How come half cents are so undervalued? I mean take the 1832 half cent. The US Mint records that it only struck 51,00 pieces. Subtract from that the number of specimans that were melted when half cents and large cents were turned in by the public in 1857 and subtract from that the unknown number that were lost and never found and how many surviving pieces are left? It can't be many. Yet, I recently purchased an 1832 half cent in F-12 condition from a seller on Ebay for $32. What gives?
It's got to be lack of overall demand. I don't know of many collecting these as a series. Most folks I know of are only looking for one example of each design for a type set. I know that's my only interest. Higher grade stuff seems to go for pretty good money.
While I can see why some mind find it interesting to discuss, I myself think it is great. Half cents are one of my favorite types of US coins, and I enjoy them being affordable. My 1828 13-Star XF45 was $85 at my dealer, and I have to say its my favorite coin in my collection right now. I don't really think they're undervalued, but I do think there are a lot of collectors who are not really into copper coins. Maybe that is why the prices are lower than you would expect. By the way, I think you got a pretty good deal on that 1832.:thumb: I'm currently hunting for an 1806 and an 1854, both in XF-AU.
I might be inclined to agree with that if it wasn't for the outrageous prices people have been getting for lincoln cents (ie 1909s vdb, 1914d, etc).
Thats the same question that I posted a while back but mine was about seated half dimes. They are the same way, very low mintages and very low prices. As it was answered to me and I'd have to agree, it has alot to do with demand. Alot of these series like these are collected mainly for type sets and rarely collected as a date/mintmark series. Im still going to put together a set of U.S. Seated Liberty Half dimes as soon as I get a few more of my other sets completed, later this year.
Exactly. It has everything to do with low demand. Personally, I like 'em. It's like you said - there aren't many date collectors. Mostly folks want 'em for type sets, so there's little pressure to drive up a given date... or the series as a whole. Same is true of all sorts of odd issues - large cents, 2c, 3cN and 3cS, halfdimes, 20c, etc. Low supply, lower demand.
I wouldn't necessarily say that they are undervalued in general, but I would buy any nice quality pieces for the grade that I can find at today's prices. The population of truly nice pieces with no damage and clean, uncorroded surfaces seem fairly low, even at larger shows.
I am able to find many many nicely priced vg to xf trouble free peices at most of the major shows and the lack of demand is so apparent in them that I have been able to talk most of the dealers down 7 to 10 percent, just so they could sell them. Others lack of interest means my good fortune
