My focus in the past months has been to complete modern collections because they are affordable now. Of course there are "supposed" key dates for moderns - the 1970-D Kennedy, the 1996-W Roosevelt, etc. Another one is the 1987 Kennedy, it was only available in mint sets and had 5 or 6 times fewer minted, but the prices don't reflect that. In the latest Coins magazine, here is what we have: year/mint mintage MS-65 1986P 13,000,000 $25 1986D 15,000,000 $17 1987P 2,890,000 $14 1987D 2,890,000 $10 1988P 13,000,000 $16 1988D 12,000,000 $12 Now I'm not supporting the accuracy of the prices. I'm just saying that RELATIVE to the mintage, the prices are not in line. The 1986P looks like the baby to own So..... Is this a case of the 1950-D nickel, the "no cents V nickel" or the 1931-S cent where the value is strongly affected by people who have horded them? As a side note, the price of the 1970-D Kennedy and 1996-W Roosy has gone down in the past couple of years. I dunno, just throwing this out if anyone has comments.
Interesting thoughts. It would appear that the lower mintages have been hoarded and are being released are needed. However, that would not explain: 1987P 2,890,000 $14 1987D 2,890,000 $10
I've been grabbing up some newer Kennedy halves just because the mintages are extremely low and the prices are even lower. