They aren't rare. There were over 120 million produced and they can be had relatively easily and affordably all the way up through gem. The Red Book has more mintage details.
You can find an NGC MS67 Reverse of 40 very easily for about $100-$125. Finding a reverse of 38 is a little more difficult and can take some time. I was just outbid on one in a Heritage Auction today.
Come on Tom, some of the varieties have some rarity and there are many full step conditional rarities. Just saying!
If we are willing to stretch the boundaries to include conditional or strike rarities in the highest grades as well as include hard to find varieties, then I guess any issue of any series in regular, business strike MS70 is rare.
I find the '39s all the time in box searches, the D's and S's do show up but are as scarce as hen's teeth. I have found one D and maybe a dozen S's over the past couple of years.
I understand what you are saying and my post was indeed hyperbole. I was just attempting to keep my other answers within the realm of what someone with lesser experience might find useful instead of branching off into more advanced or esoteric areas.
