All I do is ask dumb questions, so here is yet another. For 3-4 months I have been buying pf 69 PCGS kennedys. Probably have 25-30. Over the weekend, I was at a flea market looking over a dealers inventory. I told him I had been collecting these and his reply was You won't live long enough for these to go up in value. Did he bust my bubble! Whaddaya think?
If you're collecting them because you like them, who cares what he thinks. If you are buying them because you think they will go up in value, they're a good buy at $6 each. With the exception of a few dates, PF69 Kennedys are extremely common.
You don't want to pay a lot for these and they are common but keep in mind that there are different meanings of the word "common" as it applies to coins. Generally only about 1% to 4% of the mintage will make this grade though it can be higher in the later dates. While 1% might sound rare you need to remember that mintages tend to be in the three million vicinity and survival rates for proofs tend to be pretty good. This means around 30,000 available at this grade level. A little imagination can envision a couple million collectors of Kennedys at some point in the future but not all these collectors will desire proofs and many will not be willing to pay steep premiums for higher quality. Proof quality is already extrem- ely high and the different levels can be difficult to spot for those who haven't stud- ied these coins. It really does boil down to what you expect to see in the future and what you have to pay now. You can acquire these fairly easily at low cost by buying proof sets or you can pay twenty or thirty dollars each already slabbed. While some dates might be bargains at current levels and these could all look like bargains in the future, the fact remains that if you're paying a lot for them it might be a long time before you can make any profit. Don't be discouraged but anyone buying any coins for appreciation is taking on risk. With these specific coins (and most moderns) it's a good idea to learn some- thing about the markets and look at a lot of coins before commiting any money. These do make a fun collection and the quality is outstanding.
Also if you collect any moderns you'll need a thick skin since many dealers and collectors just automatically trash these coins. Until a few years ago these dealers would just dump anything minted after 1964 in the cash reg- ister or the wholesale market. I've seen them tell potential sellers they had no interest in a roll of '83 quarters and they should just spend them. Now days most dealers will at least glance at the CDN before doing such a thing.
