Washie people.....Motto vs Motto vs Motto

NotSure

Simple enough question. Why is there such a price discrepancy between the '34 Light Motto, Medium Motto, and the Heavy Motto Washie, given their populations? Pops for the Light Motto are more than 3 times that of the Heavy Motto, yet the Light Motto is more expensive by leaps and bounds. On the same track, the Medium Motto has a pop of over 10 times the Heavy Motto, and the prices are extremely comparable. How can the Heavy Motto be so far behind the Light Motto, price-wise, how can the prices on the Medium Motto be so close to the Heavy Motto (given the enormous population difference)??? The Heavy Motto, according to pops, not only seems to be (but in reality, is) the scarcer of the 3 varieties by a long shot, yet it lags behind one, and is eerily similar to the other, in pricing. Comments, pearls of wisdom, reasoning? Thanks!

rld14

I wouldn't look at pops on any coin to extrapolate actual rarity. I can't get to the pop reports at work (I can access the forums but pcgs.com is blocked.. ) but if you have access, look at, say, F12 and F15 04-S Barber Halves versus the same coin in a P mint., heck, the 92-S and 92-O Barber Halves blow the 92-P out of the water in VF population, yet the 92-P is worth a fraction of the O and S. Or look at VF/XF SLQs... I bet there's a LOT more 27-Ss in plastic in those grades than 28-Ss.

Pricing = Supply vs Demand.

wondercoin

Very simple answer. The heavy motto was not even considered "major" enough to even get designated until just a few years ago. You have nearly a decade and a half of grading at PCGS where heavy motto coins are simply graded as "medium motto" coins (i.e. under the medium motto coin number). Just like Manofcoin's 34-D MS67 that he changed this week (making the heavy a pop 1 but dropping the medium from 4 to 3).

My 2 cents- there are a "ton" of heavy motto coins currently graded under the medium motto coin number. As each one gets changed, the heavy motto pop goes up by one coin and the medium motto pop goes down by one coin. The "gap" you refer to will, therefore, shrink substantially if and when coins are redesignated correctly by the collectors.

Hope this helps.
Wondercoin

sinin1

the population does not equal random submission (therefore implying relative rarities)

as most people consider value when submitting


that is why there are nearly twice as many 1932-S washies than 1932's


if you could have 100 of either, which would you prefer



if values for something in slab go up, more will be submitted

tahoe98

<< <i>I wouldn't look at pops on any coin to extrapolate actual rarity. I can't get to the pop reports at work (I can access the forums but pcgs.com is blocked.. ) but if you have access, look at, say, F12 and F15 04-S Barber Halves versus the same coin in a P mint., heck, the 92-S and 92-O Barber Halves blow the 92-P out of the water in VF population, yet the 92-P is worth a fraction of the O and S. Or look at VF/XF SLQs... I bet there's a LOT more 27-Ss in plastic in those grades than 28-Ss.

Pricing = Supply vs Demand. >>




....any chance your boss hovers on the forums?

ProofArtworkonCircs

I can remember when little attention was paid to these motto varieties.
I wonder if some day attention will be paid to the two types of EPU (low flat letters versus higher relief thin letters) on the 1965-1967 quarters. THe flatter version is on 5% of the 1965's, less than .1% of the 1967's. I think I had a 1966 once, spent it and never found another one, even after much seraching.

RWB

The following suggests the light motto was a minority of the year’s production, if going strictly by months. Also, the light motto is "different" and things that are "different" in coin collecting tend to have higher prices regardless of scarcity.


April 2, 1934
Engraver Sinnock to Director Ross
Regarding 1934 Washington quarter

“…I am proceeding as rapidly as possible with a new obverse die [i.e.: master die] for this piece.”


[NARA RG 104 entry 328H, box3, file 1]