Draped Bust coins: underappreciated?

dan1ecu · June 18, 2004 1:30PM

I was looking through the PCGS population report, and I noticed how Draped Bust coins are quite a bit more scarce than Capped Bust coins.

Does anybody have an opinion as to whether or not Draped Bust coins are reasonably priced considering their scarcity? They don't seem to have participated in the bull market to the extent that some other coins have. Do you think they are underappreciated at this point?

Dan

Proof69Eagles · June 18, 2004 1:38PM

I have been collecting some of both pretty regularly lately. I think their values are going to rise alot soon. Just my personal opinion though. But, they haven't appreciated as much as some of the other coins. Been holding onto my Seated Lib Quarters too.

elwood · June 18, 2004 2:14PM

Yes, they are underappreciated. Most are very scarce in problem free condition.

Sell those Seated Quarters.......................to me

JrGMan2004 · June 18, 2004 2:25PM

I think a lot of the bust series are underrated, with a few exceptions. Bust Halves are really hot, but look at Capped Bust Dimes and Half-Dimes. Scarce with nicee honest wear and color, but yet prices are reasonable, if not cheap. And I think there's a tendency for a lot of Bust collectors to like their coins raw, and not inhibited by plastic. Also, it is quite possible that not many coins can even get into PCGS or NGC plastic, because a lot at one point have been cleaned or messed with in some way. Draped Bust coins are also quite a bit more expensive than Capped Busts. I can get a high-end AU Capped Bust Half-Dime or even a low end MS coin for the price of an AG/G Draped Bust coin...

roadrunner · June 18, 2004 2:34PM

In honest and orig MS condition (uncleaned), draped bust material is nearly non-existant. Circ coins of the same quality are very tough too. I love the draped bust quarters in higher grade, they are much tougher than the other denoms and the pops haven't been rising much over the years. Draped bust material costs plenty as it is. It will take continued speculation to drive up the prices as it is already out of the range of most collectors.

Capped bust halves are quite overrated compared to the smaller denominations. Time should correct this.

roadrunner

numobri · June 18, 2004 3:13PM

Underappreciated?

No,they took a big jump in the past three years.

Reasonably priced?

Not any more.

Scarce?

Yes,nice ones.

Would I buy?

Yes. JMO.

lordmarcovan · June 18, 2004 3:17PM

Good luck finding nice, problem-free midgrade stuff in the Draped silver coins. It seems to all either be ugly culls or gorgeous high-end coins that your average Joe like myself could never afford. I was shopping for problem-free slabbed Fines, back in my old type set days (Heraldic eagle only- it was a 19th and 20th century type set).

I had the dollar in undergraded VG08 (the coin was Fine, if not VG10 at least), the half dollar in VF30 (nice coin), the quarter in Fine, the dime in slightly-overgraded Fine, and then I had to find the half dime. I gave up after two years and settled for an ANACS G06. (I did not collect net grades or problem coins in that set). Actually, though it was not net-graded, that G06 half dime had a light bend. It wasn't awful, but that is one time I settled for less than my expectations, mostly because I got impatient to finish the set, and that was the one hole left in it.

I wanna dig some Draped silver while detecting. So far I have found one coin, but it was copper (a large cent that was unfortunately too corroded to read the date on). A fella I know dug a sweet VF 1800 dime just north of here, at an old plantation site that was being cleared for a modern factory outlet mall. Some other amazing coins came up there. He told me he found the dime near an old foundation, and I knew the exact spot he meant. I think it had been a slave cabin. It's got a Burger King on top of it, now.

Varlis · June 18, 2004 4:21PM

I certainly appreciate mine.

I agree 100 percent with people who are saying that original draped bust material in lower collectable grades is difficult to find. Prices have been increasing, but if you buy from a dealer (or eBayer) who doesn't specialize in this area, then I think if you do happen to come across a nice original piece, you can often get it at the same price said dealer (or eBayer) would ask for material that a bust collector would consider too unoriginal-looking. In my experience, good deals can still be found in this area, although they are admittedly too far and few between. While I know the most about quarters, I would also agree with the general sentiment that halves seem to be getting much more attention than other denominations (though lower collectable-grade draped quarters will always be snapped from dealers' websites in a day or two).

Baley · June 18, 2004 7:30PM

Draped bust coins are among my favorites. I think they are still reasonably priced considering their scarcity. Most collectors do not have any of these, or if they do have a few, they have one of each type rather than a date set. Only a relatively few people collect draped bust coins by die variety. Still, the demand for them as type coins should increase proportionally with the coin market, since a certain percentage of collectors will seek out these coins, even if they don't appeal to the PF70 crowd.

291fifth · June 18, 2004 8:26PM

What we may be witnessing is the slow death of the middle of the market. Draped bust coins lack the appeal of the very earliest issues. Currently, the money is chasing the pre-draped bust coins. Draped Bust coins will always have a following but in the future they may be collected mostly as type coins.

Seated Liberty coins suffer from two major problems:
1. They were very long running series that have a large number of rare and expensive dates/mint marks.
2. The remaining population has suffered badly from cleaning and dipping. It has become very difficult to find Liberty Seated material that is original and has good eye-appeal.

pmh1nic · June 18, 2004 10:45PM

Unless you appreciate something other than blast white, MS-68 and higher coins the Draped Bust coinage isn't going to be attractive to most collectors. Unfortunately I think many folks entering the hobby hear the hype on HSN and think that if it isn't MS-70 or close to it it's not worth collecting.

In addition if you're a middle income person looking to complete a set of nice XF~AU coins with eye appeal the pricing could be prohibitive. These are two of the reasons I don't think you're going to see any huges increases in pricing on these coins.

Draped Bust coins: underappreciated?

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