I really like the design and the Dollars are quite steep for my slush account. I have sold off many other Seated Type coinage, but I can't seem to let go of the Half Dollars.
I have 53 around here somewhere
oih82w8 = Oh I Hate To Wait _defectus patientia_aka...Dr. Defecto - Curator of RMO's
I'd like to think it's the coin itself. It's large, easy to view, covers a broad period of early American history, and even though a bit dead for a while there are enough of them out there for the new wave of collectors to take an interest in. Personally, I like that time period in American history, and that drew my attention (1839-1891). I will admit, I started off heavily in the State Quarters Progam for reference.
and by reference to the State Quarters program, I mean that once I got in the hobby I looked for something beyond modern quarters and found that something in Seated Half Dollars.
What has happened from 30,000 feet to the prices for Liberty Halves since the OP started this thread 16 years ago ?
The reason I ask is that I was reading some old pieces I had and came across this a few week ago with regard to Liberty Half prices after the Coin Bubble of 1989 and the drop a few years later. I'd like to know where comparable coins were/are both in 2007 when the OP began this thread and today. Figure we have some Liberty Half experts here who can chime in.
The article quote is from 1993 so it is 4 years after the Bubble peak....and while no date was given, I presume it was for a common generic No-Motto:
"...In May 1989, the Bluesheet value for a No-Motto Liberty Seated Half Dollar graded MS-66 by the Professional
Coin Grading Service (PCGS) was a whopping $39,000. Today, that coin is listed for only about one-third that amount."
So $39K down to about $13K 4 years later. But that didn't appear to be a bottom or any kind of buying opportunity as the coin appears to be lower-priced today than 1993 even with that decline. I checked the Heritage Archvies so with no date given, I had to improvise...but it seems that most No Mottos seem to be about $5,500 which would be another 60-70% decline from the 1993 level. Maybe $10,000 if you have special features or CAC, from what I glanced.
Any experts who follow this series...feel free to chime in.
Good thread resurrection! The supply of decent, eye-appealing seated halves has definitely dried up since I started acquiring them back in 2006-7. One example is the XF-40 1865 Philly (with a green CAC) I paid "stupid" money back a decade ago. It doesn't look too stupid now, and I have yet to find another 1865 half I liked to add to my collection.
My set is currently #9 which is cool with me. Over the last year, I was very fortunate to acquire eye appealing examples of the 1855-S and 1857-S halves within a month of each other. Even the more common dates like the 1840 and 1842 are much harder to find in eye appealing condition than they were a decade ago. I'm thinking some of the younger cowd is picking up on this and are helping drive up prices. It's actually nice to see this series wake up!
I need 11 coins for my 19th Century Type Set, 6 of them are Seated Liberty coins, 1 dime, 3 quarters, and 2 halfs.
You don't have to tell me how hard it is to find nice coins.
@Catbert said:
Why do you think this series is waking (has woken) up?
Could it be the reversal in overall U.S. Small Denomination coins, as evidenced by the bottoming out in the PCGS 3,000 Index in 2020 ?
I think it fell 75% from bubble peak to trough, a decline that usually indicates a bottom in any asset class.
Not a comparable analogy. Coins aren't tradeable commodities or financial instruments. There is no such thing as "support" or resistance" in coin prices and coins aren't priced based upon the "fundamentals" either.
I'm a member but I collect quarters. I started in 2007 so I missed the pre-2007 run up. I can tell you many dates have finally been recognized for their scarcity. Inflationary pressures of the last few years have really sent some values into orbit. Contrary, one problem is, like others said previously, not many collect the entire series. Too expensive, too many, too many commons. Another problem is they are thinly traded so even rare dates/mm's can be undervalued do to this.
p45 cac
It is not that life is short, but that you are dead for so very long.
Catbert, thanks for the question, it was fun to ponder. I can only offer a limited view. My budget dictates my collection so I can really only speak about the 200 to 400 dollar range for Seated coins.
I will say that two years ago I put together a list of 7 seated Halves I felt were must buys. Sadly, I have not landed a single one.
A. Some of these dates only come on the market once or twice a year.
B. Perhaps I have been too picky, but I find it hard to part with money unless I find the coin truly attractive.
C. I collected most of my Seated Halves prior to 2010, and it would seem all of the coins I seek have moved into the 400-600 range now. (I am not saying they are over priced, just that the price moved).
On the other hand I have been able to win over a dozen Seated Quarter And Dimes. I am building both a date set using all denominations (1837-1891) and a set of all mints, all decades for both Quarters and Dimes.
In my opinion there have been zero coins worth bidding on since the last week of April. Until last night anyway. Heritage had some nice collector grade coins and I made a list of 8 coins I liked. Early bidding ran strong so I upped my estimates by 20%.
My first 6 bids all failed. I did land an 1862-s Seated Quarter in G-6 for my original estimate.
I don't know if this feed back is useful to anyone, but I do wish anyone pursuing Seated coins the best of luck. My instincts tell me todays prices might seem reasonable or cheap 10 years from now. James
I started the SLH collection over 15 years ago, buying all coins raw. Really liked the series but after a few years eventually knew I could never finish. I collected 64 of the dates/mints but filling that last page in my Dansco and some other key dates would not happen. I eventually sold to a member here. Wish I still had the series. Finances are much better today with college done.
@WCC said:
Not a comparable analogy. Coins aren't tradeable commodities or financial instruments. There is no such thing as >"support" or resistance" in coin prices and coins aren't priced based upon the "fundamentals" either.
True, but if you have declines of 75% already...you're closer to some ultimate bottom than if you had just fallen 15% in price.
75% is a tough number to decline past as it is usually reserved for "junk" or new stuff that gets swept into a bubble, not coins that have been collected for decades even if they got grossly overvalued.
This thread was well worth resurrecting. I'd say Seated 50c are at an all-time high in terms of popularity.
Here's a quick example of how well the undervalued dates have performed. I bought two 1864-S halves in XF from Brian Greer right around 2007 when this thread was started. I paid $95 and $105 for them, if I recall correctly. Both eventually graded XF40 at PCGS and currently show $650 apiece in the PCGS price guide.
Sure, common dates haven't appreciated so much - but nobody was forcing me to buy them back in 2007 either.
Love this thread showing some life, like the seated halves! This is one of my prize pieces in the series, an 1865 Philly graded XF-40 and with a green bean. I bought it from David Kahn in early 2014 and did "overpay" for it. As time has gone on, I have yet to see a decent circulated piece out there and the "overpay" turned out to be a really good thing. I'm convinced that there aren't many examples left of this date in any condition. But finding something like this sure makes the hobby fun!
1865-P has always been tough to find "nice." I bought a VF from Brian years ago, and it's still all that I have for this date. I would have grabbed that one in a heartbeat if I saw it first. At today's prices, maybe I would, or maybe not.
A great way to resurrect an old thread. Thanks, Catbert.
My interest in the series is based on my collection focus on half dollars, the beautiful graceful historical design, and the history involved with century plus (going on two for the first issues!) aged coins.
My first collection purchases were in April 2012. Collecting this series requires patience. And caution – I elected to limit my search to CAC examples for ‘protection’. This brings up one of the reasons for price increases: the true rarity. The upgraded CAC population charts (much improved), sorted by totals (the totals sort is alphanumeric) will show you true rarity. Less than 10 half dollar issues with CAC population over 100. Several issues have single digit CAC populations.
Rarity brings up opportunity costs and will push prices higher. e. g. If a 73-S with CAC comes up for auction….buckle your safety belt. I had to, it was a bumpy ride.
There are not many collectors of this series. It seems that several collectors have begun their efforts recently. In this small market, these collectors have an impact on trading prices, if they stay prices should stay firm at the higher levels.
The market in this series is more mature in that you do not see regular certified (and CAC) population increases. The Seated Liberty market does not have the newly ‘made’ incoming stock to help ameliorate prices.
