Here's a fun little trivia game for you.

MastaHanky

Here are five Buffalo nickels from the "My Collection" section of Heritage. When you list a coin there, it has a feature to tell you if your coin is a match for anybody's want list, and how many people have your coin on their wantlist. I want you to tell me rank the coins in the order which you think has the highest demand.

The coins (by date, with grade and pop numbers):

1913D, Type 1 (MS64, 669/676)
1917P (MS63, 188/607)
1917S (AU58, 55/302)
1918P (MS64, 284/160)
1923S (AU58, 51/510)

The results may surprise you. Keep in mind that the 23S is a key date, the 17S is a tough semi-key, and the 18P is the toughest P-mint Buffalo.

truthteller

23S
17S
13D
17p
18p

Did I win?

TRUTH

relayer

Hmm...is the high demand for the key or for the more common with a higher grade?

I'll go with a mix.

#1 - 1918P
#2 - 1917P
#3 - 1923S
#4 - 1917S
#5 - 1913D

Dabigkahuna

This sounds like fun!

Before I change my mind again,

23-S
17-S
18-P
13-D
17-P


Larry
Dabigkahuna

MastaHanky

OK, this kind of got lost with all the David Hall excitement, but here's your answers (the number after the date is the number of Wantlist matches):

13D - 63
18P - 59
17P - 58
17S - 52
23S - 49

What can we learn from this? I honestly don't know. I guess one thing that sticks out is that not as many people realize the significance of the AU58 grade. Why the 13D has so much demand, I have no clue...I know it's a type coin, but most people go for the 13P instead. I don't think the 18P and 17P difference is of any significance.

EDIT TO ADD: One other thing that really makes me think people don't realize the value of AU58 coins is that I also have a 16S in AU58, which only has a demand of 36. Granted, it's not a tough date, but I think by people not willing to accept that grade, they're locking themselves out of some nicely affordable coins.