What Is The Most Overvalued U.S. Coin?

Typetone

What do you think is the most overvalued U.S. Coin? You can make up to two choices.

I nominate first the 1995-W American Silver Eagle in PR69DCAM. With over 400 graded, and a price of $2,500 or more, someone is going to take a bath.

My second choice is the 1933 Saint to be auctioned. At an estimated auction price of $5 million to $10 million or more this has got to be a trap. The coins is nicked up. Probably a 64 at best. The type is stone common. OK, so its the only "legal" piece of the date. Who cares? How dare it think about trading for more than the PR68 1804 Bust Dollar that went for $4.1 million. Note the dollar is a rare type, and the piece is beautiful.

Greg S.

keithdagen

I'll second the 1995-W Eagle. Weren't there 25,000 minted too?

How about the 1916-D Mercury dime? I don't think I have ever seen a day on E-Bay where at least a half dozen were available, yet it consistently goes for big bucks even in GD-04.

Keith

kieferscoins

<< <i>OK, so its the only "legal" piece of the date. Who cares? >>



It is a definate pop 1 coin for that person who wants to be the only one to have one. I think it has a neat history.

Cameron Kiefer

keithdagen

1933 piece isn't even a required coin for the Registry. What good is an optional piece?

Keith

supercoin

A $2500 coin is the most overvalued?? $2500 is about 0.06% of the price of that 1804 bust dollar. You want to say that dollar was fairly valued +/- 0.06%?

Bettin' odds are on the multimillion dollar coins.

DeepCoin

The 1933 Saint is not overvalued as it is unique, unlike the 1804 dollarw that were not even minted in 1804. No one cares about the condition of an uncirculated coin that is truely unique. It is not one of those condition rarities, it is a true rarity!

However, the most overvalued coin has to be the penny.

RELLA

My personal favorite for most overvalued is the 1909-S VDB in high grades; compare the populations and price from MS64RD to MS66RD with the regular 1909-S. Its not like you need it for type sets even...the 1909 VDB is just fine there.

You know what Homer Simpson would say about the price of 1909-S VDB? "Wait a minute! This could be some kind of scam ... or possibly scamola!".

RELLA

littlewicher

I think the 1913 Liberty Nickels are wayyyyyy overvalued. Sure there were only 5 of them made, but made illegally.

tjkillian

My vote would go to the 1953-S FBL Franklin Half Dollar. Second vote would be any coin whose value goes up by more that 10x to the next grade level. That 1884-S Morgan is also scary in the values in the high uncirculated grades.

Tom

shirohniichan

Is this some kind of trap to label us "bashers"?

dbldie55

Almost all of those old multi $$$ classics sell for more when sold again. They may be overvalued, but keep bringing it in.

So naturally I will say all of those toned moderns that people seem to pay so much for, when a nice white one in one grade lower is worth close to face value.

mdwoods

I agree with Rella, there are always tons of unc 1909 S VDBs available. Mark

Higashiyama

I second the concern raised by Rex Dei Gratia.

However, please clarify the meaning of "overvalued"

I would usually use the term to mean a coin where there is a substantial risk in a decline in value, where the risk mainly stems from a potential drop in demand. (This is a definition where one may be accused of bashing, as it suggests that current prices have an element of hype)

Some of the responses seem more to be placing more of a qualitative value judgment on the coin itself (e.g. - why would anyone want some illegally minted nickels), without necessarily believing that there is financial risk in acquiring the coins.


In any case, my nomination would be a coin I own -- my MS61 Oregon Trail 50c, that I purchased for the novelty of owning such a strange grade -- unless you are trying to put together a grade collection, you probably shouldn't pay much over face for this coin!

lordmarcovan

I dunno- there are a lot of modern candidates, but who knows what the future will bring, there?

My vote is for the MS68 steel cent. I don't care how rare they are. Anything with a price range of less than $5 for a generic UNC on up to $900 or so for an MS68 ($600 on the cheap side), is pretty wild for me. I'll take an MS67 at around 1/20th of the MS68 price.

