Happy Father’s Day. Few MS 68 Clad Ike Dollars are graded. Still they don’t sell @ Their Value !!
HIGHLOWLEAVES
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IMO, there have been less than ten clad Ike Dollars graded MS 68 by our Host, NGC and ANACS. Whereas, the three TPG Co. have awarded hundreds of MS68 Morgan Dollars. I realize that Morgan Dollars are very, very popular and collectors love them and that most collectors value every Ike Dollar for only a Buck. Will this rarity/value for Ike’s ever change anytime soon ?
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Ok, but separate from your opinion, what is the actual fact?
Rarity, no idea. Value is not just driven by low supply, it's also driven by high demand. There may be very few highly graded Ike dollars but there are even fewer collectors currently. If you don't care for that, go talk to world coin collectors and see what their pops vs. value looks like.
Oh yeah
There is a free and open market. By definition, they sell for their value. There is no artificial force holding down prices other than lack of collector demand.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
I like Ike, a lot, but his coin is one of the least-attractive or imaginative coins that we have minted in the US. I suspect that has something to do with demand.
PCGS shows a single coin (1977) grade at MS68.
Edited to add:
Is there a record anywhere of a sale of that coin?
Apparently, it sold for $27,000.00+.
**James Sego; GreatCollections, March 5, 2023, Lot 1315921 - $27,571.25. Green and gold toning throughout. **
What do you think it should have sold at?
How many people with money really care about clad Ike dollars in MS68? At least two apparently wanted one of them enough to pay more than $27,000 for it. That sure sounds like a solid price to me.
The trend is strongly toward it because the demand is grass roots. So far the demand is centered at the "nice chBU" level but these are far scarcer than most people but more relevantly as the demand grows it grows organically into higher and lower grades as well. There are already thousands of BU collectors and this number still grows and is it overwhelming existing supply.
These facts are easily ignored by most hobbyists because even doubling and tripling of prices is insignificant for one or two dollars is trifling. Everybody thinks there are millions and million of moderns and they're all nice choice BU if they aren't MS-68 with a sticker. The reality is that the flow of both BU's and now proofs coming to market won't keep up with the increase in demand even at a doubling of price. All the while this demand is becoming more sophisticated. They're not buying rolls of rusted versions of an '82 zinc cent but nice chBU coins of every date. There's growing competition for nice coins of all sorts and many 20th century coins, especially those made since 1965 are scarcer in nice condition than most can imagine. There are many specific moderns that exist only by the handfuls. There are mint set coins that have a different appearance because they are from brand new dies (first ten strikes), but most of these will be unknown for almost every die pair.
Ikes are by far the rarest circulation modern in Gem. There aren't going to be a lot more made. Sure the current populations can double or triple and more than that in lower grades and they even find some Gems in bags but the absolute numbers are tiny and few looked for them until recently (last 25 years). I believe a lot of these coins are gone. Populations might not even double with higher prices.
What's really interesting is what's happening in nice ch BU. Everyone thinks these are common but in point of fact I'd consider only three or four dates to be "common". Another few are plenty easy enough, but several require more effort or attempts to obtain. The '71. '76 T I, and '77 are likely to be among the top 20 toughest moderns in chBU.
I think patience might be advised at this point anyway.
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
Copilot adds;
“The hobby still thinks in terms of mintage, not survival — and survival is where the real scarcity lives.”
BU demand is now bottom‑up, not top‑down — and bottom‑up demand always wins because it grows organically and consumes supply invisibly.
Yeah, those Ikes that never circulated and are too big to lose and not worth melting have a much lower survival rate than Morgan dollars.
You broke your Copilot.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I would argue, as someone who handles hundreds and hundreds of Ike dollars a year both with ANACS and my own variety searching, that clad (not 40% silver) business strike Ikes that are even approaching MS66 are are quite rare. The quality of manufacture just isn't there and I believe by the time they left the mint, many of them were already below 65 due to poor handling after being struck. Frankly, I can't believe PCGS has graded one 68 let alone 10. The silver 'blue' Ikes fare a lot better, though a LOT of the 1971-S coins suffered the same ill-handling as the business strikes. I always include grade cherrypicking when I'm looking for circilation strike varieties for that reason, and have done well flipping the ones I've found that managed to slab above 65.
I thought the Apollo XI emblem reverse was inspired and well executed. What are you going to do to make Ike look more likable? It's a tough portrait.
I think the coin can stand on its own. I like it more than my favorite modern; the quarter.
Totally Agree on the reverse. I guess I generally dislike modern portrait coins aesthetically, Lincoln being an exception. Not a fan of Roosevelts or Kennedys and Franklin looks like my uncle Lawrence. Washington and Jefferson are tolerable. I have some nice ones in my type set tho. Completeness is important to me, as is history.
I don't feel bad for "Nearly every classic US collector" in the least. But while they haven't been thinking about clad the last 60 years they've grown pretty scarce.
To each his own isn't just a slogan especially for me as I have collected almost every series of US coins at one time or another.
You stated that the grading companies have awarded a much higher number of MS68 grades to Morgan dollars than to clad Ike dollars. But you neglected to mention the dramatically higher number of Morgan dollars that have been submitted - in the case of PCGS, more than 50 times as many. And then, as has already been mentioned, there’s the all-important demand factor.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
I (slightly) disagree. Someone who enjoy collecting Ike dollars and have been looking for various ones over the last 35 years, the clad business strikes may be scarce, perhaps yet certainly not rare.
I just picked up this 1977 in PCGS MS66 for under $70. all in:
They're a fun coin to collect, even in the MS66 grade yet are easily available.
We have a winner!
So?
When the number of Morgans double so will the number of Ikes. Even if Ikes triple or quadruple they'll still be scarcer than most Morgans. A certain percentage of Morgans are high grade, a much small proportion of Ikes are.
Nice coin! Considering the mintages, and that most dealers sell these raw (even BU ones) in a tub for around $1.50 apiece, $70 for one indicates they cartainly aren't very common in MS66.
That is an interesting take and one I hadn't thought of.
Beautiful coin.
Imagine what it would cost if it were an equally scarce Morgan!
I'm a toner fan so here's one from my toned silver dollar type set:
I like the ones with the brownish toning as well