Can someone tell me about some sleepers that have woken up in the past? OR, do most sleep...FOREVER

TheLiberator

I have been curious about this because the coins I like happen to be ones with lower mintages that most people don't care about. (I like absolute rarity vs conditional rarity and the only way for me to be able to afford something more scarce in a nice grade is to go where others don't want to!) Although I am a collector and not an investor, I have often wondered about these "sleepers." Can anyone site examples of sleeper coins actually "waking up"?! I guess the whole high-grade common lincoln cents coudl be used an an example. What are some others you guys and gals know about?

ER

According to Cardinal, the early dollars can be had relatively cheaply a few years back. Then, they woke up. Now, they are pretty pricey.

BillJones

At one time long ago (the 1960s) I've heard that one was doing well if you could 10 cents for a common Civil War token. When I started collecting them in the mid 1990s, specialist dealers were paying around $4.50 for them. Today the buy prices are around $11.00 for pieces in choice VF or better. Many CWTs bring a great deal more than that.

For example when I started collecting and dealing in Civil War tokens in the mid '90s the most common, least expensive Lincoln variety, Fuld 127/248, could be purchased for $8 ot $9 in EF or so. Today the same token sells for $75 to $85 depending upon the quality of the strike. Many pieces show some weakness on the reverse. These pieces sell for a little less. Better Lincoln tokens used to cost $200 to $300. Today those pieces sell for over $1,000.

goose3

Bill,
I think the CWT market and such is seeing a lot more action the past year or so too probably due to the huge increases in coin prices. I know I have gotten a bit off tangent with my key dates with my Monitor collection because I am not as ready to fork out the big bucks for some of the Key date coins I want that have skyrocketed in price.

I have found the CWT's to be VERY interesting and many of them are very affordable in comparison to Key date coins.


sorry to semi-hijack your thread LIberator.

BillJones

That's OK Goose, your point is a good one.

By the same token, if you will excuse the pun, I remeber the days were I could buy a a nice, interesting "Wealth of the South" presidential candidate token for $300 to $400. Now the really nice ones cost a grand or more.

northcoin

I would venture to guess that Indian Head pennies could wake up any day now.

oreville

A good example of a sleep that suddenly woke up has been the perennially overpriced 1950-D nickels in single pieces or in BU rolls. For upteen years since the 1960's, the 1950-D nickel went nowhere or slightly down in price............then all of a sudden in the past year the price more than doubled.

I understand this is due to a marketer taking a position in them as he needed them to sell complete sets. But still, a very recent example of a faded famous coin that had seen better days that suddenly came back to life.

Elcontador

Here are some examples of type in the last few years that has more than doubled in a short period of time:

Bust $s in AU
IHCs in MS 65 RD
Liberty Nickels in MS 66

OTOH, here are others which have actually lost value in this time:

Seated Dimes & Quarters (w Motto) in MS 65
Barber Dimes & quarters in MS 65
83 No Cents Liberty Nickels in MS 66

pontiacinf

Hey Orville

Dont you think you should be outside shovling?

I like that gate plate

jdimmick

I like Shield Nickels and belive they are in an early stage of awakening. For years thier have been very few collectors of this series. Most folks would choose one for a type set, or occasionally pick up an example or two here and there. However, thier has been a small surgence of folks beginning to collect this series by date, and they are running into a few stoppers. At the FUN show, I was behind the table and we had several folks looking for better date Shield nickels in Problem free higher circulated grades, some stating that they just can't find them nice. A few folks do not like them ,but I do and IMO, they are truly underrated and undervalued. Thier are a few dates that are actually quite common to find nice like the some in the 60's and the 82, and 83, and then the proofs, which most are available as well. These are these dates that have always been purchased for type sets, etc. Those dates being plentiful to fullfill the type set buyers, many did not realize how difficult this set is to complete. Now, as more people begin to put sets together, they are finding several of those dates in the 70's and the 80, and 81 are extremely difficult to find nice. In fact, they are so few avaible in choice circulated problem free condition as well as MinState, that an significant increse in the number of collectors will more than dry up the availble supply. To further support this, thier are always groups of coins that come in across the counter from collectors at the local shops, shows, etc. Lots of times you see the typical stuff like Buff's, merc's, SLQ's and Seated material, Barber coins, and even an occasional Bust coin or two, but rarely do you see Shield nickles, and if so they are usually black, damaged, or corroded.