Cocoinut

I've got to go along with the 1995-W Silver Eagle proof. Heck, there were over 30,000 of the things minted, and 90% of those graded are PR67DCAM or higher!! This week's bid is $1900 for a raw coin. There are quite a few modern commems, and LOTS of classic commems with far lower mintages that sell for a fraction of the price of that silver eagle. I was tempted to buy a couple of the sets back in '95, but most of the earlier gold sets were selling for far less than their original issue price, and I didn't think the additional silver coin would make it worthwhile. Who would've guessed that it would sell for over $2,000?? I never bought one, and never will, as long as it stays at those stratospheric levels. Some day people will come to their senses, and the price will drop somewhat, bit I'm guessing that it will always be overvalued.

Jim

pmh1nic

Although I'm not a fan of the 1995-W SAE or the inflated prices being asked for these coins (with many going unsold at those prices) my vote goes to the $2,500 ~ $5,000 State Quarters. Yes, the 1995-W SAE has a mintage of 30,000+ but there are hundreds of millions of XXX State Quarters (with many MS examples being saved from circulation for collections) and many thousands more being minted for Mint Sets/Proof Sets.

And so as not to be accused of modern bashing I'll make a second vote for those coins made under questionable circumstances like the class II/III 1804 dollars and 1913 Liberty Nickels. In my mind they are worth no more than the melt value of the metal used to make them.

boiler78

How about the High Relief? Between NGC and PCGS over 3000 have been graded 63 or higher and it 10k in 63! Wildly popular but definitely not a rare coin. That said it is still one of my alltime favorite coins. Go figure?

BigAlan

The 1804 $ and the 1933 Saint are testosterone coins.

KoinKollector

most overvalued:

No comment


most undervalued:

w/o question 1873-CC No Arrows Seated Dime. 1 known & it can still be purchased for under 1 million. Of course, no bias here. Sure... I collect these babies, but i still feel this is the most undervalued coin

billywls

I agree with boiler78. Every time I look at the pops on the High Relief Saint I just shake my head. What a rip off.

LincolnCentMan

I'm going to have to go with the 09-S VDB. It's the priciest easy to find coin out there... at least that is attainable by the average Joe Smow.

For that matter, I think that a lot of the 66/67RD cents from 34-58 are vastly over valued. I have most of them in my set, and they're going for almost twice what they were six months ago... when the pops were almost half what they are today in most cases. I think a lot of people are going to get "burned" on those. Heck, I'm thinking about selling out on my late dates because I think I'll be able to buy them back cheaper a couple of years down the road.

Check out my set, if you want.

tradedollarnut

I'm gonna say that there is almost no such thing as an over-valued coin. Supply and demand dictate the market price and with almost every coin the market is perfect enough to accurately reflect the combination of these two factors. To be over-valued, there would have to be some extraordinary hype that was NOT going to continue in the future. The classic rarity examples given previously have proven to have lasting appeal. The 1933 Saint will fall into this category.

coynclecter

So far the responses can be divided into 2 groups.
Coins that are very few if not one of a kind and their price is determined by those with unlimited fiunds who have little choice if they want to own that coin. Both the 1804 and the1913 nickel were highly promoted by their previous owners. Max Owned all 5 1913 Vs when he ran his adds offering thousands.

The other group has been coins that have been hoarded and hyped. In other words the price has been or is being manipulated.

It is obvious that the 1995W has been hoarded and is being manipulated. When the price is right the hoard will be unleashed. Then it may continue to be a much sought after common "key" like the 09Svdb or it may join the likes of the 50-d nickel and the 55s lincoln.

dbldie55

B Max Mehl never owned a 1913 Liberty Nickel. He knew where all 5 were when he ran his ads, but did not own them. He did auction one of them a couple of times though.