I don’t know the market – and it can get crazy. I confess that I contribute to the craziness – if a nice half dollar comes to market, I am willing to pony up.
I had a low grade 1864-P I sold recently in low grade, civil war dates are tough. Also had a nice type Liberty half in AU58 years ago that was hard to sell. Most all of the classic larger coins especially have their day....
@JBN said:
A great way to resurrect an old thread. Thanks, Catbert.
My interest in the series is based on my collection focus on half dollars, the beautiful graceful historical design, and the history involved with century plus (going on two for the first issues!) aged coins.
My first collection purchases were in April 2012. Collecting this series requires patience. And caution – I elected to limit my search to CAC examples for ‘protection’. This brings up one of the reasons for price increases: the true rarity. The upgraded CAC population charts (much improved), sorted by totals (the totals sort is alphanumeric) will show you true rarity. Less than 10 half dollar issues with CAC population over 100. Several issues have single digit CAC populations.
Rarity brings up opportunity costs and will push prices higher. e. g. If a 73-S with CAC comes up for auction….buckle your safety belt. I had to, it was a bumpy ride.
There are not many collectors of this series. It seems that several collectors have begun their efforts recently. In this small market, these collectors have an impact on trading prices, if they stay prices should stay firm at the higher levels.
The market in this series is more mature in that you do not see regular certified (and CAC) population increases. The Seated Liberty market does not have the newly ‘made’ incoming stock to help ameliorate prices.
I don’t know the market – and it can get crazy. I confess that I contribute to the craziness – if a nice half dollar comes to market, I am willing to pony up.
Yeah, I've learned to avoid auctions for AU58 CAC coins. What a ride, and I forgot to wear my helmet. Wallet suffered a major concussion.
I just submitted another dozen raw SLH for grading. Doing my part to keep SLH prices low (sorta), except at live auctions.
I see the biggest issue being that most collectors see these as type coins. Good design- interesting history but a complete set is a tall order. While I like the Seated Dollars more and look for them - rarely buying any- I have zero expectation of getting even close to a full set and I am okay with that. I am making that observation mainly because I am likely in the minority as most collectors like to see an end/finality in site.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
The only comment I will make, is that I tend to look at long series coins as a group of varieties and options rather than a set agenda. By this I mean I have never had any intention of building a complete set of any Seated Coins. I built a date set of Halves, and within that set, I featured only New Orleans coins for the first segment. I prefer to choose the must need coins myself rather than have the key dates dictated to me. Personally, I think there are a much greater number of collectors who follow my pattern. In other words, I'm not that special, but my collections are. James
All or most of the Civil War issues "P" and "S" have gone up in PCGS prices, in the past 2 years. It is a limited group, but they have a great following. I believe they will continue to go up.
I need to photograph most of my Seated halves. Looks like I have 61 of them in PCGS holders plus a handful of raw and NGC coins. I have been ignoring them for many years. Coin photography is a winter project for me, though. In the mean time, here is a 1844-P PCGS AU58 CAC that had a halfway decent photo taken at some point.
@LJenkins11 said:
and by reference to the State Quarters program, I mean that once I got in the hobby I looked for something beyond modern quarters and found that something in Seated Half Dollars.
That's quite a transition.
I collected the 20th century stuff first back in the early 60's with my older brother, then slowly started going backward in time and acquiring type coins here and there (oddly no seated halves). Upon discovering eBay, I decided to collect Barber halves until I became frustrated with all of the cleaned material and started working on SLHs. I was delighted with my first SLH purchase (scan shown below) - a raw, darkly toned, original 1853 WA in VF35 with a small planchet defect (streak across face and breast). I kept finding more and more of these original, darkly toned SLHs on eBay, so I stayed with them. I'm glad I did!
Lots has changed since 2007 to say the least in the world of numismatics. My quick take from a different perspective than 2007. I was dealing coins then but the main job was still the Navy. I was definitely still collecting too. Now, I barely collect anything and am dealing full time.
