Low Ball Kennedy eBay Surprise Price
braddick
Posts: 22,529 ✭✭✭✭✭
I was a bidder on this lowball Kennedy half dollar up until the end. It then took off. I still shake my head in disbelief at the closing price.
Your thoughts?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-Silver-Kennedy-Half-Dollar-Lowball-Low-Ball-Lowest-of-the-low-/124482640328?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l44720.c10&nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true
peacockcoins
1
Comments
What have you unleashed!
How can people even tell it’s a 1964?
Mr_Spud
Different strokes for different folks.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
That's the only year they made 90% Kennedys.
Collector, occasional seller
...the high bidder on that coin was for sure, no doubt, way higher then me right now...and I’m basically on 🔥
P. T. Barnum comes to mind.
Only year for 90% silver and weight.
A PO01 recently sold at Heritage for $960, so it could be a good deal at $330. But it might make FR02
What is interesting is although the photos are blurry, there is what appears to be an obverse mintmark.
peacockcoins
So could it be a modern 90% proof with an obverse mint Mark that was artificially worn down?
Mr_Spud
Different strokes I guess. In the grand scheme of things BESIDES the registry $330 can purchase you a lot of nice items. I’ve purchased 100 year old paintings for that amount that I can walk by and admire everyday.
The Registry is a powerful drug.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
One word: Absurd
Dave
He shouldn’t. You and others might think it’s foolish to spend that kind of money on such coins. But the people who buy them aren’t necessarily gullible, uninformed or being fooled.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
https://www.apmex.com/product/19562/90-silver-10-face-value-lot-of-coins-culls How hard is it to find P01s in a bag of culls?
Mr_Spud
I don’t see a P01 1964 Kennedy half in there, do you? How many bags do you think it might take? Pick a number and I’ll guess over.😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
More likely a 1968-D or 1969-D Kennedy. The 40% will at times throw off an observer as to its silver content.
It would be killer if somehow this was a 1970-D! The holy grail of lowballs (as none have been known to exist).
peacockcoins
Here's a PCGS lowball 1968-D Kennedy (for mintmark placement):
1969-D:
1970-D:
So, actually the above lowball has a potentially different mintmark placement under the bust.
Interesting...
peacockcoins
@MFeld said: "@SIowhand said:
P. T. Barnum comes to mind.
He shouldn’t. You and others might think it’s foolish to spend that kind of money on such coins. But the people who buy them aren’t necessarily gullible, uninformed or being fooled."
I agree. @braddick and @pocketpiececommems helped get me interested in circulated commems almost 20 years ago. I now have about 30 or so different examples, and I really find them quite beautiful in a counterintuitive way. Some coins maintain the original sense of design as they wear, while others assume a whole different aura. One of my favorites (of Braddick provenance) is a Texas in AG03.
(I have a complete MS 50 pc set of classic commens; the circulated set is much more difficult!)
So you mean it's a rare 1965 on the wrong planchet error?
So you’re saying it might have been a phenomenal rip? 😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Thanks everyone for reminding me how tough low ball coins really are to come by. I actually already knew this, but I keep forgetting.
Low ball coins are cool and ridiculous at the same time. Here’s my pocket pieces I’ve been carrying around off and on over the last 15 years. I keep losing them and then finding them again sometimes months or even years later. I started after reading about the PO1s on this forum back then. They do take really long. I bought them as culls for a low price, they were low grade to begin with, but they have worn quite a bit since I got them. I’ve always been suspicious of the Stone Mountain one as being artificially worn down, but it’s starting to look more realistic over time.
Mr_Spud
PCGS will be the judge I hope. Not my coin.
Lafayette Grading Set
My thoughts? Absolutely absurd!
Meh, it's only 11 pizza's, no big deal.
As if half dollars circulate!
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
PCGS won't certify that. I have a dateless 1964 they won't touch.
If it was a D they would since that is a unique mintmark location.
Professional Numismatist. "It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
While I can appreciate a well worn coin just as much as the next guy, I think it is important to understand that ANY coin can get down to a PO-1 grade.
