Value of Memorial Lincoln Set
Mowgli
Posts: 1,219 ✭
Looking at the PCGS price guide a set of Memorials lists for $956 in MS 64 Red and $1299 in MS 65 red yet the grey sheet shows these bid at $125 in BU. I have never looked for these to buy but does anyone understand the huge spread? Some of the Memorial BU roles go for a dollar in the grey sheet but the PCGS guide shows the cheapest MS 65 at $9 a coin - a long way from 2-cents. Am I missing something?
Thanks
Thanks
In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
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Comments
PCGS price guide too high?
The PCGS label adds some value?
Just sold some wheaties in PCGS 66 RD, a few went for pretty cheap. I'm thinking all of the above reasons have something to do with the price diff you notice.
``https://ebay.us/m/KxolR5
<< <i>Coins in BU rolls don't all grade 65 Red?
PCGS price guide too high?
The PCGS label adds some value?
Just sold some wheaties in PCGS 66 RD, a few went for pretty cheap. I'm thinking all of the above reasons have something to do with the price diff you notice. >>
Edited to add that I don't think the PCGS priceguide is necessarily too
high on any of these coins but people should remember that the cost
of submission is a factor and the coin itself can be more common than
this value would indicate. As a rule any coin in the guide that lists for
the cost of submission could be fairly common though isn't necessarily.
There are several factors at work here but gems of the Lincolns are
not necessarily common. All the rolls are common but many people would
be surprised at how uncommon some can be. The low price is indicative
of low demand and the poor quality is why the supply can be thin. Some
of these dates typically come spotted. You might look at several rolls
befiore finding clean coins. And then there's still the problem with poor
strikes, worn dies, and lots of marking.
None of the Memorials is scarce in MS-65 except in comparison to a
lot of the older coins. Try finding a nice gem '84-D with nice surfaces!!
Even the graded coins of this date usually have unattractive surfaces
and gems are fairly tough More than half the mint set coins are tar-
nished and about 98% have poor surfaces. A few of the remainder
are true gems. Roll coins are difficult to find because only about one
million were set aside and most of these have tarnished. They often
have plating problems and usually poor surfaces, uneven strikes, and
scratches.
These don't list for a lot because the demand for gems is weak. Most
collectors have an MS-60 in their set and don't care.
Some of these are quite common even in MS-66. I'd wager there are
close to million '88-D's in MS-66. They just come nice in rolls and even
nicer in the mint set. There are lots of rolls because quality was good.
WS
At least from an investment veiwpoint, you cant go too wrong at 1 cent each.
But just about forget submitting raw coins to pcgs for slabbing. Unless you are lucky, or a great grader, your top grade is going to be MS64. And that will look about like a perfect coin. Yet, in the eyes of the graders, there are six levels of 'better yet' still out there. uh huh.
It was a personal gripe at seeing 1/3 of collector's budgets going to TPGs, instead of coins and knowledge.
High grade was a MS67RD only one most of the rest were MS64RD's. So for an invest ment of about $300.00 I was able to fill ten of the holes.
Found that you run better luck in the mint set coins but the costs still run up and up. Also found that in many cases I could buy already graded coins cheaper than I could make then in the end.
And no you don't get it back when you sell unless you go all out for the TOP POP coins and even then it is likely you will not recoup all of your costs.
My set:Memorials Just for info I have almost all of this set imaged grades from MS64RD to MS69RD or SP69RD for the satin finish coins and they show at about 600x600 with the registry image viewer.
<< <i>Thanks everyone for your replies. I had decided to get rid of my Lincolns and was curious as to the disparity between what I thought the Memorials were worth - which was not much - and the PCGS price guide. If I had known someone who collected them locally I might might have given them away. From your replies I learned that some Memorials are hard to find in Gem which makes me want to look through them closer since they are all red and spot free (although I'm sure I cannot tell the difference between a 64 and a 66). Nevertheless, their value (mine are raw) is along the lines of what I expected despite the price guide. I'm starting to appreciate the challenge modern collectors face when building nice sets. >>
It's really not difficult to tell these grades apart. Even a single grade level
has a very wide and obvious spread. Moderns and especially cents are
easier to grade than older coins because there are almost no problems
with surface alterations or very light wear. If they look unc then they are.
Mostly it's just a matter of experience. You need to know what these look
like in high grade and then you'll spot them. The tough part is just like
with the old coins; they vary by date. An MS-67 '72-D doesn't look like
an MS-67 1968. Some dates just don't come so nice and these get graded
on a little different scale.
It's true that most "nice looking" memorials will grade MS-64 but if you ac-
tually can find some of the higher grades you'll see there's a huge spread
in quality. You'll have to look at 100 1979 mint sets just to find a nice gem
1979-D cent. Find a few of these gems and one will be a choice gem. You
can't expect the first nice '79-D you find in a dealers album to be an MS-67.
You can't expect a really gemmy and nice '72-D to turn heads when more
than 15% of mint set coins are just as nice or nicer. The people willing to
pay premiums for high grade Lincolns know what the coins are supposed
to look like.
If you've put together a nice set of Lincolns from original sources then there's
little doubt that there are better coins in the set. But to find a coin with a
real premium you might have to look through 1000's of coins. This means
thousands of sets or tens of thousands of rolls probably (depends on date).
If only searched rolls and sets were checked they don't count at all.
You want to check for coins that are very clean and have sharp strikes. Of
these you'll need some idea of how common they are in nice condition. It's
probably going to be the nicest coins with a shot of a big premium but some
of those that aren't top but a tough date might be a winner too.
About the scarcest memorial in unc has a couple million in existence so low
grade coins aren't likely to get much value soon. Don't forget the '50-D
nickel got up to $150 in today's money and it was more common than this
though. Most of the memorials have very few survivors in gem. Few coins
were made this nice and 99.99% of them went into circulation. Finding
them before they got into circulation was like looking for a needle in a hay
stack and few were looking though many were setting coins aside anyway.
There are a lot of very proofy high grade memorials if anyone cares to look.
Quite a few coins look just about like branch mint proofs and some prob-
ably are. Truly fantastic sets of these can be assembled and even gems
aren't necessarily easy.