Are any new hoards of classic US coins hitting the market?
291fifth
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We've heard about the 1794 Half Dollars. Are there any signs out there of more hoards of classic US coins starting to come to market?
All glory is fleeting.
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I never considered "classics" to be even remotely close to "hoards". Rarely does a classic show up in the dozens of "hoards" I've purchased through the years.
A few collections have had classics. Hoards almost never.
That would certainly be news, should such a thing occur. Not sure such 'hoards' exist - outside of a museum... or maybe one or two collections...Cheers, RickO
I met a guy at a small show several years ago who said he had a roll set of IHC keys, Lincoln keys and some others. Not original rolls, just boxes of 50, all that I saw were slabbed and ranged in grade from VF-MS65 (as I remember). He was a NASA engineer (I believe) and said it was his retirement account. I don't know for sure that he had all he said, but he had enough in his case that I believed him at the time.
Anthony Swiatek, in his book, stated that he knew of hoards of original rolls of some commems [and not just WC and BTW]. I think QDB has mentioned that as well.
I am occasionally asked to look at old coin collections (accumulations) assembled in the era 1945 - 1980.
Most of these collections were assembled from pocket change/ obtained at face value.
I practically never see a U.S. Coin in these groups which is dated before 1825.
I have been wondering about this topic for some time. There was a small hoard of better date (1912-s ?) Liberty Head nickels that inflated the pops and caused values to drop, there was a hoard of 1909 matte proof Lincoln cents, and there is plenty of pre-1933 gold coming from Europe. This is within the last few years or so. Don't forget about the government releases in the 1960s that caused the 1903-O Morgan to drop in value. I wonder if all of the remaining bags were truly sold off or whether additional bags and dates are out there. Maybe RWB or another researcher will chime in.
Respectfully, isn't "classics" in the context of U.S. Coins defined by "early" rather than by "key"?
There have been more than a few early date SF half eagles coming out of the woodwork lately. The Parlayer collection sold recently by GC has been followed by another 'set' that doesn't have a pedigree. Doug Winter also has a pretty good date run from the 50's through the 70's that he's been selling. I wonder if GC part 2 and the DWN group are different parts of a larger collection.
Also it seems like there have been a bunch of $50 slugs in various venues lately.
That's an interesting thought. I have seen the term used to denote a coin that is not modern. Most draw that line around 1945, but some will push it slightly earlier or as late as 1964. If you limit the definition of classics to basically cover early federal coinage, I doubt there are significant quantities of fresh, original, and undamaged pieces out there.
I don't necessarily think an 1877 IHC is a classic (maybe it is), but a roll of those puppies is still impressive.
There are evidently several 19th century family collections here and in Europe. Most, according to 'sources,' include some spectacular rarities and condition coins and medals. But there is little likelihood of these appearing on the US auction market any time soon.
Classic cars fall in the same category?
Yeah, if an automobile doesn't fall in the early Federal period, it's not a classic.
My original question concerns itself more with the hoarding of a single date/mm rather than the presence of a large, high quality collection. I'm sure that there are several "old money" collections out there that contain exceptional material but "old money" collections are often in the very strong hands of families that actually appreciate the coins and don't need to worry about the "value."
There was a roll of FH 1928 S FH SLQs at the 1988 ANA. I have one of these coins. I think there was another 20 of either gem 1885 or 1886 Liberty Nickels that hit the market several years ago. Normally we don't find out about this sort of thing until we are unlucky to have bought one of them before the price dropped.
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"Sou Mangueira......."
If the 1877 Indian Cent is not a classic, then most collectors only have "moderns" in their holdings. The 1877 has been an expensive classic since I was kid, and I'm an antique.
Once upon a time I had about 50 1958 Ghana 10 Shilling. Not exactly a classic but I loved the simple star design and bought almost every one I saw for sale.
I ended up selling them all when silver was in the $40s
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
I read a Coin Week article where they defined "classic" U.S. Coins as anything pre-1933. Is that not an accepted standard? I have been working under that assumption and never thought to ask what assumptions other people were working under.
I think most people would consider Mercury Dimes and Walking Liberty Half Dollars as classics. Production of both continued into the mid to late 1940s.
When I think classic and pre-1933 I think US gold, other coins, never thought about it much. How about pre-1839, those would be classic for sure.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
The ANA Museum had in its vaults, as of at least 10 years ago, a bequest well in excess of 100 circ 1877 1c. Useless for study/research purposes.
To my knowledge they have not been de-accessioned, nor might they ever be.
If they were, would 15 coins a month in various circ grades "kill the market" for a year?
1877's have this is common with 09-S VDB's. Iconic grandfathers-in anything you may or may not consider classic.
1877 IHC is a "key".
If any IHC are "classics", then why not say that every single one in existence is a classic, even the lowly culls? As a design, as an historic artifact, as an item to stimulate curiosity, the intellect, and the imagination, the 1907 IHC differs very little from an 1877 IHC. One date is simply encountered much less frequently than the other. And since practically nobody collects by date and mint anymore, the concept of "key coin" loses a lot of its hard force and validity too.
Learning here................
What is "classic" ?
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I think the FIRST thing we have to do is decide how many "groups" we have/need.
For instance, if "Modern" is 1964 and later, (common break point), then everything before 1964 is "Classic"?
Or, if you want to make "Classic" something more restrictive, (Pre-1830?), then you need to come up with something to define those middle years.
But, frankly, it's all trivia.....
"Classic" like so many numismatic terms, is conveniently undefined.
So many discussions about concepts get lost in arguments about semantics.
Happens in my work almost every day
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yes, all those built in 1793 to 1809
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yup!
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The years 1815 and 1816 were watershed years in the early history of the U.S. Mint (and 1815 was a huge watershed year in the history of Europe too, but for different reasons).
1815 was a year when our coinage almost ended, but then the Secretary of the Treasury and a few Mint officers took a renewed interest and everything (machinery, better equipment) improved after that. Thus, I tend to see early Federal coinage dated 1815 or before as 'classic', and a new era of greater coin production starting in 1816, but that's just my personal take on the matter.
Here's what the Coin and Currency Forum includes in their US Classic and Colonial Coins Forum.
US Colonials, Half Cents, Large Cents, Flying Eagle Cents, Indian Cents, Two Cents, Three Cents, Half Dimes, Shield Nickels, Liberty V Nickels, Buffalo Nickels, Mercury Dimes, Twenty Cents, Standing Liberty Quarters, Walking Liberty Half Dollars, Trade Dollars, Morgan Dollars, Peace Dollars, Flowing Hair Coinage, Bust Coins, Seated Liberty Coinage, Barber Coinage, Pre-1933 Circulating Gold Coins.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide