This question sort of arose as an aside to an eBay post. But after thinking about it for a bit I believe it is more important that the OP's original question. Who decides at what point a Mint "error" should have a premium? IMO Mint specification changes are relatively easy to deal with. For instance the 1864 IHC. One alloy change (CuNi vs. Bronze) and one design change (no L vs, with L). Voilà! Three separate listings for the 1864 IHC. AND Mint die errors are also relatively easy to deal with. These are items like the 1955 DDO cent, the 1942/41 and 1942/41-D dimes, etc. BUT Changes that are unintentional are a different story. A good example is the 1937-D 3-legged Buffalo nickel. How was it decided that that coin deserved a separate listing? (I believe I heard/read somewhere that there was a LOUD clamor in the numismatic community for its recognition as a significant and listable variety. Peer pressure sort of forced it into being a separately recognized variety.) Opinions and published references will be greatly appreciated.
That's an easy one, kanga! The person who is buying it. Earlier this year, I sold my 2005S KS Silver Proof SQ, NGC PF70UCAM, FS-901 (Top Pop 1/0) for $1,000. I didn't even advertise it for sale. A dealer contacted me on behalf of a client who wanted it. Chris
A lot of it is publicity. The 1913 Liberty Head nickel should rightly be classified as a pattern in my view, but its listed in the Redbook due to the publicity. Same with 1804 silver dollars, Stella's, and any mint error.
Who decides ? To a large degree the better known authors & writers decide. The popularity is driven by what they write about.
Eh, I am not so sure. More of this is done for either showmanship or by dealers who might just happen to have examples for sale than I feel we acknowledge. Look at doubled die cents, minor state quarter variations, etc that were trying to get put into the redbook by some people.
Ya think ? Or were you being facetious ? Do you know how PCGS decides ? They decide based on what the well known authors have published - http://www.pcgs.com/varietyfaq.html As for mint errors, PCGS doesn't even have a definition for that - http://www.pcgs.com/Lingo/M - scroll down till you find it. Errors, yeah they have a definition for that one - http://www.pcgs.com/Lingo/E - but that doesn't help much with deciding on any premium that may be attached. But the fees they charge for that attribution, well it aint cheap at $55 minimum per coin.
Who decides? A consortium of influential entities including representatives from the top 3 TPG's, authors of the major price guides, and a select few influential dealers, as well as a number of well-paid internet stooges who create hype and influence discussion. J/K. TC
Often who decides is whoever has a bunch of something and the money to promote them. That can get the price up there, but it is the collector that determines if the price STAYS up there. Often once the promoter has moved his stock the market dries up and prices fall.
Most of the examples listed above are listed as separate coins, not varieties. There is no premium for grading.
And I didn't say there was a premium for grading those. I was merely point out that PCGS does not decide which coins merit a premium. And that PCGS only notes varieties that had been written about by well known authors. In other words, it's the authors doing the deciding, not PCGS.
I concur. Although in terms of most US coins and varieties, I'd say PCGS recognizes most that are accepted by the collecting community at large. The Cherrypicker's guide covers just about all of them.
It is said that demand of the coin what merits what premium is made but what creates demand? What sparks interest in a specific coin? Perhaps it is authors of publications but what about message boards like this? Have you seen a particular coin here and it sparked your interest?
I totally agree that demand and supply (economics 101) is the main driver of the price of coins. However I also agree that promotion (marketing 101) can largely influence sales of one product over another. Every coin has its range, from crappy to perfect. If 100 of them exist, then even the crappy ones will go for a large sum of money. If 100 million exist, only the perfect ones will. If you have the coin where 100 million are out there, you better market the hell out of it if you want to make any money. And it will never be anywhere close in price to the one where only 100 exist (unless you have alien marketing skills).
Yes, coin forums, not just this one, do have an impact. I've seen it happen with various coins numerous times. Somebody starts posting pics and talking about a little known coin that they like and how reasonably priced they are. Others see it, decide they like it to too, and pretty soon they start posting and talking about it. It spreads from there, you might even say it snowballs from there. For pretty soon you see an article or two appear in the numismatic magazines. Then in the course of a couple of years these coins that were reasonably priced are suddenly popular and not so reasonably priced anymore, they have doubled or even tripled what they used to cost. So yeah, it happens. You might say I was even responsible for it happening once myself with Netherlands ducats.
