Why The Disparity In Price? - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 28 / Views: 2,509	Page: of 2
Moe145 Pillar of the Community United States 8904 Posts	Posted 05/08/2009 4:30 pm It has always baffled me as to why the 1916D Mercury dime (mintage 264,000) is so much more expensive and in demand than any of the 1913 (mintage 188,627), 1914 (mintage 124,610),or 1915 (mintage 138,450)Barber Half Dollar, or even certainly the more rare 1849 (mintage 39,864) or 1850 (mintage 39,812) Half Cent? Is it personal preference for a prettier design? More wear on the Dime so higher grade coins of that type are more rare? Over inflation of some types? I'd like to hear your theories! Enquiring minds want to know! Report this Post to the Staff

oih82w8 Pillar of the Community United States 7840 Posts	Posted 05/08/2009 4:37 pm Hey Moe, I would like to say that Liberty Head Dimes are FAR more popular than the Barber series, or Large/Half Cents. So basically this answers the question...supply and DEMAND. I am a type collector myself, so I have a lot of lead way on which one to represent in my collection. Series collectors HAVE to have that 1916-D to make their collection complete. Anyway, supply and demand, that's my final answer! success, Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187702 Posts	Posted 05/08/2009 4:48 pm Supply and demand drive prices. Winged Liberty Head "Mercury" Dimes are a very popular series to collect. I have a set myself, missing the three key dates of course. Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
Moe145 Pillar of the Community United States 8904 Posts	Posted 05/08/2009 4:50 pm Oih82w8, I see that, but it definitely seems like demand drives one coin's popularity more than supply. It would intrinsically follow that rarer mintages would be higher priced than more common ones. But it doesn't go that way. It's got to be more than merely a supply and demand issue. That might be too easy an answer. It's almost like a sociological experiment. What makes people do what they do? Why do they spend more on a more common coin? It is very intriguing to me. Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187702 Posts	Posted 05/08/2009 5:06 pm One thing we can do is take a poll. How many members collect Mercury dimes? How many members collect Barber half dollars? How many members collect Half Cents? What we should find is that a magnitude more collect Mercury dimes than they do the other two. Once we divide the mintage by the number of collectors of a particular series, we will find there is not as many to go around. Those that really want to complete their sets are willing to spend more money; driving the price up. The market in general is not unlike an auction. I made these numbers up, but consider that there might be 500,000 collectors fighting over those 264,000 1916-D dimes; while only 100,000 collectors are seeking one of the 124,610 1914 half dollars. Why is the Mercury dime more popular than the others you mentioned? The first thing that comes to mind is that the Mercury dime is a more recent series; many collectors around remember them circulating and started those sets at that time. It can be said that the current modern series are even more popular than the Mercury dimes, making some of their higher mintage coins priced higher than one might expect. Another thing is that many consider the Mercury design far more appealing that the Barber coins. I actually like them both and have considered starting Barber sets (my long term goals). These are just my opinions. Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Edited by jbuck 05/08/2009 5:14 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Moe145 Pillar of the Community United States 8904 Posts	Posted 05/08/2009 5:17 pm And now we're back to why people want to collect one type of coin over another. But it does truly appear to be a supply versus an overwhelming demand (particularly when it comes to the Mercury dime). Still very interesting to me. I'll take responses as to the types of coins our Forum folks collect. Are there more Merc Dime collectors than anything else? More Lincoln Cent types? Washington quarters? Let me know! What do you collect? (And why if you have the time to include it...) Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187702 Posts	Posted 05/08/2009 5:35 pm I collect all of the current moderns. I have several completed/current sets with the exception of the Lincoln Cents (missing my last three key dates). I also collect the quasi-moderns (Eisenhower dollars, Franklin half dollars, and Susan B. Anthony dollars) and late-classics (Indian Head cents, Buffalo nickels, and Mercury dimes). I have a Dansco 7070 type set I am working on as well. My favourite is the Eisenhower dollars because that is what got me interested in coins; my dad gave me two of them when I was eight. Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
