What's going on with Seated Liberty Half-Dimes?

lkenefic

The prices seems to be rising much more than other pieces. It's reflected in the ebay completed auctions search and borne out in the PCGS Price Guide. I don't have access to a Greysheet... Have these suddenly been "discovered"?

fathom

It's that big collection coming up for sale. If those prices go high which if the material is as good as advertised they will...then the series will see a bump on the price guides.

Catbert

A rising inflationary tide lifts all boats.

yosclimber

Seated Dimes, and Seated Quarters after 1865 also seem to be up (much green in PCGS Price Guide).

The Tom Bender (formerly Simpson and Law) set that is coming up for sale is very high end,
but prices are green down to G4.

It's possible that increased demand for die varieties might have some effect, but I'm not sure how large.
I have seen a handful of rare varieties bid up, and they are often not high grade.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1035720/top-100-seated-half-dime-varieties-list-and-112-page-pdf (2020)
Also the Steve Crain collection photos/variety IDs (2019)
https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/imagecollection/514182

More likely it's people stuck inside due to COVID and bidding online.
Why would this affect seated half dimes more than other series?
Well, the half dime series only has one key (1846, ignoring the unique 1870-s).
So maybe it's an easier target series for completion, relative to the other seated denominations.

savitale

Nice to hear. The series deserves some love. Maybe it will spread to seated dimes too?

lilolme

Something that pcgs is doing (has done) is what appears to be a 'global' update of a series. Sometimes I will see updates of a few coins or so and maybe several of these. But then I see what looks like a 'global' type review where a majority of the prices are adjusted. Don't know anything of why or when but it happens. It used to seem that it was an adjustment downward. Now more/most are up.

I looked at the pcgs price guide for the seated half dimes and then clicked on a few prices for history. It was a mix. Some were way up over the last couple years (50% to 100%) but others while having a price increase now were up only marginally over the last few years. I don't track seated so I am just going by the pcgs price guide. This is somewhat typical in multiple series right now. That is the move upward and some a lot more than others.

rhedden

I think the price guides for Seated H10c might have been lagging behind current prices more so than the other Seated series. Coin price guides tend to stagnate for a number of years, generally while the market cools off, then suddenly jump to new levels when the market wakes up. It happened in the 2002-2006 years in many series, and it's happening again now.

The_Dinosaur_Man

I started collecting half dimes because they were underappreciated and undervalued, same with seated liberty dimes. It's incredible to me that I had been able to purchase a Fine 1863 half dime with a mintage of 18,000 for $400 last August while the 1916-D Merc with its much higher 264,000 mintage sells for over $2,000 in the same grade.

rokky

@The_Dinosaur_Man said:
I started collecting half dimes because they were underappreciated and undervalued, same with seated liberty dimes. It's incredible to me that I had been able to purchase a Fine 1863 half dime with a mintage of 18,000 for $400 last August while the 1916-D Merc with its much higher 264,000 mintage sells for over $2,000 in the same grade.

Just my opinion, the 16-D is a highly overrated coin. With that being said, I feel the 1914-S Barber Quarter is a highly underrated coin. Both have exactly the same mintage and thousands can easily be found in very low grades. Like I said though, JMO, lol. I think the Liberty Seated Half Dimes would be a much more collected series had there been coins struck at the Carson City mint. Once again, JMO

rhedden

The Seated H10c are less popular simply because they're too small for a lot of collectors' eyes.

About those CC mints - the Seated quarters have a good run of them, but most people opt to "complete" their sets without the 1870-1873 CC run. The current trend is to buy a whole bunch of common and semi-key dates with CAC beans, but never buy the tough/expensive CC mints. I bought the 1870-73 CC run in PCGS holders without succumbing to sticker fever, and they're among the best investments in coins I have made, based on steady price appreciation.

DisneyFan

What a difference three months makes. In March GC sold a 1871 NGC MS64 CAC H10c for $450. Today another 1871 NGC MS64 CAC went for $575 at SB. The power of price guides. My personal opinion - the $450 coin was nicer.

Omegaraptor

The Seated Half Dimes are one of my favorite series to collect. Here’s one I have.

This one actually has some luster. Yeah it’s a “problem coin” but 1867-S half dimes that aren’t don’t come around often. This was in a binder full of 2x2s at the Portland PNNA show a few years back and it cost me $30. Yeah the dealer was definitely using a price guide for this one lol. Love this little coin.

And yes... much, much rarer than a 16-D Merc. But there just aren't a lot of half dime collectors out there.

Randoms

I prefer the S dates to the CCs for seated dimes. There are many dates where there are a lot fewer graded of the S. Maybe one day they will get some love

rhedden

If you enjoy a difficult hunt, try to find an 1865-S H10c in PCGS AU50 or higher, with nice surfaces.

SeatedToners

Seated material in general seems strong