Holy cow, Lincolns are getting pricey!

MastaHanky · April 14, 2002 11:50AM

1919-P PCGS MS66RD - Selling for over $350.
Heritage's price index puts it between $425 and $550.
I picked up one a year ago for $180 from Angel Dee's. He had six of them in stock.

A 1909-VDB in MS65RD sold on eBay for $125.
Those things are as common as air molecules.

I know of at least one 1951-P Lincoln in MS66 that sold for $125.
There's one up there right now with bidding up to $80.

Some of the prices being paid recently just blow me away. As much as I like my Lincolns, maybe it's time to cash in on the rage.

Or maybe I should just hold on to them and work on my Buffalos, since they don't seem to be as hot.

littlewicher · April 14, 2002 11:56AM

I've been trying to get a lot of the early Lincolns in MS66 RD. Maybe it's time to sell some of my mine and get some coins for my registry set.

Fairlaneman · April 14, 2002 12:16PM

Dave:

The Same thing has been Happening in the Merc Series. Items You could Pick Up for under Bid 6 Months Ago have Disappeared Completely. Some National Dealers have kept thier Prices with in Reason but Some have Shot them into the Stratosphere.

Seems to Me some of the New Collectors have Switched from Modern Collecting and Went to Classical Collecting and they Have Deep Pockets Also. Just a Guess but it Looks that Way to Me.

Unfortunately the Dealers are not Stupid and have picked up on this Also.

Same thing on eBay. Good Dates,and Some not so Good, are Going For sometimes over Gray Sheet Ask. Six Months ago I Rarely saw this on eBay.

It Appears the Hobby is in a Very Healthy State right at the Moment.

Ken

Typetone · April 14, 2002 12:24PM

Same with short set Walkers (41 - 47). Some of the prices are going up as you watch the pages. Unbelievable, but maybe some of this stuff was too cheap before.

Greg

littlewicher · April 14, 2002 12:43PM

I think E-bay is getting a lot more coin collectors on there. It's really turned to a retail market over there then wholesale. Of course the sporadic deal can be picked up now and then. I guess it's all about what's in and what's out.

Spooly · April 14, 2002 3:45PM

Lincolns are crazy right now, I have stop buying them. I am working on my Large Cent collection right now.

joejoe2000 · April 14, 2002 11:35PM

I'm one of those modern collectors (Kennedies) that has started collecting some Lincolns.
I'm working the certified 191* in brown ms60-ms64. I'm not going to be in the running for the top
of any registery, but I'm having fun. Most of the coins are in the 50-100 dollar range.
Some of the philly dates are so available in red or r/b that not many browns are certified.
You have to do some looking to find them. If I get into it more maybe I will try and match the
brown.

Joe

CarlWohlforth · April 14, 2002 11:41PM

eBay is still brings wholesale prices for the most part. At least on the coins I'm trying to sell

Tonelover · April 15, 2002 12:32AM

I recently finished selling on ebay a batch of early date PCGS/NGC Washington Quarters that were the low end of a collection we purchased. Prices were phenomenal, reaching well over the retail levels of the pieces we decided to keep here in house. Of course I wrote a few underbidders letting them know that they could have a nicer example for less money than they had bid, but it seems that everyone enjoys paying more money for worse coins as long as they get the thrill of a bidding war. Ebay is full of very silly people.

sonofagunk · April 15, 2002 2:26AM

You scared me so much that I had to go out and spend my entire tax rebate on lincolns before the prices got any higher!!!!

LincolnCentMan · April 16, 2002 1:44AM

No kidding. Prices are getting "CRAZY." I bought a 66RD 1919 a year ago for $85 and sold it for twice that three months later. Now I couldnt buy one for $250, and I've seen them advertised for $500+. And I'm thinking... dang, why didnt I keep that coin? Common 67RDs were selling for $50-$60 six months ago, they're going for $75-$120 now... and the pops are typicly twice as high. I could have bought about three 54-P's in 66RD, but the were $100 each. I was thinking, "Who's this guy kidding?" I decided I'd wait for the pop to go up. Well, that's the one date that the pops havent gone up on, and it now sells for $200+.

