Are 1876-P Twenty Cent Pieces undervalued?
rhedden
Posts: 6,632 ✭✭✭✭✭
Historically, the 1876-P twenty cent piece has been valued higher than the 1875-CC, which makes sense from a rarity standpoint, as the 1876-P is indeed a little bit scarcer (though perhaps not as scarce as its 15,900 mintage would suggest). The price of the 1876-P was higher in the 1964 Red book, and it was still higher in all grades in the 2004 Red Book. In the past few years, the 1875-CC has passed it out in price by a large margin (see current PCGS price guide and Heritage auction records), despite coming to auction more frequently. This appreciation has prerhaps been driven by a booming collector-based increase in CC-mint anything in the past 5 years (just ask anyone looking for the better CC dimes, quarters, and halves of the same era). On the other hand, the collector appeal of P-mint Seated coins may be at an all-time low, and few people collect twenty cent pieces by date. Then again, the 1876-P trades rather infrequently and has a low surviving population- earmarks of a "sleeper" coin that is overdue for a whopping price increase. So is 1876-P twenty center the loser of a race that few people are watching, doomed forever to be worth less than the 1875-CC, or is it just flat out undervalued and a bargain at today's prices?
Note: I have left out the 1875-P and 1875-S twenty cent pieces to keep this analysis simple, but feel free to toss them into the fray as well.
Note: I have left out the 1875-P and 1875-S twenty cent pieces to keep this analysis simple, but feel free to toss them into the fray as well.
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There are so few 20c pieces that the set is easily completed (except for the rare 76-cc). How can anything hide as a sleeper among a couple of dates? One can play the mintage game, etc, but to me there is nothing to really see in 20c pieces. The low mintages are somewhat misleading since probably a large % survived.
There are probably 25-50 seated quarters that are scarcer than the regular issue 20c pieces. Just my 2 cents.
roadrunner
From an investment standpoint, I would rate the 1877 and 1878 proofs the best. They are both proof-only dates with mintages well below 1,000.
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
20 Cent Piece
This example is in my Type Set Registry:
Wow, that is a gorgeous 1875-P.
<< <i>Wow, that is a gorgeous 1875-P. >>
Thanks rhedden
It's my first purchase from Brandon at Anaconda (His Pic)
Buying top quality Seated Dimes in Gem BU and Proof.
Buying great coins - monster eye appeal only.
(Note to self: forum member Prethen is cornering the market on better date 20 cent pieces.)
Seriously, I love your montage of 20-centers. You need to cap it off with an 1877 and an 1878.
<< <i>(Note to self: forum member Prethen is cornering the market on better date 20 cent pieces.)
Seriously, I love your montage of 20-centers. You need to cap it off with an 1877 and an 1878. >>
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
Now, the Proofs are a different story. I have a Proof 1876 that's absolutely gorgeous (thanks to Mark Feld!!!). I don't have any plans on getting any of the others. The 1877 and 1878 are a bit out of my reach. Most 20¢ Proofs I see are nothing much to write home about. Many times they're dipped out without a whole lotta life and not the greatest mirrors. However, the Proofs are relatively easy to complete as a set. Hmmm....but if you're a stickler, you could say that you'd have to get the 1875S Proof and now THAT is a showstopper!
I have four 1876 20¢ pieces. They are all beautiful, circulated pieces that have not been cleaned or damaged. Those are rare coins in just about every sense of the word. They become available from time to time in various venues. But finding problem-free examples make you appreciate the very, very low mintage figure and likely low surviving rate.
So, are they underpriced? Well, obviously not if the market indicates how much they should trade for. Are they underappreciated....DAMN RIGHT!
I can find a DOZEN 1875CC 20¢ pieces for every SINGLE Philly Mint I'm lucky enough to find! And that's not saying that any of the coins are ones I'd like to own. More than likely they're not. That is NO joke or over-exaggeration. It's the truth. The CC's are quite available, right behind the S-mint. Yes, the S-mint is quite common and you'll see a dozen of those for every CC coin.
Oddly enough, I actually have a more difficult time finding 1875-P than 1876-P 20¢. I'm not sure why that is, but the population reports and pricing seems to bear out that they have similar surviving rates even though one is more than double the mintage of the other.
The 20-cent series has just about everything a collector of 19th century U.S. coinage could love: A beautiful version of the seated design, moderate size, odd-type, short series so it's "easy" to collect, and very reasonable prices. What more can a collector ask for?!?!
* OK, fine, so I admit photoshopping the front of my 1876-P onto the back of an 1875-CC. But it looks fairly convincing, doesn't it?
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
It doesn't have to be the common 1875-S- you can get one of the better dates (1875-P or 1876-P) for only slightly more money, if any. A general rule of thumb is that when I see scare/rare date type coins trading for the same price as common dates, I buy up the rare ones, of course! Just look at what happened with better date Seated and Barber coins in scarce grades the past few years- scarce dates exploded in value, and common dates- well, they're common.
<< <i>Admittedly, it will probably be a 75S.
It doesn't have to be the common 1875-S- you can get one of the better dates (1875-P or 1876-P) for only slightly more money, if any. A general rule of thumb is that when I see scare/rare date type coins trading for the same price as common dates, I buy up the rare ones, of course! Just look at what happened with better date Seated and Barber coins in scarce grades the past few years- scarce dates exploded in value, and common dates- well, they're common. >>
Maybe, It'll be what ever I find that's eye appealing and in my price range. If it's a rarer coin than the 75S but still meets those two requirements I'm all over it.
That is one sweet group of coins! Considering it's a short series, it isn't so bad to make a short "set" like this. One could even just purchase one from each mint- P, S, CC- and call it complete in a sense. However, the more I think about it, the more I want to go for it and buy the proofs- all four dates- to add to my holdings.
Here's another cool idea- with a little work, a few of us on here could probably find several cool die varieties- repunched mintmarks, late die states, etc.- and expand the catalog of coins in this series. I know there is at least one cool 1875-S/S in Cherrypickers, but I bet there are a few other cool ones. Anybody want to share more detailed information?