From a dealer's perspective, looking through this thread from way back, I can say that ANY of the coins posted in this thread could be purchased for strong relative money and then sold quickly into the market. It wasn't like that in 2007. Liquidity is often an overlooked aspect of market strength. Broadness of the market has definitely increased. I have a fair number of collectors on speed dial that will pick up and make nice seated halves disappear without a second thought.
I would say that price for a solid common original XF half dollar has gone up nicely. Prices for original sleepers and some keys have gone up a ton. Prices for high grade commons, even with CAC stickers, have languished and been fairly disappointing, although I am sure that some APRs would prove me wrong. Gene Gardner auction prices and his build up were definitely the most recent market high, and those coins in large part have taken huge beatings down from "Gene levels"
I am still a strong believer however and still own my avatar coin that I bought way back in 2006. Why? Because I think it is worth more than the market would currently bear.
Good to talk to everyone.
Send me a message if you want to sign up for the Commander's List. Big hit and a growing following. Hard to believe I was a Lieutenant back in 2007. Now a retired old dude.....
John Marburger
Commander, USN (ret)
Silicon Valley Coins
The worst part of collected SLH is there are so many coins in the set, including a stopper.
The best part of collecting SLH is that there are so many coins in the set, including a challenging stopper.
It definitely helps to have other, easier sets to play with while working on trying to complete a set of SLH.
Here's a circulated 1882. I haven't seen a circulated 1882 in quite a while, and uncirculated or proof coins won't cut it for my Poorman's set. They're too shiny and inexperienced.
It took me a long time to put together a near complete set of XF seated half dollars, glad they went up as I still have this set in a bank SDB. I have given up on the 1878-S. One day I will post them here. I finished this set (no 1878-S) at the fun show in Jan. of 2001 purchasing the 1851-P. All raw coins in an album save for the 1855-S which is slabbed at XF-45.
@rec78 said: It took me a long time to put together a near complete set of XF seated half dollars, glad they went up as I still have this set in a bank SDB. I have given up on the 1878-S. One day I will post them here. I finished this set (no 1878-S) at the fun show in Jan. of 2001 purchasing the 1851-P. All raw coins in an album save for the 1855-S which is slabbed at XF-45.
Would love to see this set!
Seated Half Society member #38 "Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Comments
Based on prices realized in the last few years I'd say Seated Halves are doing well, especially with stickers.
Why do you think this series is waking (has woken) up?
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
I love seated halves, perfect representation of the Seated Liberty design.
Type collector, mainly into Seated. -formerly Ownerofawheatiehorde. Good BST transactions with: mirabela, OKCC, MICHAELDIXON, Gerard
I really like the design and the Dollars are quite steep for my slush account. I have sold off many other Seated Type coinage, but I can't seem to let go of the Half Dollars.
I have 53 around here somewhere
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
I'd like to think it's the coin itself. It's large, easy to view, covers a broad period of early American history, and even though a bit dead for a while there are enough of them out there for the new wave of collectors to take an interest in. Personally, I like that time period in American history, and that drew my attention (1839-1891). I will admit, I started off heavily in the State Quarters Progam for reference.
and by reference to the State Quarters program, I mean that once I got in the hobby I looked for something beyond modern quarters and found that something in Seated Half Dollars.
Could it be the reversal in overall U.S. Small Denomination coins, as evidenced by the bottoming out in the PCGS 3,000 Index in 2020 ?
I think it fell 75% from bubble peak to trough, a decline that usually indicates a bottom in any asset class.
What has happened from 30,000 feet to the prices for Liberty Halves since the OP started this thread 16 years ago ?
The reason I ask is that I was reading some old pieces I had and came across this a few week ago with regard to Liberty Half prices after the Coin Bubble of 1989 and the drop a few years later. I'd like to know where comparable coins were/are both in 2007 when the OP began this thread and today. Figure we have some Liberty Half experts here who can chime in.
