My first official question

Sumo

I read a thread about a coin being pop 8/0. What does that mean? And how does that affect the price of coins ms64 and up?

mrdq

it means 8 in that grade zero finer

i'm not qualified to comment on the rest of the question my coins are usually pop 100/1,500

VonZipper

It's the population of how many coins are in that grade(8)/and how many graded higher(0) at pcgs.

airplanenut

It effects the price based on what the pop is... if MS64 is 10/0, then it's much more valuable than 50/1,037

sinin1

Value depends largely on what it is - year mintmark etc.

If you buy a 2003-D Jefferson nickel that is 8/0 (now) it probably won't be there long - next year could be 245/3

If you buy a 1955 DDO Lincoln in 8/0 you will be paying alot of money.

JoyofCollecting

<< <i>Value depends largely on what it is - year mintmark etc. >>



This is very true...you have to take pop with a grain of salt. A Lincoln 1909-S VDB with a pop 100/400 will often be worth more than a seated coin with a pop 20/20.

Thus, rarity doesn't always correlate to value when your not comparing coins in the same series. The demand side of the value equation is just as, and probably more, important than the pop side for most coins.

Valuable doesn't mean rare and rare doesn't mean valuable. It's like beanie babies. If there are ten thousand out there and 40,000 people wanting one; then the price is high. If there are 100 and only 50 people want one...well the price is low.

Prices of most rare coin series stay relatively low as they are generally so scarce that they can't be "promoted" by dealers. Why promote something you can't find enough of to sell? It's easier to promote a series where there is a large supply and then try to stimulate demand from collectors.

CarlWohlforth

Other things to consider when looking at population numbers are who's numbers are you looking at? When someone says the pop is 4/0 they may be talking about PCGS coins. There may indeed be coins graded higher by other companies. These other coins may or may not actually be nicer coins.

Also population numbers are estimates. This is because some people try to cross coins graded by one service to another service. Or they take the coin out of the holder and send it in again hoping for a higher grade. It is possible that when either of these things happens the old labels are not returned to the companies so the population figures don't get adjusted...