Can you think of a coin that used to be a big deal, but now really isn't?
mt_msla
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mt_msla
Posts: 815 ✭✭✭✭
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Sure. 1950-D nickel, 1955 Poor Man's Doubled Die, BIE cents. Oh, and the high/low leaf Wisconsin quarters, and all the other insignificant, faddish varieties with silly names. I'm sure there are many more.
ANA LM
USAF Retired — 34 years of active military service! 🇺🇸
1903-O Morgan dollar
1851-O seated dollar
@EXOJUNKIE I had in fact been thinking of the 1950D nickel. The Wisc. quarters and your other examples are good ones too.
Insert witicism here. [ xxx ]
Late to the party. This was the first one I thought of - TDN's ...1903-O.
Classic commems.
Go to ...coin talk...there posted quite often.
In 1940s and prior, the 1924-S $20 was thought to be the rarest double eagle with less than 5 known. It was rarer than the 1927-D $20 and 1921 $20. In the 1960s, more than a hundred were found in Europe greatly affecting its rarity.
The 1909-S V.D.B. used to be the big one , for me. Now with certain Coins coming in at 1,886 a mintage of 48x,xxx doesn't seem like it's anything to get excited about.
The 1903-O dollar.
Athiest Cent.
A few varieties come to mind:
1971-D 'Friendly Eagle' Ike dollar
Type 'B' reverse silver Washington quarters
1971 DDO Lincoln Cent
1979-S Type 2 Anthony dollar
Many of the top 100 VAMs
(Edited for grammar.)
Yes. For me personally, I would say they number in the hundreds if not thousands. They are the coins that I really wanted, they were special, I had to have them. But I didn't pull the trigger and some other lucky guy ended up with them. And the best part is I can't even remember 99% of them. There will ALWAYS be another one. As the man said, "You'll run out of money way before they run out of coins." I ALWAYS think of that quote when I'm making a buying decision. And 50+ years of coin collecting down the road, I'm Happy with my collection and there's money in the bank.
As hard as this may be to believe, the 1904-o catalogued at 80.00 in unc and the 1898-o was at 50.00 in unc in the 11th Edition of the Red Book.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
1970-D JFK half dollar.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
1938-d over s buffalo nickel.
a.k.a "The BUFFINATOR"
Think the 1903-O Morgan tops this list by far...
rainbowroosie April 1, 2003
So-called 1851-O can't seem to find a home.....keeps showing up at auction..........
Those presidential dollars with edge lettering missing... never cared about them
What happened with the 1851-o? Has its authenticity recently been questioned?
1960 p d small date cents
When they showed that many of the restrikes for the year were produced on already struck coins, it kinda lost its stature.
I would agree with several others-it's the '03-O dollar.
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Many VAM's have a short shelf life and live in a very shallow pool.
Ha! I remember when ANY silver dollar was a big deal to me. I still like them, too. Without any hard research under my thumb, though, I'd guess that the value of most of the coins I really wanted have actually come down in price/value in time-adjusted dollars.
1973 P&D Ikes
The 1968-S Proof set once retailed from $35 back in 1968-9. The 1964 Proof set also sold for $35 back in the mid '60s.
The 1960 Small Date Cent once had a $50+ retail price.
The 1975-S Proof cent was once touted as "the lowerst mintage since the 1914-D cent." I could remember vest pocket dealers bidding $26 to 1975 Proof sets at the local club auctions in 1975.
You have to remember that inflation makes these prices look a lot smaller now than they were back in the day.
Weren't 1884cc Morgans pretty tough before the GSA unloaded a bunch in the 60s or 70s? Maybe the 1882cc and 1883cc as well.
The 1933 $20 Saint used to be a bigger deal on the rarity scale until the 10 Langbord coins showed up. On the "media" scale it might have become a bigger deal.
