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 Replies: 16 / Views: 2,229 |
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Valued Member
United States
189 Posts |
After looking at Prethen's hole punched 3CN I could not help but wonder what a coin with a mintage under 5k was worth. To my surprise I found out not that much. Which leads me to my question, why do the value of "key date" coins vary so much between different series of coins? Can it really be just because of the amount of people who collect them? 1886 3CN, mintage( 4290) - $350http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/77...hZ007QQitemZ170181999060QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW#ebayphotohosting 1916-D Mercury, mintage (264,000) - $5,000 http://cgi.ebay.com/1916-D-MERCURY-...SB_W0QQitemZ220191943596QQihZ012QQcategoryZ41091QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem 1889-CC Morgan, mintage (350,000) - $12,300 http://cgi.ebay.com/1889-CC-Morgan-...ed_W0QQitemZ280194750803QQihZ018QQcategoryZ139811QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem To me there just seems to be no balance or Justice for coins, many are singled out and are not given the proper attention and care for that they deserve. Edited by lucifer
01/30/2008 01:06 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1130 Posts |
It's supply and demand. Say you struck a coin, let's called it the "Lucifer Silver Dollar". Unique and one of a kind. You think you can sell it for hundreds of thousands since it has a popultion of one ? No, because there is no demand for it.
Let's look at the 1909-S VDB. 484k were made but there are many times more people that collect Lincoln cents. So now, people start paying more for these and demand outstrips supply, raising the price.
In comparison, not many people collect the 3 cent coins beyond 1 for a type set. So even thought the mintage is low, the demand is not high for it, keeping prices on the lower side, relatively speaking.
Edited by 1sikevo
01/30/2008 01:46 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1984 Posts |
Aesthetics and numismatic significance are important as well. A bunch of proof coins struck by the mint for the delight of a few collectors may be shiny but no more aesthetically pleasing than any other 3CN.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
533 Posts |
Yep, supply and demand takes the day! You can only sell a coin for what someone is willing to pay. I know it is simple but that's what makes assigning value such a difficult thing in some cases. This is not to say that scarcity doesn't matter but popularity makes the large differences between value and mintages between types.
Take pattern coins as an example. While they are certainly expensive most of the time they are not as "priceless" as their ultra low mintages may lead one to believe. In fact some of the more valuable one's bear such a resemblance to the coins actually produced that one could easily argue that their value comes from the popularity of the type it turned into.
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Valued Member
 United States
189 Posts |
I guess I'm just sad because the 3CN is so beautiful and undervalued :(
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3234 Posts |
I guess I'm just sad because the 3CN is so beautiful and undervalued :(
[...tears are welling up...]
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Valued Member
United States
185 Posts |
lucifer,
Your comment raises a question. Will the 3CN gain in popularity? If it does, that means we should all be picking these puppies up before their price increases! We could do this to add value to our collections, or to turn a profit later down the road. But the problem is will the day of increased 3CN awareness and collection ever get here?
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Valued Member
United States
342 Posts |
You have to take the survival rate of the coins into account too. The 1933 $20 gold had a higher mintage than the few coins that survived the melting pot.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3234 Posts |
I think the surviving numbers are likely lower than most think. It seems like there's a plentiful supply, especially 1860's to early 1870's but if there was ever an upward blip in collectors moving into the series, I think you'll see that supply dry up pretty quickly. Also, certain years will all of a sudden "light up" as serious semi-keys that people are mostly unaware of now because they're largely not collected by date.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1283 Posts |
quote:
Can it really be just because of the amount of people who collect them?
Yep! For the most part that's exactly the reason. And there are some cases where for whatever reason a coin will be much more rare than the mintage quantity leads us to believe. A short while ago I asked the board why an 1885 V nickel is worth so much more than the 1912-S - which has a far fewer mintage quantity AND it's from the same series. I didn't get many replies, but I'd still like to know. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1984 Posts |
quote:
A short while ago I asked the board why an 1885 V nickel is worth so much more than the 1912-S - which has a far fewer mintage quantity AND it's from the same series.
I'll answer your question with another example: 1909 IHC MS-65 $150 Mintage: 14,370,645 1884 IHC MS-65 $500 Mintage: 23,261,742 |
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
Conditional Rarity? How do the prices compare in the lower grades? Were a lot of the 1912 V nickels hoarded in better grades with knowledge that the Buffalo was coming? Were a lot of the 1909 IHC's hoarded in better grades with knowledge that the LHC was coming? Edited by jbuck
01/30/2008 12:37 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Many things may enter the picture as to a price on a coin but the only true item is demand. Price and demand are not only true of coins but everything especially a hobby item. Example is the Beanie Babies. When the demand was high, the prices were excessive but when that hobby died, so did the prices. Ones that were listed for hundreds are now a dollar or so. Same with US Postal stamps, Hot Wheel Cars and really true of sports cards. Really noticable in the auto industry. Look at the 57 Chevy. Rebuilt convertibles as high as a hundred thousand and yet a car like the 67 Imperial convertible with 477 made is worth a few thousand if perfect. With coins everyone wants an 09S VDB Lincoln Cent so the price is as high as possible. Even if there were millions made, the price would still be high if everyone wants them. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1130 Posts |
quote:
With coins everyone wants an 09S VDB Lincoln Cent so the price is as high as possible. Even if there were millions made, the price would still be high if everyone wants them.
I have to disagree with that. If you pump millions of them into the market, you will hit a saturation point and people will no longer pay a premium for them. As a result, prices will go down. Another type of rarity is the 1883 V nickel w/ cents. It was produced in large quantities and circulated during it's day but few are in decent shape today. Everyone held on to the "no cents" variety, because it was unique but even though less of those coins were initially produced, they are cheaper today in higher grades campared to the w/ cents variety. |
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Valued Member
United States
240 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2602 Posts |
I happened to be watching that 89CC MS60 NGC Morgan auction just for fun. That was way, way overpriced for an MS60. But maybe the bidders thought the coin was undergraded.
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Replies: 16 / Views: 2,229 |
Posted 01/30/2008 01:03 am