Moe145 Pillar of the Community United States 8904 Posts	Posted 05/08/2009 6:48 pm If I want answers from people about collections, I guess I should answer first (or immediately after JBuck!) Present collection: Half cents- missing 1793-97, 1802, 1811, 1831, 1857 Large cents- missing 1793 Lib Cap, 1799, 1804 Indian Head cents- complete Lincoln cents- missing 1922 No D (waiting on my Mom to give me my Dad's!) 2 cent- missing 1872 3 cent Nickel- complete (I only have a few silver 3 cents) 5 cent Buffalo- complete 5 cent Liberty- complete 5 cent Jefferson- complete to present 10 cent Barber- missing 11 (other types took priority!) 10 cent Seated Liberty- missing bunches (just started these 6 months ago) 10 cent Mercury- complete 10 cent Roosevelt- complete to present 25 cent Barber- missing 1896S, 1901S, and 1913S 25 cent Washington- complete (state qtrs through Washingon DC) 25 cent Standing Liberty- complete 25 cent Liberty Seated- missing bunches 50 Cent Flowing Hair/Capped/Draped Bust- only have around 15 (looking for more!) 50 cent Kennedy- complete to present 50 cent Franklin- complete 50 cent Barber- complete 50 cent Seated Liberty- missing around 40 50 cent Walking Liberty- complete $1 Seated Liberty- missing about half $1 Morgan- complete $1 Peace- complete $1 Eisenhower- complete $1 S.B. Anthony- complete $1 Sacagawea- complete to present $1 Presidential- complete to present I started with present types and moved back in time. Seated Liberty's of all types, Capped & Draped Bust of all types are next! I love 'em all! If I had to choose one type over all others, I choose the Morgan dollar. Report this Post to the Staff
fmtaxguy Valued Member United States 257 Posts	Posted 05/08/2009 9:37 pm What? Not a single Twenty Cent Piece?!?!?!? Report this Post to the Staff
Bilbo Pillar of the Community United States 812 Posts	Posted 05/08/2009 10:42 pm Moe145, I believe the price issue is purely the exceptional demand for Mercury dimes compared to the other series you mention. It's demand. With regards to your present collection: and Report this Post to the Staff
johnny54321 Rest in Peace United States 4849 Posts	Posted 05/08/2009 11:26 pm In reference to Moe145's set.... PICTURES!! GIMME GIMME Report this Post to the Staff
Moe145 Pillar of the Community United States 8904 Posts	Posted 05/09/2009 09:34 am Nope, no 20 cents yet. No Half Dimes, or gold yet either. Eventually though. (I may need to win the lottery to acquire all the gold pieces though!) I like the idea of the 7070 book. I may look into that. VERY intriguing! I'll see about some pictures today. Any requests which to post first? Report this Post to the Staff
nohope587 Pillar of the Community United States 5953 Posts	Posted 05/09/2009 10:22 am Good luck on the 1872 2 Cent Mintage numbers have no relationship to the number of actual coins available. I have been chasing them for close to 10 years and have yet to get a nice AU/MS one without the seller asking crazy money. Mostly all I have managed to find are AG/G coins or damaged ones. At some point I will have to decide if I really want to fill that slot with a nice coin, in the mean time the prices keep going up. Report this Post to the Staff
Moe145 Pillar of the Community United States 8904 Posts	Posted 05/09/2009 10:25 am Nohope587, I agree. Even the 2 cent ones I have are really pretty ratty. I suppose they got plenty of use in the day and just wore out... Report this Post to the Staff
Moe145 Pillar of the Community United States 8904 Posts	Posted 05/09/2009 10:52 am Here we go... Two hours after I started! Man, this photography stuff is time consuming! Snapping, downloading, cropping, renaming, posting, re-uploading (in the correct format!) and then posting! The things I do for you guys (and girls too by the way!)! (This may not be the best place for these, but oh well!) (Just imagine you're looking at the Coin book. First top front, then bottom front, then top reverse, then bottom reverse..) I wish Dansco had labels on the reverse of the pages too! I was too lazy to invert the reverses so you can see them upright. (Maybe you can turn your monitor upside down for those... ) Report this Post to the Staff
nohope587 Pillar of the Community United States 5953 Posts	Posted 05/09/2009 10:56 am Oh you can find nice 2 Cents fairly easily but not the 71 of 72 Report this Post to the Staff
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