It will be intresting to see if more collectors continue to pursue the Shield nickel series by date in the future, if so then they really will awaken with a vengeance!!

jim

DHeath

Jim, that's a good observation, and the oddest circ design ever (except maybe the 3c Silver). When I first read the post, I was thinking of the semi-keys within certain series, like the 28-S Peace that for years was the poor cousin of the P. Lots of UNC's, but very few gems. I guess the TPG's get partial credit for exposing that pop. Seems like there are a good many coins that are plentiful in 64 that are VERY difficult in 5. The 25-S is another good example.

bushmaster8

Here is a perfect example:

20 yrs ago. 1914-s Barber 25¢'s in G condition were $10 coins. I saw in a newsletter where David Hall said "this is a very

scarce coin in any grade." I began buying all I could find. Then one day, practically overnite, they woke and shot up to $60-

$75! ( PS- That is the ONLY investment recommendation of David Hall's that ever panned out for me. Most of his

newsletter recommendations turned out to be ridiculous hype!)

BillJones

<< <i>I would venture to guess that Indian Head pennies could wake up any day now. >>



I was under the impression that Indian cents were fairly lively. I've had a couple in inventory that have not sold, that have been going up on the Gray Sheet. They are now close to double what I paid for them.

Indian cents went dead in the late 60's and early 70's and stayed that way for more than a decade. I know because I owned a circulated set that I had put together as a teenager. I lost my shirt on them when I sold them circa 1973. They came alive again circa 1980 and have decently well since then. The keys have like the 1877 and 1909-S have done very well in recent years. In fact I'd say that the 1877 reached the point where it is overpriced relativel to the other tough dates in the set.

OnlyBuffalos

For many years, the half cents have taken a back seat to the large cents. Recently there have been signs that there is now greater interest in the half cents. The half cent has been primarily in demand as a type coin and few collected them by date. With the relatively high prices for large cents, some have now turned to collecting half cents as a less costly alternative.

In circulated grades, the business strikes from 1825 through 1857 are generally available although coins sharply struck and with unimpared surfaces and good color are not. Earlier dates are challenging to find with the above attributes and except for the common varieties of 1804, 1806 and 1809 are not often offered. Many early half cents are unattractive to some collectors and quite a few have been recolored, some deceptively so. Unlike some early silver coins, the early half cents circulated freely in commerce and most reflect that, making probem-free coins scarce. Since they are made of copper, spotting is quite common. Finding "choice" half cents is becoming a fool's errand for many early dates.

Attractive uncirculated half cents are very scarce and true full reds are genuine rarities. Full reds do not exist for many dates.

Eye appealing choice half cents are currently in most cases selling for multiples of ask, a situation that generally did not exist five years ago.

ScarsdaleCoin

colonials and patterns have woken up in the past few years.......my thoughts.....

originalisbest

I agree with Bill; Indian cents seem to be doing OK (and that's just fine with me, as I've only got one more semi-key to go for my XF-AU set.)

Stuart

PL/DMPL and Carson City Morgan Dollars were much more affordable several years ago before they lit up in price and popularity.

"Common Date" PL/DMPL 1878-CC, 1882-CC, 1883-CC & 1884-CC Morgan Dollars used to trade for 10-25% above CDN Greysheet values as recently as only a few years ago...

michael

proof classic head and braided hair half cents in bn and rb are the greatest of sleeper coins

LincolnCentMan

The 31-D Lincoln is a sleeper that seems to sleep forever.

David

cladking

Morgan dollars were virtually orphans before the early '60's and the treasury releases.
There was a small very dedicated group of collectors but even scarce coins sold for low
prices due to the relatively low demand.

There are many dozens of modern world and US coin series which have wakened in the
last decade.

Prethen

Three-cent Nickels aren't just asleep they're comatose! That's a series that most people love to ignore.

morgannut2

Now all the trends are towards extreems--ANY extreems. The earliest dates (1792/3/4/6), the rarest of the rare (proof gold), the pop 1's any date, and lastly biggest. By biggest I mean Silver Dollars and Halfs have recieved much more renewed interest than "small" coins like nickels and half-dimes. I think the next trend--total guess--will be to most affordable Original circulated coins. Perhaps not, but there does seem to be a backlash starting against all the exteem best registry stuff, and all the huff and puff ego's going with it. I'd expect tougher original coins to be bid up in EF/AU.

Conder101

<< <i>Morgan dollars were virtually orphans before the early '60's and the treasury releases.
There was a small very dedicated group of collectors but even scarce coins sold for low
prices due to the relatively low demand. >>


I'll second that one. I even have a coin book from 1965 that advises that if you have Morgan or Peace dollars to just go ahead and spend them because they aren't worth any premium except for just a couple of dates.

morgannut2

The idea of spending you common uncirculated Morgans is sort of funny. Let's see any $1.00 from the bank in 1961 in MS-64 became $40 in 40 years. So, 30-40 Times your money in 40 years? Interesting advice, Hmmm.