ASEs... Omg!

Another thing buyers must realize is how the market prices collectable coins.

Some people think that a coin's price is a sum of values:
silver content + collector premium = market price
Sorry, but if you think that way, you're going to have to train yourself to think differently.

A coin's price is determined by calculating its value a couple different ways, then picking whichever is higher:
silver value = spot times silver content
collector value = what it sold for when silver was low

30 years after they stopped making them, common date Mercury dimes retailed for 15¢. That would be their collector value today (OK, make it a quarter, due to increased handling costs). In 2002, you could buy all you wanted for 45¢ each.

Today, the metal content is $3.11 or so, and no one would expect to get them for 45¢. However, they're not going to have a collector value of $3.11 + 35¢, just because they used to carry a 35¢ collector premium.