This weekend I was able to pick up a 1905 P Barber $1/2 in ANACS AU-50. For those who don't collect them, this date has a mintage of 662,427. Now for the amazing part, this piece (date) is priced as a regular 'junk' 'common' date. How the heck can it be valued the same as a 1908 O, with a mintage of over 5 million? This has to be a sleeper. Anyone have any idea of the population (ANACS, PCGS, NGC) for this date & grade? I appreciate the info. Frank
IMO any high grade circ Barber half is a sleeper, especially ones that haven't been swimming in E-Z-Est. I think there's a ton of seriously undervalued coins in that series, and it's a real PITA to put a nice circ set together, I have been toying with doing so. Nice purchase, got pics?
I'd have thought an AU-50 would have a higher pop. 7 PCGS, 2 NGC in AU-50 Last one Heritage sold was in April 08 and it sold for $373.75 and appears to be a dipped out hairlined pig from a quick glance. 69 PCGS higher, 60 NGC higher.
rld: Thanks, no, no pictures, I still have to figure that out. (I suck at pictures). And, yes: I have been working on the 1/2 set since about 1999, and I still have a bunch that I'd like to upgrade to a minimum of F-12. In quarters & dimes, I had planned to shoot for AU's, but, sometimes, it is better to just dream. The quarters are a lot easier, but some dates are near impossible, without a heave bank roll, that is. In quarters: the 1893 S I only have in F-15, the '94 O in G-4, the '96 O is VG+, and darn near impossible to find. [the same with the 1897 O, S]. The '05 O is only a VG, and the '09 O is a fine, (actually a F-) and the 11 S is a F, (but is considered an R-5 in that grade). Same for the 12 S, but that is an R-4 in F-12. In the dimes: The 1896 O is a pain, only a F-12. And a few in only VF. There are some real surprises in the 3 series. Good luck.
I Suck at pictures as well, causes me much annoyance..arrgh. I really want to start on the Halves, I was thinking F/VF if nothing else but for the challenge of it. I bet I could slap an AG/G set together in a week if I wanted, but what's the fun in that? AU Quarters? I agree, that would be a lovely set to do, but I'll stick to collecting Italian sports cars, no way I afford to do the quarters in AU, the two monsters would cost, what, $50k? I saw a set of VF dimes at the last Parsippany show, a guy brought them to a dealer's table I was at, all really nice original coins, said it took him 10 years to find them and I am not surprised. Had em in a mint Whitman hardcover album too, not one of the new plastic binder ones The long term goal is to have a complete set of F+ Seated and up halves.
Sleeper coins are great if you are into lower mintage coins. That is one of the things that pulled me towards the three cent nickels.
One word: DEMAND. Bottom line: There aren't enough collectors who collect these by date to drive up the price of the harder to find issues.
Leadfoot is right on the demand. The barber half set is very hard and expensive to put together. I believe the set would be more popular if the coin was produces at less mints. I do however believe this coin is a sleeper as it's really hard to find good specimens.
Yep. One thing about these so-called "sleepers"... they've been sleeping a long, long time. There's no reason to believe they will suddenly wake up any time soon.
Demand to a degree. Look at what original skin VF+ Barber halves sell for, then go look at what bid/ask is on them. Take the greysheet, roll it up, set it on fire.
RLD, There's a big difference between a "sleeper" and a coin that goes for more than sheet money -- one speaks to future values and the other today's market values. Respectfully...Mike
Today's market values and the accuracy of the greysheet thereof. I agree with Mike... a sleeper is a coin that someone believes is undervalued and should have a significant increase. I personally don't know of any sleepers. And low "mintage : price" ratio does not a sleeper make. As Mike mentioned... the key is demand. If demand does not increase, a sleeper's value won't increase.
Yes, they have been asleep for a long time. pre-1999 (or so) I used to buy Barbers (dimes, quarters, and $1/2's) for junk silver for most dates. That'll never happen again. If you think that the series is still asleep, take a range of Red Books, say: 1995, 1999, 2002 and 2009 and compare the values for the different series. Today a 1914 Barber $1/2 in good lists at $200. How about these (actual) buy prices: G-4 $18 (1998) VG $22 (2001) F $23 (2001) That is a sleeping series? Same comments for many dates in the dimes & quarters. Do a price trends for the 1896 S quarter, and the 1913 S quarter. In those days if a dealer got a key or even a better date they would call me over to the table to alert me. (I was one of the few who was buying them.) Now? They still ask me, but know that I bargain hard. (and they can usually get mmore from someone else). sorry if I come across poorly, but Yes, the series is still asleep for some dates, and just a little more interest in each one will really awaken the prices on all of them.
The Barber series of coins has seemed to "get no respect" since my first go-round in collecting more than 30 years ago. I've come to appreciate them more now and I have upgraded to some decent circulated examples in my 20th Century Type Set, but I've not gone any farther than that (perhaps proving my point). Compared to some really low mintage world coins, though, Barbers are star performers!
If coin prices "correct" that won't bother me a bit, I'll just buy more of what I like and be able to afford it more. My coin holdings are for life, so I am unconcerned if the coin market take a dive for a couple of years. It'll rebound. I am also lucky in that there are very few barber collectors where I live, so I can pick everyone over pretty well.
