Nice, raw coins....where have they gone??

WashqrtrsRme

I attended a smaller coin show yesterday north of Chicago. I was looking for some nice, raw coins, specifically Washington quarters from the '32-'64 era. After stopping at several tables, it became increasingly evident to me that higher grade unc. coins are not at all as plentiful as they were just even a year or two ago. What I found was that many of the dealers had plenty of the later dates (from 1956 through 1964) but not much before that, at least not much that was unc. More than one dealer told me that he's just not able to find much nice raw material right now, and when he does, it's not around very long. I was trying to find a few nice coins, dates such as a '55-D, '61-D and '62-D that might be worthy of certification for possible MS66 grades....didn't find ANY nice ones! Many of the dealers were asking $15.-$20. for nicer possible MS65 examples of raw dates, even after 1959! I was a bit taken back by this, but I guess it's just telling me that raw coins in this series are getting tougher to find all the time, and nice ones are even tougher. From a more positive approach, there's nothing wrong with a challenge either, as I believe it's one of the very things that helps us to further enhance our collecting hobby. There's nothing like finally finding that "perfect" coin after a long search...a very satisfying feeling, I think!

Was wondering if any of you have noticed that nicer raw coins, not just in this series, but in whatever series of coins you collect, are becoming somewhat harder for you to locate. Is this an indication that a lot of the nicer raw material is being sent in for grading/certification, or that it's just not available? Seems like collecting has changed a lot in the last few years, but I see a lot of positive trends out there as well. Solid collector interest is a very good thing, and I see a lot of that now, too.

Happy collecting!

Tom Schiera

LucyBop

At some of the shows I have gone to recently I have found tons of raw Franklin halfs that are very nice and full bell lines galore. I have sent several in for grading, 3 ms64's, 2 ms63's. Found several stunning Franklin proofs, submitted both of them and got pr68dcams. At a recent local show in Albuquerque there wasn't much graded coins, but some very nice raw coins. Franklins are hard to find in ms65 or better, but they are out there. I just bought a 58d that I believe is ms66fbl for 8 dollars, this coin is a GEM. Gotta submitt it soon.

clackamas

You can still get nice raw coins off of Ebay for reasonable prices. Try the Ebay seller "Eagle Eye Eddie". He has some good stuff raw. I can't speak for the washingtons but his Lincolns are solid. I did buy a Washington from him and its a nice MS65 coin for about $12.

Brian

cladking

Finding the clad quarters in unc has always been difficult, and problematical in high
grade so I'll have to confine my response to mint sets. The percentage of gems has
changed very little over the years and the availability of sets is far more variable.
The sets are somewhat difficult to find right now, but they've been harder a few
times in the past. Apparently the wholesalers' stocks have become more difficult to
maintain. There are increasing numbers of mint and proof sets being sold at a new
retail price which is double or more the traditional retail on these of 1 1/2X
CDN bid or so. This is resulting in some shortage of these at the wholesale price
(110% of bid) as the wholesalers work to replenish their inventories. Meantime demand
continues to ratchet up and total available supplies of these sets dwindle.

FC57Coins

I got started collecting toned Morgans by finding a few raw ones like the ones below. I found them fascinating, particularly because the coins themselves were in great shape, even though they're very common. Alas, some of them might be AT, I'll find out soon as I've sent these to be graded, but either way, they're pretty and I like them. If they get slabbed great - well - not so great as far as this thread is concerned, but at least we know that there are some nice pieces out there.

Frank

quarterjack

Tom, turn on your Private Messageing in your profile and send me the dates you are looking for in the Washington Series. Also your preference to raw or slabbed as i have a lot of both and may be able to help you with your hunt!


Dave

Android

I've actually found quite a few nice Washingtons recently. There's one dealer at some of the local coin shows who had three full BU sets that he had recently purchased from estate sales. I was sitting at his table looking at the quarters in his case and asked him if he had any others I could look at. He also said he "didn't know why he bought them because he hates the series." To make a long story short, he showed me the three sets, and told me he'd sell any coin in them at MS63 bid. I made my choices, bought them, sent them in for certification, and here are the results - 1936S - NGC MS66, 1937D - NGC MS66, 1940D - NGC MS66, 1953S NGC MS67, 1935D - NGC MS64.

It's funny, but he isn't the only dealer I've run across the doesn't show much interest in the Washington series. I'm sure glad though!

Andy

P.S. I'm always looking for high grade Washington's as well.