Do you guys ever wonder if...

mnmcoin

...people in the 1850s that collected 1794-1830 coinage looked at the guys that were collecting "modern" stuff as morons?

morris <><

jtryka

I think back then, only the crazy rich people collected coins, and all the normal people that were scraping their money together to buy a covered wagon to go out west looked at the people collecting and saving all those little disks of metal instead of spending them as morons.

supercoin

All the normal people still think coin collectors are nuts! Often with good reason.

Cam40

I overheard a kid say to his Dad at a coin shop`Why would someone want to buy old money that you couldnt spend.Thats a waste of `good` money.

darktone

I remember in the 70's and 80's everyone thought of Franklins half dollars as junk silver and Kennedy's were thought of as just plain junk. Things have changed! mike

medicain19

...and continue to change as long as coin collecting is around

goldnuggets

people in the 1850s that collected 1794-1830 coinage looked at the guys that were collecting "modern" stuff as morons?

No because collectors back then acquired most of their stuff at or slightly above face value unlike many of today's (not everyone but many) collectors who routinely pay 500-1000 times or more over face value JUST because someone told them it was a certain condition. The mindset of modern collectors back then was totally different then it is today.

BillJones

I agree, goldnuget. Collectors back in the 1850s were not as fanatical about grading. Coins were either “New” or “Used,” and you didn’t have 11 Mint State grading numbers.

You also didn’t have people paying huge premiums for pocket change. Back then $5 was big price to pay for an old coin at an auction.

cladking

10,000 times over face for a slabbed classic equals serious numismatist

500- 1,000 times over for a slabbed modern equals another sheep for shearing.

MacCoin

hey cladking
what would you call some one who would spend a grand on a 1990 no S proof cent.
I call them lucky

Russ

<< <i>500- 1,000 times over for a slabbed modern equals another sheep for shearing. >>



How about 21,400 times face value?

Russ, NCNE

supercoin

Not even in the same league Russ. 4,000,000 x face for the PR68 1804 dollar, for example.

Actually that's an interesting trivia question, I wonder what the record is? Maybe a 1913 Liberty Nickel?

cladking

No doubt, but there will be moderns that give the '13 nickel a run for it's money.

gmarguli

No doubt, but there will be moderns that give the '13 nickel a run for it's money.

200 years from now.

Russ

<< <i>Not even in the same league Russ. 4,000,000 x face for the PR68 1804 dollar, for example. >>



True. But, they didn't mint one billion of the 1804 dollar.

Russ, NCNE

supercoin

Sure they did, the mint will be releasing them as soon as they clear out their backlog of old proof sets.

Guess I'll start my own thread on my trivia question.

Rob0126

On a sidenote, If I could time travel, I would go back, and grab all the 1877 indian heads from the mint.

wow, can you imagine being the only person with that coin?

Robert

MacCoin

hey Rob pick me up a roll of the 77s from the mint when your back there

Rob0126

Ill be glade to Mac, now where did I put that flux capacitor...

Robert

Hunt

I know some will call me a modern basher, but I'll say it anyway (I'm really not). I just can't see why someone would spend thousands of dollars for a coin that has tens of millions (even hundreds of millions) out there that could be graded down the road. If just one out of that huge number is graded the same--there goes the value of your rare coin. And I think down the road dozens and even hundreds of these coins will surface that will grade at such level. It's just the game of probability. Too risky for me!!

I don't mind if people want to collect modern coins and even spend a little more for a nice example, but these people spending thousands of dollars for state quarters need to have their heads examined. Buy nice examples of these coins but don't spend so much money on a coin that will only go down in value as more pop up down the road.

cladking

No one would call you a modern basher for calling modern collectors insane.
This is par for the course around here.

It's impossible to predict the future, and certainly the multiple over face for a
'13 nickel will be a major hurdle for any coin, but there are several modern con-
tenders. The ones that spring to mind are the '73 and '74 aluminum cents and
the '74 steel cents. If there are ever a couple million people collecting cents
from circulation there would be substantial interest in these coins. There are
other possibilities, but they'll probably not happen anytime soon either.

jtryka

This is a little off topic, so sorry to any impatient folks. Clad, what's the story with the aluminum and steel cents you mentioned? I have never heard of them before, which is not surprising since I am more of a classic collector. Please elaborate if you will.

Cam40

I think the aluminum cents were test pieces.Testing possible other metals to maybe replace the copper ones.
There more info on this somewhere on the net.I remember reading about it recently.

laserart

nope

cladking

Jtryka: This is from memory but The mint was searching for a replacement for
copper cents starting in 1973. Few '73 cents were made and they were possibly
all destroyed. The government threatens to confiscate any that turn up, so it may
be some time till we know. Very large numbers of the '74's were produced, prob-
ably in excess of 250,000. At one point it was expected by the mint that these coins
would actually be issued so they wanted to know about die life and handling. Several
were given to politicos for examination. Eventually the mint demanded return of the
cents and about six or eight weren't returned. It is not known if these are legal but
there was one piece that was picked up by capitol security when it was dropped by a
person legitimately holding it. When proffered he was told to "keep it". This piece's
legal status is still pending so far as I know. There were also several pieces found in
the minting equipment and some of these may be extant. There's one in the Smithso-
nian if memory serves and the rest were melted. There was also experimentation with
steel for the coin. There were not as many of these made and they all fit on one pallet
which was shipped to an electric furnace to be melted as scrap. A bag split open on the
elevator and a large number were spilled unbeknownst to the gaurds accompanying
the shipment. Their reaction was to just sweep them up and continue with the melt. It
was later learned that some examples survived the melt and the mint did what it could
to recover coins. It is not known if they got them all back or not, but rumors persist that
many survived.






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