internet or grading companies to help find most of the rarities. Dealers laughed at me in those days when I told them what I was looking for. They still don't much care.

I guess I'm off to google "1965 FB dime". I'll get no relevant hits though.

I don't agree with your assessment, coins from the 70-80 are easy to find but few want them. Hence the low value.

Where do you find them?

I know they aren't exceedingly difficult to locate because they certainly aren't scarce but I believe that the reason they are available is that they are being ignored by collectors. Certainly collectors have gathered up far more common coins like wheat cents and '50-D nickels making them seem scarce.

Do you think our difference of opinion is based on perspective or the number of coins available?