Coin prices from nearly 60 years ago

ernie11

I wanted to post a scan of scraps of newspaper with ads from circa 1957 for both buying and selling of some key coins, think you'll find the prices interesting.

epcjimi1

Never ends, MHO

1630Boston

History.

Wabbit2313

Drop me a card!

CaptHenway

As an aside, note the ad above the coin ad, where a local merchant gives his phone number as just four digits. In a lot of small towns there was just one local exchange, let's say KLondike3, and if you picked up the phone and dialed four numbers you would automatically get that number within the KL3 exchange.
When I moved to Sidney, OH in December of 1973, people were still talking about the fact that earlier that year the phone company had added a second exchange within the entire county, and you now had to dial all seven numbers to complete a call.

logger7

I remember the four digit codes into the 70s. And in many states there were strange practices into the 1990s with regular and pay phones.

ernie11

I love the $20 prices on the 1877 IHC and 1916-D dime.

COINS MAKE CENTS

09 s vdb for 60 bucks!!!!! If I call do you think his offer still stands? I'll take a few rolls

lkenefic

But in the early 70s the minimum wage was also $1.35 per hour. Still... a good investment!

ricko

Yep.... was a different world then... Of course, those prices look so good now, but money was much tighter then.... as stated above, minimum wage was $1.35 (1.25 just after I started working at the bakery),...not $7.25 as is the case now... or $15.00 in some areas.... Cheers, RickO

BillJones

Until this year a collector from ATS ran a secret Santa gift exchange. One of the best gifts I got was a May 1945 issue of "The Numismatist.

One of the ads from a dealer listed his buying prices. He was willing spring $1 for lower grade (Fine) Trade Dollars. Before you condemn him too much, you need to remember that the Trade Dollar did not have legal tender status at that time. In 1945 the Trade Dollar was a "silver round." The coin became "a dollar" again as a part of the Coinage Act of 1965.

1630Boston

@BillJones
Good coin history to learn and know. Thanks.

johnny9434

if only we could go back in time. such is life and that is good history as well. best wishes

Wabbit2313

The minimum wager workers were not buying the 1909-S VDB back then, just like now!

Overdate

To convert to today's dollars, add an extra zero to the right. In 1957, $20 had the purchasing power of $200 today. So a 1916-D dime in Good (assuming the coin was genuine and the advertiser's grade was not inflated) would have cost $200 in current dollars in 1957. Today you can buy a PCGS G04 specimen for $600 or less.

That means that someone who bought a genuine, accurately graded 1916-D dime in 1957 would have tripled his purchasing power by 2016, giving a compounded real return of 1.9% per year. Not such a great investment after all.

Overdate

@COINS MAKE CENTS said:
09 s vdb for 60 bucks!!!!! If I call do you think his offer still stands? I'll take a few rolls

That would be $600 bucks in today's money, and the standards for "Unc." back then were a lot looser than they are today, and there were no TPG's to guarantee authenticity. Currently, a PCGS specimen in the lower uncirculated grades can be obtained for about $1200. It took 59 years to double the real value of this coin. Inflation has a way of making long-ago investments seem better than they really are.

Raybo

I think I got ripped off!

oldgoldlover

The rule of 72 should be applied to these values and dates to get a better idea of performance.

The rule of 72 is an excellent measure of performance over time in terms of investment return.

Here is the calculation - 72 divided by a given percentage will give you a number that is the years it takes to double your investment. Assume a common stock has a 10% return on a historical basis. 72 divided by 10 equals 7.2. Thus every 7.2 years your investment doubles assuming you pay no taxes on dividends if any (held in an IRA) and reinvest the dividends. Of coarse this is not an ENRON type stock but more like a Chevron or Boeing. A coin while held is not a taxable situation until sold as no dividends are paid. With coins this is not an issue as no tax is paid until you sell it no matter how long it is held. Calculate the 1909 S VDB over 66 years and see what your annual return is. You can trade old coins for coins you what and pay no tax as this is considered a like kind exchange. Same goes for stocks when one company issues shares of stock to the shareholders of a company being required and no cash changes hands. In 66 years most of us will be long gone and coins inherited. Upon inheritance the coin assumes the current value at the time of death of the donor for tax purposes so if you have coins that have appreciate significantly let you heirs inherit them and them sell if they want to so the IRS is kept out of the picture.

All of this proves only two things. A lady of the evening has more class than the IRS as they quite doing business with you when you die. Not always the same with the IRS unless their rules are followed. 30 to 40 year hold periods can result in a return but it may well not be as high as it seems. I collect coins as I have always loved the hobby but do factor in price appreciation potential. I look at what a given coin in a specific grade has done over the last 18 to 20 years via heritage using the same grade and quality of coin within the one in question. I do this because coin collecting has far more participants and we are a more affluent society with a significantly more money to spend on them than in 1950 when the hobby was still very small. I feel this gives a more accurate picture of what will follow.

Zoins

From The Liberty Nickel Collector Society, you could have purchased the 5 1913 Liberty nickels for $2000.