I Want To Understand This Mystery

I do not begrudge anybody's coin interests. That isn't what this is about. I am seeking understanding.... I receive a Great Collections email weekly loaded with eye candy. What I have been noticing more and more are very common coins with a high (MS67-68) grades bidding at what to me are just astronomical figures. Last week there were 1943 war cents commanding four figures. Today, I did a double take at this 64 JFK half whose current bid is $4700.00!!.... This just floors me.... Granted, the TPG blessed this half with a high grade, but for heavens sakes.... The coin community is full of mint state JFK halves. Is it the toning or the TPG blessing that drives this unreal number? And why? Is it the desire to have the top registry set?

 

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Looks like remains from someone taking a dump on it!!That price is insane but as a possible top pop coin it doesn't surprise me.

 

Holy Crap!!
I need to reassess my collection. I may be rich!!

 

Splitting hairs for otherwise common coins.......and people fall for it, spending stupid amounts money.

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

Shoot, back when I was a kid we were happy just pulling stuff out of the change to fill a hole in a folder. Now everything you collect needs to be almost downright perfect.

 

I am going to dissent. Kennedy half dollars are hard to find in premium gem and exceedingly rare in ultra gem. NGC doesn't give out MS68 grades easy, and this coin has the look of an EOR toner that sat in the roll for decades. While the toning may not appear attractive in a photo, it is entirely possible that combined with superb luster, it is actually very impressive in hand.

 

A pity as...
Sold to those with more money than brains.
Just think of all the really collectible U.S. & foreign coins you could purchase w/
almost $5K!
J.T.

 

Go find a 1965, 1966, or 1967 Kennedy non SMS in 66 or higher. I've sold several high grade common Kennedys for hundreds in the past. Most older business strikes are very difficult to find in high grades.

 

It's all about being #1 on the NGC modern coin registry.

I was bitten by the bug for a little while. I could never see the logic in the ultra high grade modern coins, but I gave it a shot on the older material.

With older material, I was up against guys who have far more resources than I have. I could "sneak up on them" with a big purchase, like the year I completed my gold type set with a 1796 quarter eagle. I was #1 for a year for the complete U.S. gold type set from 1795 to 1933. But I couldn't stay ahead, because they can outspend me many times over. Now they are beating me with old Proof gold coins, with mintages of 20 a year, which cost $50,000 and much more.

With the modern stuff, you can play the game if you are willing to pay $4,700 for a 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar. I'm not, and here are plenty of other collectors on my level who feel the same way.

 

I grant you that... But the 64's were mostly hoarded so we collectors have a glut of 1964 MS halves to choose from. I have five rolls of MS 1964 halves myself. I can't reason how much difference in eye appeal that an MS68 has over a common MS half that translates into the many thousands of dollars.... I am not discounting it. Just trying to understand it.

 

I agree with John, I think that the grading in the late 1980 was based on accuracy of actual condition whereas now grading is determined more by financial interest.
Yes I know others who are more deeply ingrained may not, but I understand.

Jim

 

The pattern I have seen is that you will have a "top pop" that will sell for a zillion dollars, relative to what it's really worth. That will stick for a while. Then a few years later, more are "discovered."

These are the type grades you can't assign from photographs. You would have to put the coins side by side, and even then the experts might disagree.

I buy a Proof coin for this modern stuff, I'm done. I don't care if I am #3 or #25, if I am close the 100% complete, I'm happy.

The trouble is the grading services have raised the prices on certified modern coins so you can't buy them cheap any more. Twenty bucks down the chute is one thing; 75 or 100 + is something else.

 

Randy, I hear you, sometimes it's difficult to fathom what we see going on. But, (there's always a butt, but not always a but ) coin collecting is just a vehicle to carry our individual psyche on our individual journeys. If we all thought alike, all our "collections" would be very similar, if not identical.

All it takes is one outlier (although, usually there are more than one involved) to upset our sense of it all, as this seems to be.

So to some, like Evan states:

...but we all don't dip our toes into that water.

And J.T. comments that:

...but we know this business is very subjective & we all collect (mostly) differently, making the word "collectible" very loosely defined.

I remember a while back many CTers complaining about "Cleo" grossly "outbidding" in auctions (I think mainly in ancients though), & that was essentially the same thing. In fact, I get a similar feeling if I go to a dealership looking for a new truck...what the hell is going on???

And after all, if we didn't have these constant anomaly's, the Red Book prices would probably be dead on.

One thing I have learned is that when I miss out (or ignore) on a particular coin, it usually doesn't take long for another opportunity to come by, usually one I like even better.

I'm with Sal:

 

Just checked their price guide. While they don’t have a number for a ‘64 in 68, their number for the ‘64-D in 68 is $23,500. If this doesn’t prove they’ve got screws loose rattling around in their heads, I don’t know what does.

 

Your coin could be better than the one that's in the holder, but it's not in the holder, it doesn't count.

Another question is, they are charging for grading based upon the declared value of the piece. If you submit "a real MS-68" 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar, but only pay the MS-65 price, are you going to get the MS-68?

 

Maybe the guy who paid $4,700 got a bargain.

 

It seems like it as compared in their price guide to the D. Now let’s see if the guy tries to flip it for more. I say he’s a green CAC bean away from doubling that price.

 

I'd say he's one step away from learning he's been had, but that just my opinion.

As a dealer, you learn where you have a market for some coins and where you don't. For example, if I happened to get a really rare copper coin die variety, I knew the specialized dealers who could market it. I couldn't as well as they could.

I am sure there are some dealers who specialize in selling "wonder coin moderns." (Nothing against the dealer whose business name is "Wonder Coin." He's honest.) I just don't know many of them.

 

I think a 66 or 67 would do just fine if I was asked