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 Replies: 8 / Views: 1,639 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1450 Posts |
I was at the Fun Show today for a couple of hours until my feet gave out. I was looking for a 1916 LSQ, but did not see anything that got me excited. What I saw was a 1908-s Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle in AU58 going for $4500. This coin has mintage of 22,000. A 1916 LSQ in AU50 with mintage of 52,000 goes for $11,500. What is going on with these two coins? Is the original mintage of the 1916 LSQ not representative in a big way of the surviving coins? The 1916 LSQ was heavily collected back in the day because collectors knew it would be a rarity. What about the Saint-Gaudens years 1908-S, 1909-D and 1913-S all of which do sell at premiums, but not near the cost of similar condition 1916 LSQ's. Throw in the 1914 Saint, and you have four rare coins that don't sell at huge premiums over the more common Saints. Collectors are fascinated by the oddities of the Saints of the 1920's that were mostly melted down when rare Saints exist right in front of their eyes that are easily found. I see a 1892 Liberty Head Double Eagle with mintage of 4430 which sells in EF condition for just twice as much as 1891-S that has mintage of 1,288,125. What sort of anomaly is this and why? Is this because these coins are not heavily collected?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1005 Posts |
That's my take on it; the collector base just must be so much larger for Standing Liberty quarters compared to the double eagles. After all, most people can afford most of the quarters in that set; not so for double eagles, so this would restrict collectors trying to put together a set of Saint Gardens to the fairly well-off. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3843 Posts |
Standing Liberty quarters were heavily utilized in the nation's commerce while coins like Double Eagles were used much less frequently, probably sitting in banks as $20 was a lot of money back then, much more than needed for most transactions. Also collectors like to save big and impressive coins, so that is a part of why many Double Eagles were saved.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1450 Posts |
Right, I have read that most of the Saints of the 1920's sat in vaults and then were melted down in the 1930's. $20 in 1910 was a lot of money. My great, great, grandfather's civil war pension he got in around 1910 was $60 a month. This is what he had to live on for a month, so I guess a double eagle would have been more than a week's pay. Also, LSQ's before 1925 have defective date placement so nobody knows how many of these coins were just rubbed smooth. A guy at the Fun Show tried to sell me a 1916 LSQ for $2000 which was as smooth as a baby's butt. No date at all and thin and worn. No thanks on that one.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
I see low mintage gold as an opportunity to own a true rarity at an affordable price. That 1892 $20 looks best to me, with 115 PCGS survivors. The 1916 quarter and 1908-s $20 both have survivals in excess of 1000 and aren't as interesting. The quarter's high value is due to being the stopper in a widely collected series. Less and less people collect this way but the $$$$$ mystique of the empty hole remains despite the coin's ready availability. Heritage lists 105 "make offer to owner", ebay lists 17. I wouldn't step up and pay $1900 for a P-01 but somebody might. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1916-PCGS-P...AOSwl9BWM3t1It's a horrible dateless coin but it has no details problems! "Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
Edited by thq
01/08/2016 10:28 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6370 Posts |
I just ignore key dates unless I can flip them for a significant profit. I find myself much happier that way.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1450 Posts |
Here is a potential choice: I could buy perhaps three rare Saint-Gaudens $20 pieces for the price of one 1916 SLQ in EF condition. The SLQ has almost no intrinsic value. The three $20 Saints would be worth at least $3000 just for the gold value as of this date. If gold prices revert to the mean/average I would be an instant loser. Average inflation adjusted price of gold since 1975 would be about $800 an ounce which is 20% less than current price. We know that spot price of gold has been impact on the price of large gold coins. Either prices of rare coins do not follow any logical track or I don't know enough about the "inside baseball" Coin World. There are "Stoppers" in a couple of 20th Century gold coins as well in the quarter eagle, half eagle and eagles. Even the 20th Century 2.5 quarter eagle has one coin that is a stopper. The half and full eagle have multiple stoppers. The Saint has more stoppers than non-stoppers. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
"Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6370 Posts |
I'm glad people are finally starting to see that key date coins are WAY too overpriced for what they are. They make good investments (unfortunately, which means that silly collectors keep driving up the cost past what they should be worth, while keeping them out of the reach of most collectors) and make good opportunities for profitable flips.
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Replies: 8 / Views: 1,639 |
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Posted 01/08/2016 6:48 pm
