7TH ANNUAL MATTE PROOF LINCOLN CENT POPULATION UPDATE REPORT

Steve

For those of you who have been following the Set Registry forum thru the years and have an interest in Matte Proof Lincoln cents (1909-1916) you probably know that every year in March I update the MPL certified coin population numbers as reported by PCGS, NGC, ANACS and now also including ICG. Since only 15,914 of these coins in total have been issued by the US Mint it is interesting (to me at least) how many get certified each year by the grading services that report the numbers on line. A total of 5,725 of these coins have now been certified which is a net increase of only 174 from the 2013 total of 5,551 which included ICG numbers. PCGS has a net increase of 123 and NGC added 49. ICG added 2 coins this year.
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Some other highlights:

PLUS GRADES (+) PCGS has now graded 37, up from 33 last year and 29 in 2012 and 21 in 2011 when they started the + grading. NGC now has 6, up from 3 last year and their first 2 in 2012. Neither ANACS or ICG use + grades.

A comment about ANACS and ICG reported populations. ANACS reported absolutely NO changes in any of the nine dates this year or last year or 2012. The total graded remains at 827. They reported 820 in 2011 and 812 in 2010. ICG started reporting on May 31, 2012 with 101 graded. Since then they adjusted their reported grades and color designations in 2013 but apparently added only 1 coin, a 1914 MPL in PR64RB last year. This year they added 2 coins and their total is now 104.

The PCGS population increase of 123 shows increases of 3 for the 1909VDB and 3 for the 1916. Those two MPL dates are definately still the most rare and most difficult MPL dates to aquire, with the 1909VDB remaining as #1 in this series by far. There are now a total of 206 1909VDB MPL's reported as certified by the four grading services. There is no doubt in my mind that very, very few of this coin still are in either ANACS or ICG holders. PCGS reports 121 and NGC reports 56 as certified. My guess is that less than 150 in total are actually in PCGS or NGC holders since a number of these coins were broken out and resubmitted thru the years to attempt to get higher grades.

The other MPL dates show modest increases. NGC's population increase of 49 included 4 1909VDB and 2 1916. Both PCGS and NGC do adjust their populations when labels are turned back and I see this reflected in the detail numbers each year. I also am seeing a trend this year of increases in Brown (BN) colored certifications by both PCGS & NGC which might be a reflection of the fact that "colorfully toned" MPL's are becoming more popular and the leading grading services are recognizing them as NT's rather than AT's.

The Red (RD) color designation remains the most difficult to get certified. In 2012 I reported 960 of all the MPL's were certified as RED. ICG had reported 24 in their initial report so we had 984 RED total population last year. This year NGC added only 1. and PCGS added none so the total RED population is now 985.

I have the EXCEL worksheets if anyone is REALLY interested into delving into the detail. Send me a PM with your email address and what worksheets you need. I'll send them out in a few days. Those of us who are lucky to own all nine of these little gems know how special they really are. You may also find the prior years update reports by checking the Set Registry subjects page during March for each prior year.
Steve

WaterSport

Thanks again Steve for your tireless and very informative effort.

My observation is that as I search the internet for cents, there are more MPL's available on the market right now than ever before and at vey reasonable prices. I see more at shows as well. Unlike the hey day of 2006-9, it appears many were being held on speculation the cent would be dropped by the mint, and the MPL would double in price from what the market was demanding at that time. So this is a GREAT time for anyone with the resources to pick up an incredible low mintage coin. Except for the 1909 VDB, they are all waiting for new homes.

Bob

Steve

<< <i> Except for the 1909 VDB, they are all waiting for new homes.

Bob >>



I couldn't agree with you more, Bob. It is the EXCEPT 1909 VDB that will always be the challenge for the collector of this nine coin collection.

Steve

MarkJude

Steve -
I applaud your efforts and appreciate the time and energy it must take to complete this exhaustive search.
From all of us MPL collectors, a very, very appreciative thank you!
Mark

Steve

Mark,
Thanks for the nice comment. I do this annually primarily for my own information but I'm happy to pass it on to others who are interested. Effectively, as far as MPL population changes are concerned, only PCGS and NGC are "in the game".
Steve

WingedLiberty1957

Steve, This is great info. Thanks for posting and keeping us up to date.

I admit to screwing up one number in your population report

I had a 1910 PCGS PR65BN MPL that I bought on Heritage for a bit over $700 back in 2012.
I had it TrueView photo'd. But wasnt totally happy with the photo.



I was curious how a friend of mine (Robec) could do shooting the coin raw, so I took a gamble and carefully cracked the coin out of the slab, put it in a Safe-Flip, and mailed it to Robec

Robec then produced some really great images of this coin raw.



After Robec shot the coin, he submitted the raw coin back to PCGS for me.
But when PCGS graded it a 2nd time, the grade dropped to PR64+BN and I had it TrueView'd photo again.



I submitted it twice for reconsideration after that, thinking that if PCGS graded it PR65 once (a while ago) -- they might eventually grade it that high again -- however I never could get this coin back into a PR65 slab. So it sits now in a PR64+BN slab.

I know we are supposed to mail old labels back to PCGS to correct the populations ...
However I like having the old Cert in the database since it

1. shows a different "look" with the (different) TrueView photo
2. proves that the coin was previously a PR65

What I really wish was that PCGS's Cert Verification database would show Old Cert Numbers and old grades for the same coin (showing a coins history).
And I also wish there was a way that PCGS could save/store multiple TrueView photos for coins (esp toners that can have really different looks depending on the camera and lighting angle).

In any case, if you wanted to delete one PR65BN 1910 MPL from your population report, it would actually be more correct. Right now my coin is reflected twice in the current PCGS population report.

I actually think this problem might happen more than one might suspect (from crack outs and resubmissions and/or crossovers)

WingedLiberty1957

I have also had good luck getting a few upgrades on Re-considerations, however PCGS should have corrected the populations on those coins ...

Bought as a PR64RB ... Upgraded to PR65RB


Bought as a PR65BN ... Upgraded to PR66BN


Bought as a PR65BN ... Upgraded to PR66BN


But this does show how grading can be somewhat fluid ...

Steve

Paul,
Thanks for the story of your experience with your 1910 MPL. I too have an experience with my 1909 VDB MPL. I've told this story before. I acquired my 1909VDB in April, 2002 at Central States auction. It was in a PR63 ANACS holder. I tried crossing it to PCGS saying I would accept PR60 or above. They misunderstood and sent it back to me in the ANACS holder. I called them and they told me to resend it. They then gave it the PR61 grade and said it would have been PR63 except for the spot over Lincoln's head. That didn't bother me because it had all three key diagnostics and I knew it was the real thing. I still have the ANACS label. Another story. When I acquired my other 8 MPL's I cracked them out of their PCGS and NGC holders and put them in my Capital holder. I joined PCGS in 1997 and by then realized that I needed to put these MPL's in PCGS holders. I was lucky to get a couple of upgrades from the original gradings. I still have all the old labels.

So, I'm well aware that the population reports are not accurate and never will be. But they are the best we have and they do tell a story of how rare these coins really are. Rare in quantity, not in availability as Bob points out. (except for the VDB) YOU can be very proud of what you have collected in the MPL series and in your very colorful Lincoln proofs.

Steve