CarlWohlforth

Supply and demand do funny things. There is a strong supply of HR Saints but it is also a very popular coin.

I can't see that Eagle being worth 10 times more than a more than 100 year old AU gold quarter eagle with a mintage of less than 25,000 (SSP check my auction ) but that is the case.

I agree with TDN, there is no such thing as an overvalued coin. At this moment in time. But there are coins that will lose popularity and those that will gain as things change over time.

So I can take this question to mean what coin will be much less popular in the future? Or which coin can really increase in supply in the future? But since we don't know the future we can only guess.

I'd guess the silver eagle will lose popularity before the 33 Saint does. However someone might pay too much for the saint, we don't even know what price it will sell at. If it goes for 3 million that could be a bargain.

KoinKollector

Rella,
Like the Icon.. Was that the AU50? from the Benson II sale? or the 63?


Tad,
Nice icon too

keets

i think with alot of the coins mentioned and with most of the ones everybody is familiar with, the price is pretty much locked in even when it's understood that they're overpriced. there's always somebody who'll pay for the 65RD S-VDB and so on, and the suckers who have already paid the outlandish prices for these coins are certainly not going to sell them at a loss. as several people have said, the price jumps for one grade with some coins are really ridiculous. why is it i always have the lower grade?!?!?!?

Bcsican

The one you need the most for a set, its always the one you you buy at any price!!!!

DeepCoin

Coynclecter

I have to disagree with you about a hoard of 1995-W SAEs. They were sold with a gold SAE set and you had to pony up $999 for a set. The 1995-W was a throw in. The set on sold 31K.

For people who pay $999 for a set, they are in no rush to break it up to make a couple of dollars. That is why I believe they coins come out in trickles. None of the dealers bought a bunch of these because they were too capital intensive.

Not knowing that the SAE would take off, you would have had to invest $50,000 to get 50 of the sets. I dont think there is all that much demand for the Gold American Eagles and thus no single individual in my mind has a great number of these coins.

I will not disagree that they appear somewhat overpriced, but as has been pointed out by others.. it is a supply and demand pricing world out there.

PTVETTER

All STATE Quarters are overrated and overpriced

etexmike

My choice for the most overvalued U.S. coin? Any one that I am presently trying to purchase.
And, there are a few of them right now.

If I have to be serious--the 1933 Saint.

-----------

etexmike

michael

for me a coin that is in a pcgs/ngc holder and would bring less than 65% of its holdered price if broken out of the holder and sold raw. to me this would be an OVERVALUED coin. sincerely michael

oreville

Overvalued....meaning what does ther collector think will go down in value from their current levels short or long term.......modern proof PR-70's that are common but not a whole lot else. This is only because it seems that coin prices are currently surging upward which is changing relative values on a monthly basis.
.......

The 1933 $20 .........the best buy of the 20 century. Just remember....the buyer of this coin will have publicity rights worth in the tens of millions of dollars for this coin and more importantly will also have immortality. . I daresay this coin will bring very close to $10 million if not more.

Other most undervalued coins? If I told you then I would not get to buy it first!!!

nucklehead

I'd have to agree with PTVETTER, all SQ's are all over hyped.

Sunnywood

Hey there Rella,

Glad you liked my icon enough to copy it

We actually own that Gobrecht!!!

To those of you who asked, it is the J-60 PCGS PR62 from the recent Benson auction.

Sunnywood

coynclecter

Don't forget the SS Central America specials. They have a hefty premium for the story. There were a lot of them found and they'll probably be half the price in 5-7 years.

cladking

I don't find the states quarters to be any more common in high grade than their eagle reverse counter-
parts. Indeed they may be a little less common! Certainly many people are looking for these so their
survival rate will be far better.

Demand for the low grade SQ's will eventually level off and decrease. But these new collectors are not
yet all that sophisticated and few have discovered high-grade coins. The demand for these could quite
possibly continue to increase for some time. Very few of these coins are high grade, with a little demand
prices could be explosive.