The 1844 "orphan Annie" dimes were a bigger deal until over 600+ of them came to light from a single hoarder. Before the hoarder commenced their life's work, they weren't that difficult to run across based on their apparent low mintage.
I remember 40 years ago when Gene Edwards had three 54-O Huge "O" quarters in his case. Each Capital Plastic said "unique"
For a while those Huge O's were a big deal. I found one of them unattributed at a local shop/show in the 1970's and immediately shipped it off to Kam. There were a lot of "unique" seated coins back in those days....mainly because so many of the great coins remained locked up in top collections.
I recall visiting Gene at his office to view 3 very rare UNC seated dimes. The only 1 that I recall was a mushy strike 1842-0 MS63ish for $15,000. It might have been the finest seen up to that point. In any case I didn't take the cheese as it seemed overpriced by several multiples. Today you could probably buy a MS64 for $3K-$5K....and the last MS65 to sell (NGC CAC) sold for $14K.
1995 double die cents
HAPPY COLLECTING
1949-S Franklin half in Unc, as we used to say was once the Key to the series.
1973 Brown Pack Ike dollars
1950-d nickel
1828 1/2 cent 12 stars. I got a holey one if anyone needs it. free
1964 pointed 9 dimes
1960-d bar nickels
Wisconsin hi and low leaf variety quarters were the first thing that came to mind.
1949-S Franklins. Remember buying them as junk silver, then selling the AUs for $30+ each. This was in the early 80s. I think they go for about the same now...someone lost to inflation.
On a personal level, after I finish my type set and I have money to burn. These coins don't matter much to me any longer 55dbl die, 09s vdb, 1916 slq, 1877 Indian cent, 3 legged buff nickel. Maybe they do all in EF45 and just for fun, I have owned them all and they just seem always available. I think the 1903-o in 65 is over priced when it comes to Morgan dollars, but would look good on top of my 1963 Redbook
The Jackie gold unc
Just about anything minted after 1933.
I'm surprised there is not much mention of the 1898-O dollars. They went from a key date to one of the most common dates when all the Bags were turned loose in the 60's. The 03-O dollar is still a respectable date!
One can understand why a hoard coin, like the 03O Dollar can go from rare to common. BU 1857S Double eagles would be another example.
But coins like the 73S Brown Ikes were $100+ at one point and there weren't less of them around. They just fell out of favor.
Beside the 57S $20s not previously mentioned, Washington medals were quite popular in the 19th century, no so much now.
Gold Kennedy Half
1904-O Morgan
1950-D Jefferson
1844 Dime
1979 Wide Rim SBA
Hockey Pucks
1988-S ASE
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
The 1973-S Brown Ike was up to $250 on the Gray Sheet circa 1979-80. I remember it well because I took mine to a dealer and sold it for $175. He didn't want it when I walked in the store but became a buyer when I told him my price.
Why did I sell cheap? The bids on the Gray Sheet were phoney. No one I knew was paying that, I knew as a collector that the coin was massively over priced. The $175 price was great because I knew it was going a lot lower.
Why was the price so high back then? Coins were a "prime investment." The good stuff was selling for huge money. I watched a couple of friends pay $21,000 for a 1912 Proof set. Everything was raw back then. The set was original, but the silver coins were toned dull. They bailed out at $14,000 and were darn lucky to do that well. It was down to $5,000 or less when the dust finally settled.
The 1973-S Ike was a "coin investment" for Junior coin investors who couldn't afford any better. It had a "low mintage" of just over 1 million pieces.
In 1964 getting a Kennedy Half was a big deal. Everybody wanted one.
1846/46 quarter used to be considered rare..now it is common.
Tom
Certain top pop or high grade later date coins, like 1958-D MS-67 RD cents. Prices for these and others that were 'scarce' or 'low pop' in a given grade have been falling like a rock.
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
The 03-O dollars are more scarce in circ grades as I recall.
1914/3 nickels... too soon?
Yes. Any coin that used to be in a dealer's case but is now owned by a collector.