Is it time to focus on clad coinage?

I didn't read all the other posts but some collector's do not collect modern for various reasons. The biggest reason is lack of interest and lack of profit. Some may opt to collect clad but there's always other ways to diversify without going to an area that you're not interested in.

One way I changed my focus is to stop looking for such a big profit but stick with pre-65. There's still a ton of money to be made out there just sometimes you have to switch gears. Switch gears as opposed buying a new car you may not ever drive. That sounds like a better idea to me.

 

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Now I'm confused. Thought your name was Chris........

J/K

 

In 1965, a postage stamp or a candy bar were 5¢. You could buy a gallon of gas or a pack of cigarettes for 25¢. Nowadays, you can get a postage stamp for 44¢ (but the Post Office is going broke) and you're lucky if you can find a candy bar for 50¢. Gas is $3.50/gallon and I saw a sign the other day that advertised Marlboro cigarettes for $5.85/pack...like that's some kind of great deal!

The point is...anyone that kept original rolls of early clad Washington quarters lost 80%-90% of their money. Maybe there's a great hoard of unsearched rolls of clad quarters out there somewhere, but I doubt it. If you can find truly unsearched OBW rolls of early clad quarters, I would buy them. Also, and I don't know this for a fact, but I would think clad coinage might not hold up to environmental damage as well as silver coins (but I could be wrong on that).

I just checked NGC POP reports for Washington quarters. As you look down the page and your eyes go from pre1965 to 1965 and beyond, the graded populations drop off by an order of magnitude. Now, that could be just because folks don't feel clad coins are worth grading...or it could mean there's just not that many of them out there. One reason clad coins don't receive much attention (imo) may be due to the perceived large number of Mint sets released.

Let's break it down...

From 1965 to 1967 no US Mint sets were released. Special Mint Sets were released, but they were somewhere between Uncs and Proofs. I doubt a grading company would mistake a SMS coin for a business strike.

From 1968 to 1971 the US Mint sets contained 40% silver half dollars. Many of these sets were broken up to get at the half dollar. In fact, the 1970 US Mint set is the only place you can find the 1970-D Kennedy half dollar.

Take it from someone who's gone through quite a number of these sets...the US Mint took no special care handling Mint set coins!!! If you get an MS-64 out of one of these sets...you're lucky!

Another reason why I think folks rely on the population of Mint sets as a reason not to get excited about these coins is because of the popularity of the 1982-1983 issues. About a billion quarters were made each year from 1976 to 2001. However, the US Mint didn't release any Mint sets in 1982 and 1983 and prices shot up. Souvenir Sets were sold at each Mint's gift shop, but you had to visit the Mint to buy them.

I search "Washington Quarters 1965-1998" on eBay (auctions, only) with the following filter...

(ms66, ms67, ms68, ms69, ms70) (PCGS, NGC) -pr* -pf*

...and get 47 hits. I gotta say...there are some tremendous buys out there and I agree with TC...now's the time to scarf them up.

There's a number of NGC graded MS67's that are the top-POP with less than 30 graded at that level...and they're selling for less than $5...that's Nuts!! ...and people complain there aren't any great eBay deals out there anymore. I don't think there are as many surviving MS67 and higher clad quarters from 1965-1990 out there as people may think.

MS-68? Fergetaboutit!!!

 

A clad coin is like a women with a lot of make-up.
Looks good at first, then when the make-up wears off, you relize what you really have.

 

Huh? This doesn't make any sense to me.

 

So what you're sayin' is the girls all look prettier at closin' time.

I'm not ready to accept that............

 

Clad coins may not have the lilting ring or iridescent glow of a well struck silver coin, but all coins have their own special "inner beauty"...with or without make-up.

 

I got this one last week on eBay for $8.75 + $3 shipping = $11.75! I agree with yakpoo, there are a lot of great clad beauties out there.

 

Here's some "inner beauty" for you

 

Good Deal! I hope no one bids on the coins I found on eBay...they'll be bidding against me!

 

Forgive me Collector1966, inner beauty? Not by those photos.....

Shoot 'em again......

 

Sheesh! Ok...that one could use a little rouge.

 

No. A clad is like a woman you meet at the park and she's wearing clothes. This isn't to demean women who don't wear clothes but as a rule you don't take them home to meet the family.

 

Huh? :scratch:

I would let her meet the family...but I would take her shopping first.

 

I've met so few of them that I'm not sure exactly what I'd do.

As a rule of thumb it appeared they already had a boyfriend.


Give me a clad one anytime. I'll figure out how to romance her myself.

 

I've found that, if a woman's interested, it doesn't matter if she already has a boyfriend.

 

There is one area where clad coins have silver beat.
Consider the case of proof artwork on circulation strikes.
In the case of clads there have two things going for them that silver doesn't.
1) They are scarcer.
2) They are made at non-proof making mints.

Examples include 1969 D thru 1972 D quarters type B and the 1972 type II dollar.

 

I've been searching for them...haven't found any, yet.

 

Just to add a little kickback, given the low mintages of these coins I expect that the distribution of the coins was not readily available which accounts for so many being found in "well circulated" condition. Additionally, the term "coin dealer" might not have existed in 1916 since many folks dealt in coins but only a couple actually made it a full time profession which was their only source of income. 1916 was the first year of issue so I don't think it's unreasonable that those "in the know" did not try their hardest to gather some of these up.

As for the 1924 prices, paying double for a 1916 quarter might have been considered extravagant at the time to the layman since 1916 was the First Year of issue AND the mintages were quite low compared to other coins.

Additionally, the terms BU are very relative and still arguable even today as whats BU to one fellow is AU to someone else or even a slider to a third person.

I'm with ya on the 09SVDB's though as these are what I consider "established collectibles" meaning that the coin well accepted within the coin collecting community that everybody knows and needs one of these regardless of "rarity". They simply are NOT RARE as much as they are a "gotta have".

 

Sam, I can find a nice gemmy 1969-D a lot easier than I can find an AU or even circulated coin as an example exists in each and every 1969 US Mint Set. The same is true for the 1971 Dimes. Given this fact, regardless of how many 69-D's have been spared from the circulation mills, its a tough story to sell. However, an original bank roll of 1969-D Quarters would be nearly impossible to find and I expect would command quite a premium.

1982 and 1983 (since they've been mentioned) on the other hand are totally different cats.