Why are modern high-grade lincolns going so cheap

rd5425

I was looking on ebay today and found that high grade lincolns, for example 2000-d ms68 are going for under $20, is the market slow for these or what?

mrdq

they made billions of them so there are probably many many many yet to be slabbed is my guess

clw54

Who is gonna spend over $20 for a 2000-D cent, unless it's an error?

cladking

The zinc is much softer and lighter than copper. They strike up much nicer
and cause much less wear to the dies so more gems can be made by new
dies. The copper "shell" provides some protection from marking and the
lighter weight means collisions are less likely to leave marks. In the early
years of the zinc cent there were serious problems with the surfaces of the
zinc coins but these were mostly overcome by '86. There are no mint sets
for the first couple years and even the mint set coins were affected by the
surface problems in '84 and '85. After this many beautiful gems start show-
ing up in mint sets with some regularity. These are often fully proof like and
virtually mark free at the very high end.

Most of the pre-'84 memorials are quite scarce or rare in gem.

wondercoin

For Lincoln cents of that year, it is fairly easy to obtain superb gem MS67RD and even MS68RD specimens. It becomes exceedingly difficult to obtain MS69RD coins though of that date. I believe I have handled nearly all or all of the PCGS-MS69RD specimens of this date and they were spectacular coins, essentially free of the "bubbling", spotting, staining and marks seen on MS68RD coins.

Wondercoin