Clad explosion...........new opportunities

kryptonitecomics

I typically stick with pre-1964 coins as I tend to like Silver coins and or obsolete type coins. Since I have been out of coin collecting for a number of years, I have read a lot about the rarity of some of the clad coins minted after 1964. I know that there is a mixture of tastes on these boards, but when thinking about how I have avoided clad coins like the plague for many years....I felt that others might have done the same. Certainly this would mean that high mintage coins that weren't saved in massive quantities might have some upside potential down the road.

So this post isn't here to try to convince anyone that a coin with say 500 million minted just doesn't exist in high grades.......it is meant to elicit some thought from other collectors that were like me for so many years on the value of clad coins

Now that I have outlined my reasoning for purchasing said coins.....let me give you a little loook at my latest shopping spree and my strategy for acquiring uncirculated specimens. I have always like buying mint set coins and still do, but I find that their are certain denominations that don't interest me as much in the sets. What I found works best for me is to purchase mint set singles still in the cello from dealers or on Ebay.

Now I know that there is a measure of risk involved since a lot of singles can come from sets that were picked through.....leaving only the low end coins. I have found that most of the so-called sealed mint sets I have purchased on Ebay were dogs. By this I mean that the chances of pulling out an MS65 on even one coin in the set was remote at best.

I have now come across a dealer on Ebay that sell really nice quality singles, and has really reasonable shipping prices and combines shipping on all multiple items won. So my resource is in place to start building my clad empire

Purchased in the last 2-weeks:

IKES

1974-P
1974-D
1976-P
1976-D
1977-P
1977-D

KENNEDYS

1969-D
(2) 1971-P
1985-D
1990-P
(2) 1990-D
2002-P

WASHINGTON'S

1964-P (Not clad, but I needed one)
1964-D (Not clad, but I needed one)
1971-P
1971-D
1972-P
1972-D
1973-P
1973-D
1974-P
1974-D
1981-P
1981-D
1984-P
1984-D
(2) 1985-P
(2) 1985-D
1987-P
1987-D
1988-P
1988-D
1992-P
1992-D
1994-P
1994-D

I received the first shipment last week and I can tell you that the IKES are in amazing condition........I can't see any of them going less than MS65 and we all know how beat up IKES can be!

LucyBop

CraZy man CraZy!

the HepKitty really digs those big bald headed coinz Daddy-o!

Heavensville!


Those Ike cats...... They got 'bigger' coinz.........

cladking

Until 1972 no one hated the clads more than I. They were very poorly made and replaced the
good silver coins in circulation. Initially they were always associated with the loss of the mint
sets, proof sets, mint marks, and even having new dates each year. They caused the older coins
to disappear from circulation and consisted themselves of nothing but a handfull of dates all of
which were of pretty uniform unc/ au/ xf.

Worse, there was ample evidence that in the early days these coins were being widely hoarded.
Even when the hoarding soon ended the fed was effectively hoarding by storing many dates of
brand new coins for years. As late as 1975 it wasn't too unusual to find brand new rolls of 1965
coin which had sat in fed vaults. It seemed pointless to try to collect coins which were made in
massive quantities and were uniformly high grade but very poorly made.

Much changed over the decades though. Primarily the coins just started wearing out and one who
looked a little harder could find choice and gem specimens and numerous varieties. Most of the
hoarding stopped and most of the already hoarded coins were released. The fed started rotating
their coins so that all the clads got a chance at more wear.

Today they are still very much unappreciated but this seems to be changing fast. One of the neat-
est things about these series is that it is impossible to put together a complete set of any of them
by using a single source. Many of these are almost impossible to find except in mint sets and some
do not appear at all in mint sets. Indeed, many of the varieties do not even exist in unc and must
be found in circulation.

sliderider

High grade Ikes and Kennedys are on fire right now. You should see the wars that rage in the registries over them. Whenever an upgrade coin comes up for sale, it almost always sells in excess of what would normally be considered top dollar.

cladking

Ikes and Kennedys are the toughest of the clads to find in gem. The MS Ikes are all scarce
in gem but a few dates of the Kennedys aren't overly tough because they appear in mint sets.
Dates like the '71-D, '72, '72-D, and '80-P turn up frequently as gems in the sets. Other coins
like the '80-D are very scarce or non existent in sets. The '82-P and '83-P don't appear in sets
at all and choice specimens are very underappreciated.

Quarters are much easier to find in most cases. There are only a few dates of these which are
very scarce or rare in nice condition. Most of these are common enough in the just missed
grades that very attractive sets can be assembled for very reasonable amounts.

Dimes are the easiest clads to find in gem and many dates are actually common. While some
dates are tough a gem set of clad dimes should be possible on a shoestring. If you like these
and want to spend more then you can always try for the FB designation. These are pricey and
some don't yet exist though.

Yeah, I know, there are a lot of other clads now days. The others are pretty short series and I
don't know much about them. I'm sure they'd make a great collectible for anyone interested.

kryptonitecomics

I am staying away from the Dimes right now, but the IKES, KENNEDYS and WASHINGTONS are coming along nicely. I don't know if I am going to send off any of the coins for grading....I think I will just remove them from the cello and place them in 2X2's and then put them together in a nice Album. I think clad sets would like great that way