Options
Sleeper Dates and Mint Marks Post 1960 coins
cameonut2011
Posts: 10,841 ✭✭✭✭✭
The goal is to compile a list of 1960 or after coinage with the greatest chance of appreciation in the future. Generally I’m not talking about single top pop. I’m talking about issues that are, for lack of a better word, under rated and not just conditionally rare in the highest grade.
0
Comments
1970 s small date cent.
HAPPY COLLECTING
82 and 83 nonexistent mint sets.
90 thru 94 full bands.
76 Type I Ike.
Any DCAM SMS coin.
1964 D Peace dollar (not)
Lincoln Cents: all 2009 types from mint set (these are the only 2009 [P] and D that are solid bronze).
Jefferson Nickels: 2009-P, 2009-D.
Roosevelt Dimes: 2009-P, 2009-D.
Washington Quarters: All "Type-H" reverse for 1969-D, 1970-D, 1971-D, 1972-D (these are all very rare).
Kennedy Half Dollar: 1978-D
Eisenhower Dollar: 1977 [P]
1973 $1 (All)
1982 no P 10¢ (FB)
1996 W 10¢
2009 1¢ (all)
2009 5¢ (all)
2009 10¢ (all)
2019 W 1¢
2019 W 25¢
2020 W 25¢
2024 5¢ (all)
2024 10¢ (all)
2026 W 50¢
“Land of the free because of the brave”
“Saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone”
In Deo solo confidimus
ΙΧΘΥΣ
ΙϹ ΧϹ ΝΙΚΑ (ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΝΙΚΑ)
Member since 2026
Successful BST transactions with: Ted 1, JWP, bigjpst, Vetter, nickelsciolist, ajaan, USMarine6, ad4400, grote15, coinbuf, Gothat3rs, No Headlights, PROMETHIUS88, Harlequin, Coin Finder, Coins3675, CKcollectibles2
Thank you cameonut2011 and respondents for this post. It helps me as an occasional hobbyist sort out what is not obvious from the coin book.
Yeah I'm planning to keep a few rolls.
I learned something new. Thank you.
People have the wrong idea about moderns. They choose some arbitrary date and then pronounce everything made after that date as "common" because they never actually look at any of them. On the rare occasion someone looks lo and behold it's a coin from their pockets which will almost in every instance be exceedingly common because the coins were made in enormous mintages and have worn evenly ie- each coin of a given date has nearly equal wear because the mint and FED rotate their stocks so coins circulate instead of occupying vault space. They pull out a 1987-D quarter in VF with lots of fine scratches on it.
It's what you don't see that can be rare and this is doubly true when it was something you could never see because one never came your way. This is the nature of rarity in coins; you don't see them very often.
Early moderns were almost universally poorly made by worn and eroded dies. The dies were set too far apart to get them to strike more coins and even after they wore out anyway they remained in production. The first coins from almost every brand new die pair were badly struck and each subsequent strike went downhill from there. Brand new coins hot off the die often had less detail than a VG. Even into later decades large percentages of many issues were poorly made. The few collectors hardly noticed because most were collecting mint set coins which are struck with new dies under high pressure so are usually pretty good. Mint set coins average better than 90% nice chBU or better while coins made for circulation vary from fewer than 10% chBU ('66 dimes) to as high as 95% for many later coins after 1999 while Gems range from as high as 60% (1988-D pennies) in mint sets to as high as 10% in circulation. There are numerous dates that I've never seen in Gem made for circulation because they are just that rare.
When you change your focus like this it's not only the low mintage coins that are tough it's those with very high attrition. It's not just the '71-D RPM dime with a mintage under a couple hundred that is rare but the '71-P in nice Gem that was scarce in circulation and didn't survive except in a few mint sets (~1%).
People only imagine there are vast hoards of this stuff because mintages were so enormous and they imagine anyone could set aside as many as they wanted. But there was no source for '71-D/ D dimes or for Gem philly issues. You had to identify the rarities for yourself and then go out and find them. It's always been the second part of this that requires real work and real effort. All anyone has to do to identify what exists is to just keep looking instead of glancing at what comes their way. You have to find what doesn't come your way because it's rare.
Even many people in the thick of moderns don't really appreciate what is still transpiring. There are still lots of 1971 mint sets since only 75% have been destroyed. So the few people in the business sees lots and lots of them and can't directly see how few are left. Everyone thinks there are endless supplies of everything even though attrition has eaten virtually the entire mintage. WYSIWYG. Demand is finally consuming these coins faster than they can come to market and the sky high attrition should stop (slow to 1%) as the coins go into collections.
Copilot-
"The real rarity is in what you don’t see — and in moderns, that’s doubly true because many coins never came your way in the first place. Rarity in coins is defined by absence, not presence."
Coin collectors want a list of dates to seek out but with moderns it just doesn't work that way.
With moderns it's more about looking for nice attractive coins that any collector would be proud to own whether the coins are AG or superbGem. Some moderns are tough in any grade and some are tough only when you get to nice chBU but a few aren't even tough in MS-67. '88-D cents are quite "common" even in the highest grades but '80-D half dollars are tough without scrapes on them.
A proper response to this thread would require a complete list of every single coin, variety, and type and in what grade it becomes difficult to find nice because even the '88-D is tough in MS-69+ and a '72-D/D dime is tough in any condition including cull. So instead of a comprehensive (or meaningful) answer I'll just list the coins that aren't going to show up much if at all in chBU rolls because there are so few of them.
cents- '66, '67, '68, '84 (flat surfaces).
nickels- '82 and '83 issues.
dimes- all varieties, '69. '71, '82 and '83 issues.
quarters- '67, '69, '71, '71-D, '82 and '83 issues
half dollars- '66, '82 and '83 issues.
dollars- '71, '71-D, '76 type I, '79-S.
