1894-S Barber Dime

wondercoin

1894-S Barber Dime, Branch Mint PR66
Only 24 Examples Struck, Possibly Nine Known Today
Finest PCGS Specimen, Ex: Clapp-Eliasberg-Richmond


I sold it as agent for Justhavingfun for $1,900,000.00 (including $50,000 to John F. acting as agent for his customer) about 7 or 8 years ago. It may have privately sold again after that before coming on the market tonight at Heritage. It looks like it only fetched $1,700,000.00 hammer tonight. If classic ultra rarities such as this dime had continued their trend of appreciating about 8% or 9% a year (as it had for a number of years in the past), the coin could have fetched closer to $3,000,000.00 this time.

Does this demonstrate an overall slow down of classic ultra rarities in the market today or is this just an isolated sale of one that did not do as well as it could have?

Wondercoin

keyman64

I and others with much deeper pockets were NOT impressed. PM Sent.

You have to completely ignore the Heritage Fantasy Photos! It looks nothing like

that. Only look at the slab photos to know what this actually looks like.

OldIndianNutKase

WC, I would think that it only demonstrates a particular demand relative to the series. Many colectors find Barbers to be boring, and this may reduce the demand at the high end. I just hope that my series are not falling out of favor........



OINK

Zoins

While the Lawrence-3 / Clapp-Eliasberg-Richmond specimen is the highest PCGS graded specimen, HA indicated in 2005 that their opinion was that 2 other specimens were finer, despite grading lower:



- 2005 FUN lot #30164

- PCGS CoinFacts

Boosibri

While I don't know if this one example can be assumed to be part of a broader trend, one has to ask if the selling price of $1.9mm was reasonable at the time. I'm making no judgement, only suggesting that your question starts with the premise that it was fair value at the time. With a private treaty and no under bidders, it is tough to know if $1.9mm would have been realized if sold in a comparable format to the $1.7mm sale today.

jcping

Originally posted by: Boosibri
While I don't know if this one example can be assumed to be part of a broader trend, one has to ask if the selling price of $1.9mm was reasonable at the time. I'm making no judgement, only suggesting that your question starts with the premise that it was fair value at the time. With a private treaty and no under bidders, it is tough to know if $1.9mm would have been realized if sold in a comparable format to the $1.7mm sale today.

Well said

jcping

Also, we all know that 2007-2008 was peak of many coin prices, especially, the Barber series. I believe it is lucky to get hammered at $1.7M tonight when this coin was $1.9M in 2008.

291fifth

Thin markets can produce wild swings in the price realized. Are there enough wealthy collectors interested in Barber dimes at this point in time?

MrEureka

Originally posted by: wondercoin


Does this demonstrate an overall slow down of classic ultra rarities in the market today or is this just an isolated sale of one that did not do as well as it could have?

I do not find the price realized surprising in the least. Seems just about right.

And considering what has happened to the rest of the US market, I'd argue that this one sale demonstrates that classic rarities are holding their value better than most coins. And that one should not be surprised by the decline, nor the relative strength of the rarities.

As for the quality of the coin, I like it. It's true that there is some unusual but light planchet roughness on the obverse that does not help the coin's overall appearance, but it's easy to accept once you understand what you're looking at. (Some people might mistakenly think that the roughness was caused after the coin left the dies, which would obviously be a bigger issue.)

MrEureka

Originally posted by: 291fifth
Thin markets can produce wild swings in the price realized. Are there enough wealthy collectors interested in Barber dimes at this point in time?

You don't have to be "interested in Barber Dimes" to want a 94-S. It's a dream coin for countless thousands of collectors.

lordmarcovan

I've been away from the forum and coins for a few weeks, but just saw this on the MSN frontpage.



With HRH quote. Cool!

291fifth

Originally posted by: MrEureka

Originally posted by: 291fifth
Thin markets can produce wild swings in the price realized. Are there enough wealthy collectors interested in Barber dimes at this point in time?

You don't have to be "interested in Barber Dimes" to want a 94-S. It's a dream coin for countless thousands of collectors.

But is it really a dream coin for the few very wealthy collectors who could afford it? Dimes are small coins and I question whether many deep pocket collectors care all that much about them. Still, the price realized does seem in line with reality. It isn't 2007 anymore.

oreville

Author Icon MrEureka Coin Hound Posts: 21071 Joined: 1/1/2003 Originally posted by: 291fifth Thin markets can produce wild swings in the price realized. Are there enough wealthy collectors interested in Barber dimes at this point in time?



You don't have to be "interested in Barber Dimes" to want a 94-S. It's a dream coin for countless thousands of collectors.

Not only a dream coin but considered a holy grail coin for countless thousands of collectors!!

Including those who like ice cream!!



EDITED, After posting this I found out that David Hall called it an icon, I used the term holy grail. Either one works. The ice cream story made this dime more famous.

oih82w8

Just goes to show ya...the true value of a coin is what the buyer will pay for it.



I only paid a few dollars (if that) for mine that rests in my 7070...replica of course.

Jinx86

Originally posted by: 291fifth
Thin markets can produce wild swings in the price realized. Are there enough wealthy collectors interested in Barber dimes at this point in time?

I was a bidder on HA Wednesday night and most all Barber dimes have brought lower prices then previous times at auction. I think much of that is due the so many major collections being released so close to each other and saturated the market. Top pop and Pop 1 coins going for close to 50% back of what I had estimated.

Guess it could be a good time to buy or have we further down to go?

ricko

I just want to find one at a yard sale.... Cheers, RickO

TwoSides2aCoin

Im not in the inner COT, so I cannot gauge the market (ULTRA RARITIES) , from that loft. To more succinctly address your question I would say a "slowdown" is in the overall market (this includes our hobby), merely because of emotional sentiment and not due to any availability issue, such as one coin.

Re:

Does this demonstrate an overall slow down of classic ultra rarities in the market today or is this just an isolated sale of one that did not do as well as it could have?

Isolated

TwoSides2aCoin

As an example… I read the other day (Wikipedia IIRC), after watching a Nicholas Cage movie; that he had some issuance with the IRS and sold an ACTION COMIC he'd purchased for six figures in '09, which sold for seven figures after a very short hold time, it appears. As an isolated incident goes (comparable), that's a huge ROI, to satisfy a tax lien (apparently). And yet, the softening in the metals market in this time frame didn't affect the 10 million dollar large cent's value which set a new record, in the coin world.

Zoins

Originally posted by: ricko

I just want to find one at a yard sale.... Cheers, RickO

It can happen. The Burd-8 Gimbels "Ice Cream" specimen was found at a Gimbels Department Store in a junk coin box and purchased for $2.40.

coindeuce

I'm gonna wait for Legend's Market Report before I jump in.



If I were forced to throw my two cents in:

Looking at the level of capital that has been thrown at Gardner / Pogue, etc the last couple years, the thought is that available funding for million dollar plus items at this point in time is probably very thin. And with interest rates on the verge of a surge upward, anyone (other than the latest buyer) who wants to even consider the carrying cost might believe it that would offset a reasonable capital gain.