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Are Privy Marks a fad, or will they become as important as Mintmarks?
Halfhunter06
Posts: 1,349 ✭✭✭
The past year seems to have been a boom for privy marks. We have had the Omega Cent, US soccer team privy on the Silver Eagles, the 9/11 Half Dollars, and the 4th of July privies on many coins.
Will the privys really become highly collectable, and expensive, varieties...or will they fade away with only specialist interest and small premiums?
Im curious what the collector community thinks about this.
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Fad. it sells more for the mint now when sales are weak but 5 years from now nobody will care imo. RGDS!
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
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Retiring at 55, what day is today?
Fad, artificially generated “scarcity” which is of zero numismatic interest.
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Mints (and not just the US mint) intentionally creating "scarce/rare collectibles" are the reason I no longer collect modern coins.
In a world where collectors still
want both T1 and T2 1979 and 1981 proof sets, I would not rule out the possibility that collectors will still want the privy varieties for their sets in 50 years.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
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collecting oddball holders was a fad
Fad
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No doubt, some will. Will that be lots of collectors or a few? I don't know.
Regarding what collectors choose to collect- is it in the Redbook and what holes are in the albums? How many fewer people would want a 37-D three legged buffalo, if there wasn't a spot for it and it wasn't listed in coin guides and pricelists? Personally, I think a lot fewer.
They exist, therefore they will be collected.
Will they be valuable? That remains to be seen.
Not a fan. Feels like a fad. Too many to keep up with, just feels like a cash grab.
Fad (dont over do it guys)
Well they definitely won't be as important as mintmarks to collectors but they're out there and they will continue to garner interest from some but long term I don't think they will hold any significant value or premium 😎
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Mostly a fad.
Mint marks have a very long history, and of course have been readily available in circulation for ages. These privy marks are intentional and artificial rarities, if they are intended for circulation at all. I don't consider the privy marks interesting, but I would like to find one of the circulating ones in circulation, and if I ever wanted a 'complete' type set, I figure I would need one of them. I'd draw the line at just one of the privies, trying to get all of them is playing a suckers game imo.
I think in a world where large letters, small letters, micro S, trumpet S, small date, med date, large date, overdate, rpm, ddo, ddr, type 1, type 2, V.D.B., no cents, large motto, small motto, open 3, closed 3, tall date, rev 1, rev, 2, rev 3, and vast amounts of other relatively uninteresting micro varieties continue to be avidly collected, privy marks will hold their own as varieties of interest. I'm told even mintmarks were not of great interest to collectors in general before Whitman boards popularized them.
However I do foresee a change in numismatics with the coming generations of collectors. From what I have observed, serious young collectors tend to focus less on complete sets or micro varieties, but more on superb coins, individual rarities (ex. owning an 1877 1c MS64RB PCGS CAC while ignoring other Indian cents altogether), and type coins. This is not universal by any means, but I do feel a shift in general with younger avid collectors.
If this mentality becomes more standard and set building declines, privies along with other micro varieties, would likely suffer. If the current way of collecting remain standard, they're not going anywhere.
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See also: W-mint quarters. Privies are just a way of doing this at scale.
Pogo sticks, hula hoops, & yo-yo’s are fads. Privy marks are an assault on normal collectors’ ways, but we are a resilient lot.
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I'm not privy to that information.
Why can't the answer be "neither"? They don't have to be a fad or important, just another "thing" that some people might (or might not) care about.
Personally, I don't think MMs are at all important and prefer privy marks to MMs. But I genuinely care very little about either.
I'm not sure why MMs should be viewed any differently than privy marks: a mark added to a die to indicate "something".
I don't even care that much about dates, quite frankly. (Although I'm probably in a very small group there.)
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
A marketing gimmick for sure, hopefully a fad. I suppose there remain a few collectors of beanie babies out there, so privies may have followers for some time. I won’t call out some of the other fads (IMO) popular currently - I do try not to criticize what others choose to collect.
Agree for the most part. I have included examples of all mints in my expanded type set and certain dates, such as first and last year of types. Historical relevance pieces pertaining to our history, including numismatic history.
I like the privy mark on the Semiquincentennial Trump Dollars showing that the coins were actually minted on USA 250 July 4, 2026. Seems like a mark that means something. Many of the other privy marks don't seem to really mean much and are much less important in my opinion.
I think they will remain popular if they are used sparingly, only for important events/dates. But if they have several coins each year with privy marks to hunt down, it'll be too much and collectors will lose interest.
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The 1922 US Grant commemorative silver half dollar and gold dollar coins were selling poorly so the US Mint added a star above the date to create a new variety to encourage additional coin sales. It was claimed that the star represented Grant's rank as a general during his military service. Would this star be considered a privy mark? Also, would the "CAL." punched on the reverse die of the 1848 $2.5 gold coin be considered a privy mark?
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I'm not privy to that information either.
I believe so, yes.
I'm an ASE collector with a "completist" compulsion. The PM issues were added to my checklist as they were affordable additions to my collection. I think the USM will continue to add PMs to its coinage.
It would be more collectable if left unknown when issued by the mint then discovered later on by a collector.
Something tells me in a short 1-3 years they'll suddenly stop like the late night coin-fomercial material they are.
Once the "right" people have made money on them and departed from the scene they will fade in importance and interest. Essentially, they are just another modern made-for-collector item.
They're a fad and they will become more important than the mint marks of the coins they're on.
They're going to dictate value because people will throw money at them coming from the mint and in the secondary market without regard to what mint they come from. Circulation production attempts to balance the load at both mints, so there's not really a concept of one being scarcer than the others. They're a cheap and easy way to manufacture a rarity at the mint. What will make them a fad is when the mint kills their golden goose and people tire of chasing them. Maybe they make one with a privy mark collector privy mark (I think there was a Conder token like that).
Thing is, once they stop doing that, they'll have to find a different way to move product and people making a killing flipping privy marks into the secondary market will clamor for something to take their place. One fad will be replaced by another.
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FWIW, it’s definitely a gimmick. And I wouldn’t call it a fad. I’d just call it a gimmick that is working.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
They are not mint marks, or as historically and geographically significant for sure.
They can be rarities, especially considering the demand for some and the low mintages.
From a cultural standpoint they can serve as reminders of significant events or institutions or commemorate numismatic anniversaries etc. So that is a important contribution IMO.
My guesstimate is some will be valued, some will not down the road.
A lot will depend on how the coin industry treats privy marks. For example, will major price guides like the Red Book and Grey Sheet list and show separate prices the coins with privy marks?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Of course they will.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
I'm sure they will, if they haven't already. The Greysheet can be more responsive to rapid market changes than the Red Book, so it makes more sense for them to be there first. Searching eBay completed auctions is probably best.
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I think they will have their own following similar to chop marks.
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
They've become boring, to me at least, very quickly.
I so hope they GO AWAY!
I think they will be back in 2050.....
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