1914-D Buffalo, why is this date so much higher priced?

ElmerFusterpuck

Just a question I've pondered before, but I've never seen an explanation of why the pricing is the way it is for this date and mintmark. Were that many destroyed or worn down? The mintage was fairly low, but still higher than the 14-S.

BustHalfBrian

Perhaps they circulated more heavily than the S-mints and thus the dates were more often worn slick?

Walkerguy21D

I don't know, other maybe it's "popular".....it is a slightly bettter, but not a tough coin in the higher circ grades. Riding the coattails of the
14D cent perhaps? It's also higher priced than the 15S in VF, and only priced slightly lower in XF. The 15S is a far tougher coin that the 14D.

A similar situation exists for the 1918D and S nickels. The 18D is much more common in VF/XF than its S mint counterpart,
yet priced higher. At one point I had five nice 18D nickels in VF-AU grades in my stock, yet had the 18S on two people's want lists!

ad4400

I will offer a theory that over/under supply at certain grade levels creates ceilings/floors for price at other grade levels.

For example, the 31-S is in fact the 2nd lowest mintage piece in the series, but is infinitely more affordable than date/MM with much higher mintages. Due to the Depression, the 31-S was not needed at time of mintage, sat in bank vaults, and thus there is an overabundance of MS pieces that hold down price at that level and preclude price increases at lower grade levels.

For the 14-D, David Lange writes “the shallowness of the date on all 1913-1918 nickels makes these coins scarce in the lower grades with full dates. 1914-D is particularly notable for this problem”. With the price guide at my disposal, the 14-D is the 3rd most pricey coin in the series at the Good grade, but with an already high starting point, only escalates another $100 or so to XF. So theoretically it is the dearth of lower end pieces that support the prices, although the higher in grade you go, the less differential there is with year/MM of similar mintages.

guitarwes

Great theory ad4400, I can see where there is support for it.