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Replies: 34 / Views: 874 |
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Valued Member
United States
252 Posts |
If you look at the prices in your post, you will see that the MS66 coin brought $18. It cost $16 plus shipping to get this coin graded, so the owner lost money. Now, if you look at the PCGS photograde website, you can see how nearly flawless a coin needs to be to get an MS66 designation. Even coins from mint sets that have never been touched, dinged, or rubbed usually fall short. Uncirculated coins from rolls are usually lower, and coins from circulation are...well...circulated. To give you another reference, for a gift I bought a complete set of mostly uncirculated LMCs (1959-2006) in a Dansco album for less than $25 on eBay in May. Used Dansco albums cost over $20, so that gives you an idea of how much of a premium the modern Lincoln cents brought.
Edited by captaincoffee 12/03/2020 4:16 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1747 Posts |
Quote:If you look at the prices in your post, you will see that the MS66 coin brought $18. It cost $16 plus shipping to get this coin graded, so the owner lost money. Now, if you look at the PCGS photograde website, you can see how nearly flawless a coin needs to be to get an MS66 designation. Even coins from mint sets that have never been touched, dinged, or rubbed usually fall short. Uncirculated coins from rolls are usually lower, and coins from circulation are...well...circulated. To give you another reference, for a gift I bought a complete set of mostly uncirculated LMCs (1959-2006) in a Dansco album for less than $25 on eBay in May. Used Dansco albums cost over $20, so that gives you an idea of how much of a premium the modern Lincoln cents brought. Some people would be surprised at the wholesale price of many of the '80's era cents. There's a perception among most that they are all common and they really are limited to about $20 a roll but the roll price is set by typical rolls and typical rolls are often pretty sad. Nice chBU coins bring more.
Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Valued Member
United States
220 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
82 Posts |
My guess says the 1979 is AU-55 and the 1957-D is MS63/64 RB. But then again, I'm not a professional...
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Valued Member
United States
220 Posts |
Hay, 64 is not to shabby but no I'm not planning on spending money for grading. I will hold on to them for a while until I see a more fit time. Perhaps the demand will increase. Thanks everyone for indulging me on this subject. I enjoyed the conversation.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3462 Posts |
A 1983-P Washington quarter can be worth $1,200 or more if graded MS67. 1983 quarters are everywhere, but they aren't all worth $1200. Learn to grade coins and you can catch some bargains and not get ripped off with low grade coins.
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Valued Member
United States
220 Posts |
Learning to grade should be my next goal. I believe I will get right on that. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2889 Posts |
Unless you cents look like the below, I don't recommend grading them, even then you could still lose money.  
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3555 Posts |
I can say with almost 100% certainty that you will never find an MS67 coin in circulation. 65's and 66's would even be very unusual. The coins in your picture are either low end MS coins at best or circulated coins worth just a few cents or less each.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1747 Posts |
Quote: I can say with almost 100% certainty that you will never find an MS67 coin in circulation. 65's and 66's would even be very unusual. The coins in your picture are either low end MS coins at best or circulated coins worth just a few cents or less each. Every year since 1972 I've saved every Gem I've found in circulation. Some years that's only a couple coins and other years it's as many as twenty or thirty. It's most cents, nickels, and quarters because these are the rolls I search most. There are lots of dimes because dime Gems are more common. Most of them are "gemmy" MS-64 or MS-65 but there should be lots of MS-66. There may be an MS-67 or two. I also search BU rolls some years but only years where even MS-66 are scarce and this isn't really from "circulation". Your point is well taken though. Your odds of finding a Gem are poor and usually when you do it will be from a brand new roll that had just been dumped in the till.
Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Valued Member
United States
55 Posts |
Cladking,
Thank you for sharing your experience, along with numbers!
If it isn't being too nosy, roughly how many rolls or coins are you looking through to find that many of what you are considering the keepers?
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Valued Member

United States
124 Posts |
Forgive this member @My2cent, if I'm telling you something you already know. I hate it when I'm the recipient of that. Still, I read into your comments a possibility that my input may be unfamiliar.
An MS-64 coin grade means "As expected" from proper mint operations. That's why little dings cause little concern. Normal mint processes make dings almost unavoidable. That term "As expected covers a lot more territory than any of the other Mint State grades. It is, after all, what workers are expected by their bosses to deliver over and again.
MS-60 through MS-63 indicates less mint quality than expected. Maybe they tried to get too many coins from one set of dies. Maybe the strike wasn't up to expectations or the ding-count seems excessive, etc. MS-65 through MS-70 indicates coins that exceed expectation. Below MS-60, as you know, is a circulated coin which is graded on its wear and its life's abuses alone.
Kevin
Edited by Kcm 12/05/2020 11:43 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
16753 Posts |
You are missing the point of something we call "conditional rarity". There are fewer coins in the highest grades so they command higher prices. Especially in the grades of 67-69.
Lincoln Cent Lover!
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Valued Member

United States
124 Posts |
Well @BadThad..., I don't believe I'm exactly in the condition of "missing the point" regarding conditional rarity, though I do plead guilty to stopping short of pointing out what, to me, seems obvious. I began my post to @My2cent with a worry. I don'tknow him/her.I might be preaching to the choir and I stopped my preaching before adding that above normal coins are more scarce than normal or subnormal coins. And I also neglected to add that rarity impacts prices. This,I believe holds true for many things, living and non-living.
I'm not saying you have not advanced the discussion. You have done. You may be right to advise @My2cent to this greater degree. You're not quite right in your assessment of me this time.
Kevin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3555 Posts |
Quote: Your point is well taken though. Your odds of finding a Gem are poor and usually when you do it will be from a brand new roll that had just been dumped in the till. Right. You got a shot say if you are pulling 1972 gems out in 1972. Even then it's pretty rare to get really nice ones. But if you are talking about pulling out a 1972 gem now in 2020? Nothing is impossible (hence "almost" 100% certainty) but realistically, it ain't happening.
Edited by KenKat 12/05/2020 3:36 pm
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Replies: 34 / Views: 874 |
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