There are numerous toughies in addition to these. Many of the few rolls you see will not be very nice and will contain at least some off quality coins.
In nice gemmy condition (MS-64) many of the early coins will be tough and in Gem almost none will be common except the '72-D.
Again though I'm talking about nice attractive coins without chicken scratching weak strikes and worn dies. For instance there are lots of beautiful (often toned) 1984 cents that are spectacular and free o0f marking. But specimens with nice flat surfaces or in PL are rare to non-existent. Each date and mint has a specific "look" to it but there is variability in this look. The '76-D type II Ike comes highly PL where the '74 does not.
I'd say rarity is where you find it but in moderns rarity is where you don't find it. Anyone can look and look and look and not find a nice Gem '81-S SBA. This date is only beginning to tarnish but very few went into mint sets.
Copilot-
"Moderns don’t have key dates; they have key conditions. Rarity emerges from poor strikes, extreme attrition, and tiny surviving pockets of quality. The toughest coins are the ones you never see."
@cladking ; Thanks for that post. I will have to figure out how to save this for future reference. James
Great thread! @cladking Question, in your opinion what are the toughest original mint sets to find in the wild post 1959?
The court jester does not play, but gently pulls the strings…
All the silver sets are scarce but unless you want an intact set these are vastly overrated because the coins are pretty much typical quality and there are tens of thousands of nice typical rolls. Except for varieties there are very few rare coins in these sets even though the sets themselves can be "rare" now days.
The '65 is the real dark horse here because it's so hard to estimate how hard the attrition is. The '66 and '67 SMS can be reassembled from rolls but not the '65. The date does tend to tarnish a little but is better than later dates. These sets were destroyed in 1980 and recently to melt the half dollar. Interest in the SMS has always been muted but persistent. The half dollar is popular but very few care about the other denominations except for cameos. Even the FS nickels and FB dimes are ignored. These factors combined with its age could put it among the scarcest of intact modern sets. Even though more numerous I prefer the '66 set because it has more trial pieces and rare coins in it. The '67 has the most high quality. The '68 and '69 sets are more than 75% destroyed but the real damage is worse than that because virtually every coin in every set is hazed and tarnished. Most need to be soaked in alcohol to even see what's there or to be graded. Lots of them like the Philly cent can't be restored with a simple soak (or at all). I suspect the '70 set is a little more common but it has the same problems. The '71 is a wreck. 70% gone and what's left is tarnished. The Philly coins were poorly produced, less likely to clean up, and saved less. '72 is good quality and better preserved. The '73 is OK but in short supply today.
The '74 may be one of the toughest. It's corroded and never appreciated. Coins have a different less appealing look. I'd guess 65% are gone. '75 is awful. The philly coins especially the dollar are poor and hard to clean. The '76 is a little better. '77 and '78 are tarnished but usually not as badly. Some of these could be tougher in nice chBU than people think. '79 and '80 aren't good but higher mintage and less attrition. '81 and later are OK but some of the mintages are lower. The '89 is beginning to tarnish.
A great deal depends on how many rolls were saved but early rolls weren't saved and wouldn't be good if thewy were. Many of the later dates will actually be scarcer in Gem and chGem but most will be available in chBU. Mint sets are the origin of most modern Gems but there can be small quantities people found in bags especially for post-1983 coins.
Right now most mint sets at bid are a really good deal and hard to find because mint sets are being diverted to retail sales in ever growing numbers. At retail prices a set must contain a Gem or two to be worth it and as a rule there are only two Gems in three sets. A minor Gem in a tarnished set is a bad deal at retail prices. Some dealers will pick over sets before they even offer them.
The '69 and '71 sets were always my favorites in the old days and I'd always pick these out first. Now days I might be more likely to look at the '70, SMS's, and '69. These early sets as a rule of thumb should be opened up and soaked in alcohol before it's too late.
The toughest to find in original condition is the 1969 followed by the '68, '70. and '71. Thew '69 is worst but you can find a few coins that aren't affected (usually nickels). The '68 might be completely gone but less far gone.
There aren't ,many of these sets left anyway but every year a smaller percentage of the coins can be saved by soaking in acetone. Right now it's 75 - 80% but in five years it will be down to 50%.
I went to extreme effort to save the nicest 10 or 15 sets of each date I could find. I had a '68-P packet that contained all GemPL coins. Then about 12 years ago I started checking the coins in my safety deposit boxes and was shocked at their condition. Despite a temperature and humidity controlled environment, being years ago, and having included desiccants almost all of these sets and most of the coins were affected. Some were awful. These coins have all been soaked in a solution of 91% isopropyl alcohol and acetone and stored in archival flips now. Dozens and dozens of coins were lost.
It was my own fault because I knew in 25 years ago that the packaging was unstable because I had soaked some coins and stored them in tubes and these were unaffected. Mint set '68 (P) cents won't have survived in the packaging because very very few can be restored at all. There used to be lots of early Gem cents in the packaging but the attrition is just staggering due to spotting. The '69 cents were all common in Gem in mint sets but quite scarce in rolls.
The coins in these sets need to be stabilized while any remain. Generally speaking the higher the grade the more likely they can be restored so even chBU and MS-64 coins are threatened. Some coins like the '68 dime are very resistant to restoration.
Demand for min sets will vary a great deal by date because nice coins have been set aside in rolls in some cases. Finding nice rolls of '76 quarters isn't too tough and this reduces demand for '75 mint sets. People saved rolls of '72-D cents and these can be nice so these mint sets are in less demand.
Right now mint sets are selling largely as "date collections" but in the long run it will come down to the demand for each specific coin.