The article quote is from 1993 so it is 4 years after the Bubble peak....and while no date was given, I presume it was for a common generic No-Motto:
"...In May 1989, the Bluesheet value for a No-Motto Liberty Seated Half Dollar graded MS-66 by the Professional
Coin Grading Service (PCGS) was a whopping $39,000. Today, that coin is listed for only about one-third that amount."
So $39K down to about $13K 4 years later. But that didn't appear to be a bottom or any kind of buying opportunity as the coin appears to be lower-priced today than 1993 even with that decline. I checked the Heritage Archvies so with no date given, I had to improvise...but it seems that most No Mottos seem to be about $5,500 which would be another 60-70% decline from the 1993 level. Maybe $10,000 if you have special features or CAC, from what I glanced.
Any experts who follow this series...feel free to chime in.
Good thread resurrection! The supply of decent, eye-appealing seated halves has definitely dried up since I started acquiring them back in 2006-7. One example is the XF-40 1865 Philly (with a green CAC) I paid "stupid" money back a decade ago. It doesn't look too stupid now, and I have yet to find another 1865 half I liked to add to my collection.
My set is currently #9 which is cool with me. Over the last year, I was very fortunate to acquire eye appealing examples of the 1855-S and 1857-S halves within a month of each other. Even the more common dates like the 1840 and 1842 are much harder to find in eye appealing condition than they were a decade ago. I'm thinking some of the younger cowd is picking up on this and are helping drive up prices. It's actually nice to see this series wake up!
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
Here’s my reply 🌞
Mr_Spud
I need 11 coins for my 19th Century Type Set, 6 of them are Seated Liberty coins, 1 dime, 3 quarters, and 2 halfs.
You don't have to tell me how hard it is to find nice coins.
Mike
My Indians
Danco Set
Not a comparable analogy. Coins aren't tradeable commodities or financial instruments. There is no such thing as "support" or resistance" in coin prices and coins aren't priced based upon the "fundamentals" either.
Seated Quarters have went up a lot in the last couple of years, particularly key dates.
I'm a member but I collect quarters. I started in 2007 so I missed the pre-2007 run up. I can tell you many dates have finally been recognized for their scarcity. Inflationary pressures of the last few years have really sent some values into orbit. Contrary, one problem is, like others said previously, not many collect the entire series. Too expensive, too many, too many commons. Another problem is they are thinly traded so even rare dates/mm's can be undervalued do to this.
p45 cac
Catbert, thanks for the question, it was fun to ponder. I can only offer a limited view. My budget dictates my collection so I can really only speak about the 200 to 400 dollar range for Seated coins.
I will say that two years ago I put together a list of 7 seated Halves I felt were must buys. Sadly, I have not landed a single one.
A. Some of these dates only come on the market once or twice a year.
B. Perhaps I have been too picky, but I find it hard to part with money unless I find the coin truly attractive.
C. I collected most of my Seated Halves prior to 2010, and it would seem all of the coins I seek have moved into the 400-600 range now. (I am not saying they are over priced, just that the price moved).
On the other hand I have been able to win over a dozen Seated Quarter And Dimes. I am building both a date set using all denominations (1837-1891) and a set of all mints, all decades for both Quarters and Dimes.
In my opinion there have been zero coins worth bidding on since the last week of April. Until last night anyway. Heritage had some nice collector grade coins and I made a list of 8 coins I liked. Early bidding ran strong so I upped my estimates by 20%.
My first 6 bids all failed. I did land an 1862-s Seated Quarter in G-6 for my original estimate.
I don't know if this feed back is useful to anyone, but I do wish anyone pursuing Seated coins the best of luck. My instincts tell me todays prices might seem reasonable or cheap 10 years from now. James
I started the SLH collection over 15 years ago, buying all coins raw. Really liked the series but after a few years eventually knew I could never finish. I collected 64 of the dates/mints but filling that last page in my Dansco and some other key dates would not happen. I eventually sold to a member here. Wish I still had the series. Finances are much better today with college done.
True, but if you have declines of 75% already...you're closer to some ultimate bottom than if you had just fallen 15% in price.
75% is a tough number to decline past as it is usually reserved for "junk" or new stuff that gets swept into a bubble, not coins that have been collected for decades even if they got grossly overvalued.
This thread was well worth resurrecting. I'd say Seated 50c are at an all-time high in terms of popularity.
Here's a quick example of how well the undervalued dates have performed. I bought two 1864-S halves in XF from Brian Greer right around 2007 when this thread was started. I paid $95 and $105 for them, if I recall correctly. Both eventually graded XF40 at PCGS and currently show $650 apiece in the PCGS price guide.
Sure, common dates haven't appreciated so much - but nobody was forcing me to buy them back in 2007 either.
Edited to add photo of one of the 1864-S halves.
Love this thread showing some life, like the seated halves! This is one of my prize pieces in the series, an 1865 Philly graded XF-40 and with a green bean. I bought it from David Kahn in early 2014 and did "overpay" for it. As time has gone on, I have yet to see a decent circulated piece out there and the "overpay" turned out to be a really good thing. I'm convinced that there aren't many examples left of this date in any condition. But finding something like this sure makes the hobby fun!
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
1865-P has always been tough to find "nice." I bought a VF from Brian years ago, and it's still all that I have for this date. I would have grabbed that one in a heartbeat if I saw it first. At today's prices, maybe I would, or maybe not.
The ones I have been watching have at least doubled in price over the last 10 years.
A great way to resurrect an old thread. Thanks, Catbert.
My interest in the series is based on my collection focus on half dollars, the beautiful graceful historical design, and the history involved with century plus (going on two for the first issues!) aged coins.
My first collection purchases were in April 2012. Collecting this series requires patience. And caution – I elected to limit my search to CAC examples for ‘protection’. This brings up one of the reasons for price increases: the true rarity. The upgraded CAC population charts (much improved), sorted by totals (the totals sort is alphanumeric) will show you true rarity. Less than 10 half dollar issues with CAC population over 100. Several issues have single digit CAC populations.
Rarity brings up opportunity costs and will push prices higher. e. g. If a 73-S with CAC comes up for auction….buckle your safety belt. I had to, it was a bumpy ride.
There are not many collectors of this series. It seems that several collectors have begun their efforts recently. In this small market, these collectors have an impact on trading prices, if they stay prices should stay firm at the higher levels.
The market in this series is more mature in that you do not see regular certified (and CAC) population increases. The Seated Liberty market does not have the newly ‘made’ incoming stock to help ameliorate prices.
I don’t know the market – and it can get crazy. I confess that I contribute to the craziness – if a nice half dollar comes to market, I am willing to pony up.
So what does a common No-Motto Seated Half sell for in MS-66 condition ?
I had a low grade 1864-P I sold recently in low grade, civil war dates are tough. Also had a nice type Liberty half in AU58 years ago that was hard to sell. Most all of the classic larger coins especially have their day....
Yeah, I've learned to avoid auctions for AU58 CAC coins. What a ride, and I forgot to wear my helmet. Wallet suffered a major concussion.
I just submitted another dozen raw SLH for grading. Doing my part to keep SLH prices low (sorta), except at live auctions.
I see the biggest issue being that most collectors see these as type coins. Good design- interesting history but a complete set is a tall order. While I like the Seated Dollars more and look for them - rarely buying any- I have zero expectation of getting even close to a full set and I am okay with that. I am making that observation mainly because I am likely in the minority as most collectors like to see an end/finality in site.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
The only comment I will make, is that I tend to look at long series coins as a group of varieties and options rather than a set agenda. By this I mean I have never had any intention of building a complete set of any Seated Coins. I built a date set of Halves, and within that set, I featured only New Orleans coins for the first segment. I prefer to choose the must need coins myself rather than have the key dates dictated to me. Personally, I think there are a much greater number of collectors who follow my pattern. In other words, I'm not that special, but my collections are. James
Dear Commander,
All or most of the Civil War issues "P" and "S" have gone up in PCGS prices, in the past 2 years. It is a limited group, but they have a great following. I believe they will continue to go up.
