Blue Pack Ikes

I was watching one of the coin auctions on TV the other day and the guy was pushing certified high grade Blue Pack Ikes (at double list price) and showing very low population reports. He claimed they were made just like circulation business strikes, which are dumped into bins, so most are in terrible shape and he showed some of the worst I have seen as an example of average condition. Having viewed many of these over the years, I remember most being very high grade and they did not look like they were dumped into bins. Any thoughts on this? How were they made? Are high grades really as rare as the population reports suggest? Have most of the good ones been certified or are they waiting out there in OGP, ready to drive the pops up?

 

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At least with regards to any modern coin, I believe there are many out there that could be certified in high grade.

 

I have all the blue Ikes and by far the worst of the bunch was the 1971. It was the first year of production and I guess the mint didn't make them to collectors' standards. Inside the pack it even said on the certificate that no extra care was taken in the production of the coins or something like that. The '72-'74's uncirculated look like they were handled much better or produced to a more exacting standard. Maybe a bunch of people wrote letters or something after they received their '71 blue packs.

 

That's the answer right there... There are plenty that could be graded and slabbed at high grades but most colletors either buy them already slabbed or if Raw for albums. Not alot of traffic in getting them slabbed. So the actual slabbed population is low but that does not mean that there are not rolls and rolls of UNC/high grade coins out there that "could" be slabbed.

 

Here's the certificate found inside the blue packs:

 

I recently bought a few off eBay, and personally I think their quality is very good, nothing like what you have described.

Yes, there's some "low" mintages - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower_dollar - scroll down and you'll see the numbers for the "blue ikes". I still see plenty of them up for auction, meaning there's still plenty out there to be had. Here's a couple pics of one of the first ones I bought, so you can get an idea. (the scratches are on the cello, not the coin).

 

They may be out there but it seems in most cases even when certified that are many times not worth the cost anymore.
BTW I have found it really hard to get those high grades when I try.

 

I agree for most moderns, but then these Blue Ikes, although better quality, aren’t quite as good as current mint products. I’ve bought 100’s of Blue Packs and I’d say they’ve been cherry picked many times over many years, although nice compared to business strikes, none of them measured up to the certified MS67’s I have.

 

+1 And, the certified high grade 1971 prices reflect this.

 

That is a nice one! I'd like to see it out of the package to determine what's on the coin v the package. I'm finding it hard to find nice ones like that in OGP.

 

Yes, several years ago, when I bid on and bought several certifieds from eBay, I was often outbid. It looks like today they're selling for a lot more, but not as high as the TV hucksters are trying to get.

 

For what it's worth, the comments on condition have been directed to the 1971 version. As miedbe7 stated, the 1973 coins would have been of acceptable standards for collectors. For the most part, I agree with that statement. The 1971 versions were full of milk and hits. Very ugly coins.

 

The 1971-S is hard to find better than MS65 condition, at MS66 they start costing $100 or more. It is the Cuni-clad circulating Ikes that bring the big dollars.....

 

Yeah, but I've always liked these Blue (and Red) Packs, nicer looking in silver.

 

Thats a matter of opinion....

 

So excuse me for being a noob with the Ikes, but what's a Blue Ike?

 

A blue Ike is referring to the packaging the mint used on silver business strike Ike dollars. The package is a blue envelope and as such coin collectors have taken to calling them blue ikes. There is also a brown box Ike as well which housed proof ikes.

 

In 1971- 1974 the Uncirculated S mint came in a blue envelope like such:



(Image copyright, borrowed from http://www.coinbidders.com/coininfo.asp)

 

Thanks!