Is it because of their ugly design? I am looking for them on eBay and they seem to bring a lot less than redbook price, and it seems like there isn't a high demand for them.
*GASP* UGLY!? No! They are the best small cent to be produced IMO, it's a shame they were so shortlived!
I don't think there is as high a demand for them. Ask yourself how many do you own. I know I have the one set of the two you can get and I don't need anymore. Sent from my PD_Novel using Tapatalk
As mentioned before - red book is not a good price guide. And if you look to the higher grades I think you will see the demand is there - especially for 1856 FE's. Even those as problem coins bring some serious dollars.
I think it's because they were only made for three years, only two are easily accessible. There is not much challenge to complete a series of them, compared to say Morgans, where there are many, many more.
Well - only a financial challenge for that 1856 - the 57 and 58 are easily available in low grades, but rapidly escalate in the high grades. But even those high grades can be found.
Not sure if there is no respect, but according to eBay they are not the most popular. It involved certain patience, but recently I got a 1858 Small Letters in F-VF for $32 (excluding shipping). It should have cost in the $44 area, according to photograde and red book values. I see other coins, such as seated half dollars or any half cents in F and higher grades, very often sold on eBay for prices higher than they should be.
Mostly because MORGANS ARE KING. I like the silver content. The way Morgans tone can vary. And they are available
Not sure if the Redbook is that accurate but whatever they sell for is the value of the Flying Eagle cent.
Ugly? Definitely not! No high demand? So somebody like me, with a very limited supply (Much like that milk left at the bottom of a cup after drinking it alll) of money can buy one. I have yet to get one of these beauties. Selling a couple for a friend, but definitely can't buy one right now.
No, not ugly. I personally think the problem is not enough people need them. They are usually lumped with the Indian Head cent's. I know all folders do that and I think (and may be wrong) albums do it too. So circulated, uncirculated it doesn't matter not enough people have Indian Head sets and those that do have them their set's don't go back far enough to need to fill those holes. They hit road blocks with regard to mintage and price when they get back prior to the 1880 indian. I personally don't have any and would love some but I am currently trying to finish UNC sets right now so I'm not actively seeking out Flying eagles or Indian Heads for that matter, coupled with the fact that most of what I see are almost all G (all my Indian Heads are VG and most are F/VF), corroded, or scratched and I don't ever touch cleaned coins.
Let me see if I can something across to you. And I'll apologize in advance if this seems harsh. You are looking to by a car. So you look around, find the model and year of car you want, and check the asking prices. Then to find out if those prices are fair or not you get your copy of the Flintstones comic book to see how much the cars should cost. In a nutshell that is what you are doing when you check the value of coins in the Red Book - you are going to a comic book and then trying to find some comparison between what's in the comic book and the real world. If you want to know the mintage of a certain US coin - get the Red Book. If you want to know the metallic composition of a certain US coin - get the Red Book. If you want to know the date range that a certain US coin was minted in - get the Red Book. If you want to know a bit of the history of a US coin or who its designer was - get the Red Book. If you want to know even the approximate value of a US coin - THROW THE DANG RED BOOK IN THE GARBAGE CAN !
I would rank Flying Eagles as one of the top three best looking US coins ever. The problem is they cost too much.
Maybe high grade but I was happy to spend about $35 on a F-VF 1858 Small Letters Flying Eagle about 6 months ago. $35 isn't that much money to me in the coin collecting world.
You forgot: If you want to know the weight of a certain US coin - get the Red Book. If I want to check the going value or price of a particular coin, I'll check Red Book, Greysheets, HA prices and other auctions to get the ballpark going rate for a particular coin by comparing them all, mostly the auctions will tell you what people are currently paying though and are more accurate.
For a couple coins having mintages over 17 and 24 million, they've always seemed pricey to me. I've never owned one. I need one for the US type set but haven't looked at them much. $50 will get you a beat up one. $100 will get you one that isn't much better than the $50 one. You almost have to spend over $300 to get a nice example. At that price, it hasn't been high on my list. As far as it's beauty, I think they're at the bottom within their own series. They don't do much for me. I'm going to buy an example but I probably wouldn't buy another one.
