Seated half Dime Survey in the Gobrecht Journal

Trime

I just read the summary of the 2005 Survey provided I believe by Stephen Crain.This list is vey representative of the relative frequency by date.
I was sorry that I had not shared my list of holdings as my collection of Gem MS and Proof half dimes would increase the survey totals in many years by 10-100%. Next time I will try to share on time.

seateddime

I saw that, very interesting.

Looking foward to the dime preview at ANA

Trime

The same issue of the Gobrecht Journal had an article about the bide prices, the sale prices and then the consignment and price attained of collector of half dimes Glenn Hoidale over a 25 year perion from 1963 to 1988. The notebooks shows the detailed records that few collectors share. Apparently Mr Hoidale was very picky buyer of Gem coins. How many of you remember him?

MrHalfDime

Trime:

The article you referenced in the latest issue (#96) of the Gobrecht Journal regarding the half dime census was written by John McCloskey, the Editor. He wrote this summary based upon the half dime census survey that I compiled and published in issue #95 of the Journal. John presented an excellent perspective on the availability, by grade, of the various dates by merely presenting the tabulated data in a slightly different format.

Regarding the Hoidale notebooks, although I did not know Glenn Hoidale personally, I was intrigued by the enormity of his data, and had intended to bid on the notebooks in the Kolbe auction. Len Augsburger and I agreed to combine our bids to increase our likelihood of success, but we did not anticipate the high bidder's degree of interest. Fortunately, the high bidder agreed to share the information with us so that we were able to pass it along to interested half dime collectors through the Gobrecht Journal article. Hoidale compiled data also on the early (Flowing Hair, Draped Bust and Capped Bust) half dimes as well, although he apparently did not collect them. He collected only the Liberty Seated half dimes, and never completed the date/mint set, opting only for high mint state grade pieces that were well struck. His data provides us with an accurate guide for prices for the series from 1950 to 1988.

Cladiator

What type of data was he recording?

MrHalfDime

He recorded auction prices realized, as well as selling prices for coins sold by private treaty. He recorded prices only for mint state half dimes which sold between 1950 and 1988, the years that he collected them before he died. He also noted which specific coins he bid on himself, and his success rate on those auction sales. It is interesting to see how he modified his bids (typically upward) over time to reflect general price changes and his own degree of interest in specific dates. He never owned an 1846 half dime, although he bid on several, apparently not willing to pay what others thought they were worth. It is particularly interesting to read this data today, and compare it to what these coins bring in 2006 dollars.