Which of the "Common Rarities" in U.S Numismatics is the Most Overpriced?

Again, nearly ALL of them in plastic. I added to that population by one.Not my coin. I submitted it for a buddy.

 

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I agree. NGC and PCGS pop reports are about as useless as anything ever gets, UNLESS what you’re doing is seeing where on the scale your coin lies. I own two “1/0 top pop” coins. Not great rarities per se, but top pop.

 

I'll throw out another relatively over-priced rarity candidate …the 1907 Roman Numeral High Relief St. Gaudens Double Eagle, perhaps the sexiest candidate for this list. Considering these were struck to be held and preserved as exceptional specimens of the nation's newly re-designed gold coinage, their survival rate is relatively high. Again, the all important key to the value of this extremely beautiful coin is its perennial demand.

 

Another term I don’t like - “survival rate”. I assume all survival rates are high, because HUGE numbers of coins are stashed away gathering dust. Just because we don’t know exactly where they are, doesn’t mean they haven’t survived.

 

I'll go with the flow-'09-S VDB.

 

Indeed. Maybe I should pose a related question: "Which of these coins will be first to have its graded population (including only the major TPGs) exceed its mintage?"

 

Im on the SVDB wagon.

A few more for the list-
1856 flyer
1876cc twenty cent piece
1885 V nickel
1895 Morgan
1901s barber quarter
1872 2 cent piece
Maybe even>
1913 d type 2 buff

Edit: im not sure the 1876cc 20 cent is a "common" rarity or not? Its like $20k in g04.

 

Respectfully, the survival rate term for which you don't particularly care is a term we used decades ago, long prior to TPG population reports existence. In this case re: 1907 Hi-Relief Saints, this was a known observable reality among most knowledgeable dealers.

 

Respectfully, I don’t think any such thing exists. Too many coins exist “off the radar” of even the most knowledgeable dealers.

There is “dealer world” and then there is the “real world”. If there weren’t, the concept of “fresh to the market” wouldn’t exist.

 

The 09-s VDB is not a question of rarity. Its price is elevated because of demand (i.e. people will pay the price to get one).

 

What about the 21d Walker? I need one to complete the set, but come on, ya need 200 bucks just to get a G4.

 

@V. Kurt Bellman … I fear we're knocking heads unnecessarily. I don't have a problem with fresh to the market except when it's overused/abused as a horsefeathers term dependant on which marketer is using it. Likewise, I think there needs to be respect for survival rate or some similar term or concept when it's contextualized in what were then realistic concepts in the 1950s, 60s and early 70s. I would value your flexibility on this issue.

 

Oh I'm flexible, but I also live in a VASTLY different numismatic world from the typical coin show circuit dealer. I see raw coins, GREAT coins, IMPORTANT coins, on a week in and week out basis. Many have not been bought or sold, just held, for decades and decades. I've seen, at a little old small town coin show (Lancaster, PA) an MS65 or better 1916-D dime, RAW!!! And there was a Farran Zerbe Award winner present to authenticate it, along with one of the finest numismatic writers known (two different people). THIS is the world in which I ply this hobby.

My former neighbors are frugal to a fault, and more secretive about what they have than the NSA is. Pennsylvania farmhouses tend to be treasure troves of coins that have never been seen by the dealer network. Then these guys die, and what happens next depends on the heirs.

 

If you want to include “special designation” labels, it has already happened. The 1964-2014 dual date gold Kennedy half. NGC required proof of show purchase to get the ANA show label, but PCGS did not. Hence more gold Kennedy’s have ANA show labels than were sold at the show, due to coins bought elsewhere and flown in. Thanks, PCGS.

 

Ah! Now you are talking about one seriously overpriced coin. Most people trying to sell them on eBay will have a long gray beard before they get any takers.

 

Now, let's be realistic. The majority of collectors still die clean-shaven.

 

Wow, I hadn't looked in a while. These guys must be high.

 

No. Underwater.

 

@V. Kurt Bellman … I believe I understand from where you come more than you might realize… don't sell me short. Although I was only seven when the family moved to South Florida from NorthEast Ohio, I'm quite aware of the Pennsylvania farmhouses of which you speak. As a teen in Miami, I regularly cranked-up and drove Sidney's 1911 White 7•passenger Touring Car which had come as a rust bucket out of such a PA barn. Sid had taken it in trade in 1953 for his fully restored 1910 Hupmobile. The White was subsequently torn down to the chassis and also fully restored over the next couple years. By the mid-60s when as a busy coin dealer he had little time to drive the White, it fell to me to assure it was in running order.

 

I was going to say the 1856 flying eagle deserved a spot on the list, but new specimens are impossible to find. The only weird thing about them is that sometimes they sell for $19,000, and sometimes only $9,000. There seems to be no consistency. That, combined with the disagreement over them being business or proof makes them an oddity.