Ken
Regardless, I wish my Seated halves will all look like this... they can be similar IMHO!
My two cents... Both LSCC and BCCS are growing. That is my indication that more collectors are (or will be) going after the same specimens at auction.
A Barber Quartet is made up of Nickels, Dimes, Quarters, and Halves.
I need to photograph most of my Seated halves. Looks like I have 61 of them in PCGS holders plus a handful of raw and NGC coins. I have been ignoring them for many years. Coin photography is a winter project for me, though. In the mean time, here is a 1844-P PCGS AU58 CAC that had a halfway decent photo taken at some point.
I'll post another one that took me forever to find, the very low mintage 1850 from Philly. This coin is graded XF-45.
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
A beautiful series and I literally cannot get enough of them! Thanks for the thread resurrection, and the lovely examples posted above.
Because the next denomination up has gone nuts.
Details Seated Dollars are priced like actual key date straight grades used to be.
That's quite a transition.
I collected the 20th century stuff first back in the early 60's with my older brother, then slowly started going backward in time and acquiring type coins here and there (oddly no seated halves). Upon discovering eBay, I decided to collect Barber halves until I became frustrated with all of the cleaned material and started working on SLHs. I was delighted with my first SLH purchase (scan shown below) - a raw, darkly toned, original 1853 WA in VF35 with a small planchet defect (streak across face and breast). I kept finding more and more of these original, darkly toned SLHs on eBay, so I stayed with them. I'm glad I did!
Double post...so...who wants to look at seated Liberty halves having their day?
This seated half had his day.
Wow, where does the time go?
Great resurrection.
Lots has changed since 2007 to say the least in the world of numismatics. My quick take from a different perspective than 2007. I was dealing coins then but the main job was still the Navy. I was definitely still collecting too. Now, I barely collect anything and am dealing full time.
From a dealer's perspective, looking through this thread from way back, I can say that ANY of the coins posted in this thread could be purchased for strong relative money and then sold quickly into the market. It wasn't like that in 2007. Liquidity is often an overlooked aspect of market strength. Broadness of the market has definitely increased. I have a fair number of collectors on speed dial that will pick up and make nice seated halves disappear without a second thought.
I would say that price for a solid common original XF half dollar has gone up nicely. Prices for original sleepers and some keys have gone up a ton. Prices for high grade commons, even with CAC stickers, have languished and been fairly disappointing, although I am sure that some APRs would prove me wrong. Gene Gardner auction prices and his build up were definitely the most recent market high, and those coins in large part have taken huge beatings down from "Gene levels"
I am still a strong believer however and still own my avatar coin that I bought way back in 2006. Why? Because I think it is worth more than the market would currently bear.
Good to talk to everyone.
Send me a message if you want to sign up for the Commander's List. Big hit and a growing following. Hard to believe I was a Lieutenant back in 2007. Now a retired old dude.....
John Marburger
Commander, USN (ret)
Silicon Valley Coins
siliconvalleycoins.com
Like them buy when can buy right - good sellers for me from my table at shows.
I have a couple for Type but I wouldn't consider trying to collect the series.
Charles III Album
Charles III Portrait Set
Charles IV Album
Charles IV Portrait Set
Spanish Colonial Pillar Set
The worst part of collected SLH is there are so many coins in the set, including a stopper.
The best part of collecting SLH is that there are so many coins in the set, including a challenging stopper.
It definitely helps to have other, easier sets to play with while working on trying to complete a set of SLH.
Here's a circulated 1882. I haven't seen a circulated 1882 in quite a while, and uncirculated or proof coins won't cut it for my Poorman's set. They're too shiny and inexperienced.
I keep this one for type. I have another 1853 A&R for that type but can’t find a pic.
>
>
Those privileged newbies.
Type collector, mainly into Seated. -formerly Ownerofawheatiehorde. Good BST transactions with: mirabela, OKCC, MICHAELDIXON, Gerard
Would love to see this set!
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"