Is the 1909-O Barber quarter a sleeper conditional rarity?
oldcameoproofsguy
Posts: 3,174 ✭
No one has to remind me that pop numbers are simply guidelines to rarity. However, I have discovered a situation where pop numbers and price simply do not correlate. Here is a comparison of MS-65 or higher examples and approximate MS 65 prices for two of the main key dates in the Barber quarter series and two non-key dates.
Date..........NGC......PCGS.....total....approx price
1901-S......5...........11.........16........$50,000
1913-S......13.........23.........36........$16,000
1909-O......5...........4...........9..........$9,000
1905-O......3...........9...........12........$6,000
You're probably thinking, oldcameoproofsguy is nuts. The reason that the 1909-O and the 1905-O don't command the higher prices is because they are not the key dates and more will be made if demand increases. On the other hand, what if we have a situation similar to the Walker series.
One of the most famous conditional rarities is the 1919-D Walking Liberty half. From MS 64 to MS 65 the price jumps from $20,000 to over $130,000. The combined PCGS-NGC pops are 94 for MS 64 and 14 for MS65 and higher. I feel that the creation of this conditional rarity occurred primarily from the immense popularity of the series. What if the popularity of the Barber quarter series suddenly grew? Would a similar situation occur with the 1909-O and possibly the 1905-O quarters, especially if more can't be made?
It is OK to tell me that I am suffering from mad, delusional speculation.
Date..........NGC......PCGS.....total....approx price
1901-S......5...........11.........16........$50,000
1913-S......13.........23.........36........$16,000
1909-O......5...........4...........9..........$9,000
1905-O......3...........9...........12........$6,000
You're probably thinking, oldcameoproofsguy is nuts. The reason that the 1909-O and the 1905-O don't command the higher prices is because they are not the key dates and more will be made if demand increases. On the other hand, what if we have a situation similar to the Walker series.
One of the most famous conditional rarities is the 1919-D Walking Liberty half. From MS 64 to MS 65 the price jumps from $20,000 to over $130,000. The combined PCGS-NGC pops are 94 for MS 64 and 14 for MS65 and higher. I feel that the creation of this conditional rarity occurred primarily from the immense popularity of the series. What if the popularity of the Barber quarter series suddenly grew? Would a similar situation occur with the 1909-O and possibly the 1905-O quarters, especially if more can't be made?
It is OK to tell me that I am suffering from mad, delusional speculation.
0
Comments
super rare and one has not been offered for sale me thinks in the last 5 or so years as i have been looking !!!!!!!!!
yes the barbers are poised to take off big time and if you look at the pops for these coins in gem and higher they are virtually non exsitant not like the wash quarters available in roll quantity, not all but many mANY
the only reason why we have any 1901 quarters in choice and gem mintstate is that wayte raymond had an original roll of these many years ago!
sincerely michael
sincerely michael
Look at the registry set. Number of sets registered:
10¢ - 4
25¢ - 5
50¢ - 4
Not really a popular series. The cost of these coins in gem grade also keeps people away.
Tyler
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
There are several dealers who will actually pay a premium for any circualted 09-0 barber .25 with nice eye-appeal.
AG/G are most common.
Nice F, VF, XF really tough
And ofcourse AU's as ARCO mentioned
Actually in Larger sales such as Heritage, although not recently, there have been a few Ms-63, 64 for sale??
Those pop #'s aren't skewed and do show that the 09-0 is tough.
More won't come out of the woodwork if the price went up. Compared to the 13-s the 09-0 is a bargain in gem. 09-0 being the last O mint gets lost in the shuffle. The romance isn't quite like a 13s with the tiny mintage. Someday down the road the 09-0 will likely eclipse the 13-s in price at gem levels. It could be a while though.
The 13-s is actually overpriced IMO. The tougher "o" mints tend to better buys. It's also hard to find some of these "o" mints looking sharp and attractive. So a true gem coin is that much a better deal if nicely struck and blazing.
roadrunner
I'm not an expert in mint state material, but I do know the 09-O is indeed a toughie -- although mint state pieces are generally available if you want to cough up the cash (this is also true with most of the key Barber quarter dates). I do see MS 09-O’s occasionally. But given their rarity, they are probably a good buy. But then again, how many folks do you know putting together mint state Barber sets? I’ve yet to meet one. Bill Gates, maybe? Paul Allen?
I’m much more interested in the VF-XF area myself, and I honestly see them even less occasionally in that area (in original condition). They are always poorly struck, and occasionally errantly downgraded as a result. NGC and PCGS also seem to be pretty liberal when they grade them (in that most are cleaned in my opinion). I saw a bright white (heavily scrubbed) PCGS VF-30 1909-0 at Long Beach last year that would have made ARCO break down and cry like a baby.
For quarters with similar mintage numbers, I much prefer the 92-S, 95-S, 97-S, 03-S, 05-O, 10-D and 11-D. The 12-S is super-tough as well. Much better value for the money in ORIGINAL CONDITION (except you will have trouble finding them as well).
But my all-time favorite is the 04-O in F through XF. The late David Lawrence states in his book :
“04-O ....... A scarce date, especially in well struck, trouble-free condition”.
He think even he may have understated things a bit!
Dave
PS Keep collecting the Statehood quarters, boys. The Barbs are wayyyy toooo tough.