Options
Where does common end and scarce or rare begin?
rec78
Posts: 5,965 ✭✭✭✭✭
What makes a coin rare? really.-mintage?-desireability?-availibility?Price?
Mintage?-there are some low mintage coins that aren't rare at all. 1825 half cents come to mind.
Desirability?--There are a lot of coins that are very desirable but aren't rare at all.
Availibility?--perhaps here is where it is at--still, there are some coins that aren't very available but would not have many buyers if there were.
Price?--Price is just a function of supply and demand..for instance there over 1000 known 1856 Flying eagle cents yet they sell for $8K-up. These coins are not rare at all in the real sense.
Where are the dividing lines between common and scarce ?, and scarce and rare?.
Thoughts anyone? Thanks, Bob
Mintage?-there are some low mintage coins that aren't rare at all. 1825 half cents come to mind.
Desirability?--There are a lot of coins that are very desirable but aren't rare at all.
Availibility?--perhaps here is where it is at--still, there are some coins that aren't very available but would not have many buyers if there were.
Price?--Price is just a function of supply and demand..for instance there over 1000 known 1856 Flying eagle cents yet they sell for $8K-up. These coins are not rare at all in the real sense.
Where are the dividing lines between common and scarce ?, and scarce and rare?.
Thoughts anyone? Thanks, Bob
0
Comments
the primary component of price in a collectible and number available determines the
level at which demand can raise the price, it is much more the relative size of the de-
mand to the supply. An '09-S VDB may be common, but compared to the demand it
is really quite scarce. An 1873 3c silver is relatively scarce but compared to the demand
it is not so scarce as the cent.
There is also a factor that applies to the individuals who desire a coin. Most of them
may drop out of desiring the coin at some arbitrary level. If the demand for a coin is
from type collectors or is any sort of non-specific demand then the price becomes
much less elastic. Collectors will seek alternatives if the price gets too high.
Perhaps availability is a good way of looking at it. If there are enough coins available
it won't cause the price to drop but it will keep it from rising. Don't lose sight of the
fact that with popular coins there have to be a ready supply to satisfy the constant
demand. And while you might have difficulty locating a 1992 quarter at a coin show
this is more indicative of weak demand than scarcity.
Short answer; it's the demand relative the supply. when demand isn't met then even-
tually the price has to respond. It won't necessarily happen immediately but it will hap-
pen.
to me, supply (meaning how many of them there are) is defined by the known populations of the coins, folks differ on exact numbers, but to make it simple, to me it's scarce if there are fewer than a couple thousand of them, and it's rare if there are fewer than a couple hundred of them. there are also "very", and "extremely" rare, as well as unique.
there are also "very" and "extremely" common.
I don't believe people who tell you something is "rare" because a lot of people want them and they're therefore expensive.
It might be "priced high because of high supply and even higher demand" but it's not rare. Because if the demand were to decrease, there would still be a lot of them extant (common)
edit: please don't get me started on "expensive condition rarities that are otherwise very common coins just a point or two lower"
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
The 1909-S VDB cent is not, by any strictly quantitative measure, "rare" or even "scarce." Many people use those terms for that issue because of the demand-driven value of the coin, and because of the *relative* scarcity of the issue compared with others in its series.
I tend to equate everything to 19th century silver.
Scarce (desireable) to me in under about 350 pieces known.
Very scarce (very desireable) falls under the 250 piece range.
Rare (highly desireable) is under 150 pieces.
Very rare (most desireable dates) are under 100 pieces.
The adjectives do not equate to the R-scale.
Examples of each imo for seated quarters:
1847-0
1867-s
1852-0
1872-s