I am familiar with the term "key date", and certainly with the term "common date". I also know generally how to determine on my own what coins fall into those categories via their mintage totals. The term "better date" however eludes me. What exactly is a "better date"? An "almost key", a "not really common"? Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.
For example Date 1 £35 Date 2 £35 Date 3 £50 Date 4 £400 Date 5 £35 Date 6 £250 Date 3 is the better date, which is worth a slight premium over the other dates, but not particularly rare compared to the keys and semi-keys
???? I don't think it's a technical term, I think it's a sales boosting term that mean not a key but smaller mintage that a common date. It seams like a very grey area.
Better dates often are dates which are slightly scarcer in uncirculated, but not much more in F, EG the 1894 halfcrown
On one hand, it's more like an advertising term. It's certainly not well defined. On the other hand, it does have some usefulness. Let's say you have a favorite series in mind - for me, it's $10 Indians. There are two dates which are by far the most common - 1926 and 1932. That's the lowest "tier" of dates for this series ... "entry level", if you will. After them, there is a "second tier" of dates which have much lower mintages (and TPG census, which gives a rough idea of how many survived). Those dates are 1910, 1910-D, 1911, and a few others. To me, these are the "better dates" - they have much less mintage for only about 10% more money. Many think they are a better buy. One can keep arbitrarily grouping dates into tiers of increasing rarity, until one gets to key dates like the 1920-S and 1933, which tend to stand on their own. In any event, "better date" doesn't mean much. It's just saying a given date is not one of the really common dates.
"Bettter dates" could still be figs in good to fine grades. lol... They are one step above "common dates" (like 55-S cents). Clinker
