1914 Over 3 Buffalo Nickels....over-Valued? Or Overlooked?

Very nice cherrypick! I think the values in those types of reference books are always way too high. I think they put them very high in value to encourage you even more to look for them. I don't think they use the grey sheet to determine values and since most of those varieties and errors aren't all too common, they might not know, so they put down a value they feel it is worth?

While I'm inclined to agree with Condor101 that this variety is overvalued, I further believe that's the case with many key date coins in today's market. This less prominent overdate variety is very ripe for cherry-picking. There are apparently sufficient numbers that warranted the Red Book listing. If the makers of coin albums/folders eventually install holes for this variety, the price will undoubtedly escalate. Its inclusion in the Red Book was a giant step in that direction.

As knowledge of this variety spreads, so will demand. Advanced Buffalo collectors are seeking out the higher grades, AU-Unc, and paying four figure prices for those. Like any "new" variety, give it time ...

I don't agree with some of the values in the books. Sometimes things are too high, and other they seem too low.

Don't forget when the book/variety is first getting publicity there are not many found yet, so pricing will be higher, as the word gets out and people begin to hunt them down, many more examples will be "found" and will come into the marketplace, lowering the values dramatically.

This happened on many TOP100 VAMs after the book was out for a year or so, case in point the 1887-P DDO "Alligator Eye" VAM-11 became known as fairly common, I had a roll of MS63/64 dollars assembled within 4 months, sold while they were hot and bringing several hundred dollars each.

Many other VAMs became even rarer than previously thought, as well as many new VAMs have been found since the initial publication as more people entered the VAM side of collecting. VAM's are a bit more popular due to the sheer number of Morgan and Peace dollars available, and the fact most people can't afford to collect every date and mint mark, it's easier to collect a subset of a single date of die pairings or a subset of VAMs like the TOP100 or HOT50 lists.

Buffalo nickels while very popular are not collected by die variety by nearly as many people as say VAMs are. The Buffalo collector usually wants the 3 legged variety and 1916 DDO and 1917/8 and that it.

Also varieties that make it into printed album slots become very popular and "must haves" for set collectors ie: Lincoln cents 1922 plain, 1955 and 1972 DDOs, the rest of the DDOs and RPDs are only a very small subset for collectors and not usually required to have as a complete set.

If Whitman and Dansco ever get around to putting holes in their albums for this variety, it will no longer be overlooked. The RedBook recognition was a big step in that direction. I see far more three-leggers a shows than these. As more of this variety become recognized and their numbers increase, more collectors will be able to own one. It's ironic that these coins will have to become more available to gain respect and recognition, an album hole. IMHO, they're simply in effect too "rare" to be worth near as much as a three-legger!

Interesting point you made about Whitman, Carl. I've long noticed that the newsstand coin magazines tend to overvalue coins. Of course, more folks are then inclined to buy it.

The 1914/3-PDS nickels do seem to be overpriced in the RedBook, based on sales that I've seen. At today's market prices, many folks may come to regret not putting a few of these away.