All it takes is a pocket full of change and a whole lot of time.
A circulated coin, however, can never "get better," add details, and go higher in grade. (Slabbing and gradeflation aside) That is precisely why coins in the highest state of preservation command the highest prices.
I guess something as common as a 1964 Kennedy, that all goes out the window. Someone here is paying for the unusual, not necessarily the rare.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
I expected it to already be in a holder for that price. I don't collect them and I don't know a lot about how to determine the source of wear, but it seems like the buyer is taking a big chance that PCGS will certify it.
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
Not a coin I would consider, even at melt... Now, that being said, people collect what interests them... so have it and enjoy. (At least it is not tarnished
) Cheers, RickO
Tell you what, if the buyer manages to get that coin into a holder, they stand to make a nice profit even at that price. Check out this example that brought nearly four figures at Heritage earlier this month:
Heritage link
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
What surprises me is that this coin would fetch more than a penny above melt.
Mint marks on 1964 Kennedy halves are on the reverse.
it's not a coin you will pull out an marvel at the crisp strike. You won't move the coin from side to side to see the toning. You won't sit and stare at it and be in awe of the die crack or reverse error. You will type a few strokes on your computer, throw it in a drawer and never look at it again. It goes against everything that coin collectors cherish and IMO a complete waste of time, effort, money and plastic. But what do I know, I'm just a working stiff that values $330.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Despite your opinion, mine or anyone else’s, It obviously doesn’t go against everything that all coin collectors cherish. And for all we know, the winning bidder values $330 as much as you do. You might spend $330 on something that would be of minimal value to him.
Edited to add: I’d much rather look at the coin than stare at a die crack.😉
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Looking to down grade my set.Can you help me?DUH
Someone once said, "Buy/collect what you like. But keep in mind that when it comes time to sell, not everyone else will necessarily like what you did/do." I think this sale and thread illustrate that quite well.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars
The lowball registry set has certainly caused the value curve to change and added a lot of value to lowest grade coins.
That coin? I doubt you’d stare at that long.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Where‘s the option to laugh, wink and agree?
I just found it. 😄 😉 I agree.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
That die crack? I doubt I’d stare at that, long.
Love it or hate it, the subject coin is far more out of the ordinary than most other survivors. I can appreciate that.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Here is mine which has failed certification now.
Professional Numismatist. "It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
Maybe carrying several 70 D pocket pieces would pay off.
I collect some lowballs. Some of these are the only ones I don't just throw in a drawer. I tend to fidget and what's cooler than fidgeting with a bust half or a stack or Barber quarters? Nicer coins get put in the drawer to be looked at a couple of times a year.
Very hard. For kicks I bought an APMEX bag of cull Barber quarters. There were two coins that maybe, maybe had a chance at straight grading FR02. It was nearly all AG03 and G04 and a small percentage with some type of damage.
The bidding history also shows a pretty thin pool of bidders. Without one of those two, it would have sold for about 40% of the closing price.
Poor 1 Barber coins are culled from melt because they are too light. I think the Barber coinage can and probably will dominate the Poor 1 category POP wise if this trend continues.
Edit to add, I think the Barber series saw the heaviest circulation of any US Type Coin.
Just incredible...
rainbowtoned on Instagram
https://instagram.com/rainbowtoned/
"Authenticity Unverifiable" is the category where I suspect a lot of suspected rock tumbled coins go. In my metal detecting days I would clean clad coins in the rock tumbler so that they could be spent. Properly done, a rock tumbler does a great job of removing the brown color off clad coins that have been in the ground. Of course, I would never let the pieces tumble so long that they would wear down to the point the Silver Kennedy half that is the subject of this thread has. Tumbled or naturally worn? How can one know?
Needs more wear, or Cowbell.
Here is the Low Ball registry sets on PGGS, last count of 2,172 sets
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/u-s-coins/low-ball-sets/139
This Peace dollar set, all 35 coins at PO01 grade.
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/low-ball-sets/low-ball-denomination-sets/peace-dollars-low-ball-1921-1935/alltimeset/146027
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