Good Day to all I completed a nice set of Peace Dollars in XF-AU. I really like this offbeat short set; it's not in the limelight for most collectors, but I encourage it for anyone who likes S$ yet doesn't want to mess with myriad Morgans or newer dollar editions. Here's my question: It appears to me that Peace dollars represent a set in which value versus mintage are more "out of whack" than many other sets. For instance: The "key" dates for PRICE are the 1921, 1928, and 1934-S. The mintage for these dates are 1 million, 360 thousand, and 1 million, respectively. Yet here are four more dates that have similar mintage, yet are nowhere near as valuable: 1927 (848 thousand), 1927-S (866 thousand), 1934-D (1.6 million) and 1935 (1.5 million). Can anyone provide the reason that two of the three lowest mintage Peace dollars are not "key" price, along with the others mentioned. Not by a longshot. Was there some historical issue? Major melt down of certain Peace dollars, giant bags were lost, etc.?? Seeking if anyone has a specific clue versus a "generic" answer to this question. I recognize for a variety of reasons that mintage and price are not parallel. Indeed, the cost for a given grade is another big variable. However, for Peace dollars it appears quite exaggerated. Kind Regards Houston_Ray
I've had much the same thoughts as you regarding this issue Ray, especially when it come to the '34-s. Ouch, that one hurts when it comes to higher grade. There are coins that are lower in mintage and price than that year. I don't know, was there a big melt down at one time?
melt down or not it is always better to look at survival rates lets say i make 10000 coins and 9000 survive but you make 10000000 coins and only 10 survive which is rarer? thats another reason why coins from india are a dicey proposition no one knows how many survived so do your research for peace the market can be right or wrong or just lacking information take the ikes nonsense that was stirred up last week. folks who bought it might have taken a bath
Hi spock Yes, I agree the "survival" rate is a key element here. Also the survival rate for a given grade. Assuming YES, then for instance, is there any historical or empirical evidence that the 1934-S survival rate is low? Because the difference in MINTAGE between the 1934-S and 1934-D is only 600 thousand. Yet, as you point out, the PRICE difference is huge. Has there been speculation there are unknown bags of the 34-S somewhere? I recall something like this in reverse for the 1950-D Jefferson nickel. If memory serves me, that used to be considered a relative expensive date for the set. Then bags and bags of them were found in a vault and they became just another date in the set. What evidence is there that the survival rate for the 1934-S and 1921 were especially low versus the 1934-D and 1935? NOTE: This is one of the things about coin collecting I like the most. I enjoy the background history and science of the hobby. Kind Regards Houston_Ray
The 1903-O was considered one of the rarest of all Morgans. That was, until the treasury release of 1962-1964. They found bags of these coins and the prices for them dropped overnight.
The evidence is plainly obvious - it is the price itself. The market establishes price based on availability and frequency of availability for any given coin in any given grade - supply. Add to that, of course, demand and you your evidence.
.......i agree with doug. also, q.david bowers talks of this, i believe, in his book on morgan and peace dollars. it's a good read.
Well the 1921 is a high relief coin. With that being said it is often collected as a type coin, where it is one of the few high relief coins that one can buy. For that reason the demand is high, thus the price. The 34-s is a conditional rarity in high grades. These coins were minted in the late depression days and the coins were used. Now I'm not sure why the 35 and 34-d are not as expensive as the others, maybe some survived in bank vaults longer than the others. I do know that if Peace Dollars were collected with the same popularity as the Morgans few would be able to afford them.
