hi everyone. i'm a newbie to collecting coins. i started out buying matching mint and proof sets. liked the 2009 proof 6 coin set. i guess i like to start looking for hard to get coins first. a wonderful challenge to begin and enjoy. any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. thankyou!!!!
First, welcome to the neighborhood! Would you mind telling me what coins came in the 6-coin set? I stopped collecting the Mint sets, but a 6-coin set seems strange to me. Chris
In 2009 there were six state/territory quarters for each P and D. The mint set for 2009 is two bubble packs for P and D. The proof set like today's proof sets probably offered the quarters in a separate plastic case.
oh..........one more thing i forgot to ask: are there any other years (2000-2017) coins that are hard to find?i like a good challenge.
There aren't any other years that are hard to find but there are plenty that are hard to find in nice condition. Most of the '69 and '71 issues are tough. For some reason '73 quarters are hard to find in nice XF.
The Lincoln cents with phases of his life on the reverse are getting harder to find, particularly the proofs.
thanx guys for your replies. i now have a better idea of what to look for in hard to find coins. if anybody else wants to chime in please do so. the more i ask the more challenging its gonna get.i also picked up 2 -2009 proof quarter leftovers.
2009 P&D Dimes and 2009 P Nickels are tough to find since both coins has a limited production run due to the down turn in the economy. Dimes for 2009-P had a run of only 95.5M (2008-P was at 391M) and the 2009-D had a run of only 49.5M compared to 624.5M in 2008 and 562M in 2010. Nickels for 2009-P had a limited run of only 39.84M compared to 279.84M in 2008 and 260.64M in 2010. Nickels for 2009-D had an above standard run at 468M later in the year to probably make up for the lack of P Mint Nickels. 2009 also did not produce any collector Silver Eagles (2009-W) nor any Proof Silver Eagles (2009-W) due to poor planning on the part of the Mint Director Ed Moy who was more concerned with pumping up the 2009 Silver Eagle Bullion sales than producing collector coins for their base of collectors that don;t mind paying ridiculous prices for their products. At one time, the ONLY place to get 2009 Nickels & Dimes was out of Puerto Rico! Go figure! Having said that, if you DO find a 2009-P Nickel or 2009-P&D dimes, don't expect any huge premiums if you sell since the coins are readily available from the mint sets.
The nickels won't really be "readily" available until the cost of the set comes down to the total value of the coins in the set. A lot of coins were set aside in '09 because everyone knew they'd be tough. But the problem isn't that the coins are common but rather like all moderns the demand is rare. Many of the 1965 to date nickels are much scarcer than the '50-D but none are worth more than a couple dollars. Some will say that's because you can always get a beat up VF in circulation but that isn't the case either because few people are looking for beat up VF's or any other modern in circulation. Modern collections don't come into coin shops. There just isn't any demand for the coins so collectors don't know that modern nickels are scarce. There are plenty enough for the market at current prices.
The mint sets for 2009 have the satin finish coins in a blister pack. Those are not the same as the circulation struck coins for commerce. If you look at the listings for 2009 coinage in the RedBook there are two separate entries for Satin finish and business struck. The satin finish coin's mintage matches the mintage of mint sets. Whereas, the circulation coin mintage is the oft quoted low mintage number. The two different struck coins command different pricing. The business struck coins carry a premium over the satin finish. I would highly suggest a Mega RedBook for 2017 as your next purchase. These Mega RedBooks are much more information packed than a normal RedBook. If you look on Whitman's site they may still have a special on the first two Mega Editions.
I'm more concerned about the misleading prices they publish for moderns. '82-P quarters routinely bring $40 on eBay when they are nice attractive chBU. Redbook lists them in Gem at even lower. They inflate the value of old coins and show too low a value for most of the moderns. I'll buy a new Redbook when they TRY to fix this. I bought my first one in 1964 and my second in 2005 when they increased the modern prices. I'll buy every year if they do these markets justice. I'll need one every year.