David Lawrence has a short set (1934-1958) for sell on his home page. It's got quite a few 67RD's with mostly 66RD's. He wants over $6000 for it... and he'll probably get it. Prices on Lincolns are going nothing but up right now. Heck, if they go much higher, I might just sell out on those from 34-58 and wait for the "nuclear" status that David Hall has put on the series to drop to "sub-zero, get rid of them, try to at least get face value, what are you waisting your time reading this for, sell sell sell!!!" Ok, Lincolns will never get that low, but to sell out and wait til the market cools off some is tempting. The only problem with selling out is... darn it, I like my set! I dont think I could ever put together a nicer one.

Something to think about....

David

Steve · April 16, 2002 2:07AM

David, what it all boils down to is it the love of the money or the love of your Lincoln's? To me, I can always get my money on my investment. I can't be sure I can always find the coin I love. Steve

Typetone · April 16, 2002 2:13AM

David:

Also, David, you don't really know when or even if they will fall, and then by how much. Suppose they double in price again, and then drop 30%. You would have been better off holding. I still feel that many of the more common 67RDs from the 30s and 40s are pretty good deals. I bought a small group a few months ago for about $80 per coin. Are they still about that value, or have they gone up? Also, I have a 33D in PCGS 66RD. Do you have an idea of its value today?

Greg

LincolnCentMan · April 16, 2002 4:38AM

I know it's hard to find nice coins. I'll probably keep my set the way it is. Several of them are the nicest of multiple examples I've owned. For example, the 37-P is the nicest of 8 examples of that date I've owned... at once! It has increadible eye appeal, and two Ben Franklins (and I ant talking half dollars) couldnt part that coin from my collection. The 43-D is the nicest of 5, most of the others are the nicest of two or three. And the 42-S in my set... MAN!!! It's probably the closest thing to a 68 red I'll ever own. I even thought about sending it back in.

I know there's no way of knowing for sure if prices are going up or down. Ultimatly, I'll probably keep my set because it brings me so much enjoyment. Even if they do go down. I got started before PCGS came out with it's set registry. The amount I have in it is pretty safe, even if I do loose some potential earnings.

I have no clue on the 33-D. Usually when I try to aquire a new date. I watch e-bay for it. I try to see how three or four of them sell. I then look at the PCGS price guide to see how it compairs. Then I start looking for one to buy. I dont have a 33-D, but 66RD is what I'd be wanting it in once I start looking for it. I have quite a few PCGS cents I could trade towards it if you're interested in such a thing. Just PM me and I'll send a list of what I've got.

David

LincolnCentMan · April 16, 2002 4:40AM

By the way, most of them in the 30's and 40's in 67 are about $80 a coin right now. Some go way over that. Only the 45-S can be had for about $50... unless you get lucky.

dpoole · April 16, 2002 12:00PM

I agree with David Hall's characterization of the Lincolns as "nuclear" now. I'm so relieved I've finished the set (at least have the holes filled). The last few were really tough to get, at anything affordable.

Hall has that 1952-P at MS67 in PCGS up there now for (gasp) $3250! Consider I got the 66 for about $40 last October. Yeah, the 66 is not a pop 5 (like the 67), but it's still a pop 163. Unbelievable!

LincolnCentMan · April 16, 2002 12:29PM

Well, if you got a 52 P in October for $40, you did better than me. I paid $80 for mine in November. Now they're on up around $130-$160. Geez.

I'm not EVEN going to try for those low pop 67's. If it costs more than $200, I dont want it. The only exeption to that would be the 35-S. I'd be a buyer way over that, but no where near what it would actually take to get one... of the THREE.

David

clackamas · April 17, 2002 5:03PM

Its all supply and demand driven. Its very hard to find any raw coins that will go a 67 in modern or wheat lincolns. Most of the old original rolls I see have spotted coins, roll marks, and every other flaw. Just try to find a 66 1954 lincoln. That coupled with PCGS being so tough on coins its extremely difficult to find nice coins. To get a good roll cost big bucks and the time to go through the roll, cherry a coin out, send it to PCGS, wait a few weeks and get it back a 66 makes it worth it to spend an extra $50 bucks on a 67. IMO of course. Yes the Pops have gone up but only by 10 or 20 coins in the 66 range and only by 1 or 2 in some of the tougher 67 dates. There are 350 Million people in the US. The state quarters really brought people back and they will bid up high end coins. If grading fees for non dealers were more reasonable you would see an increse in the supply and hence a decrease in price.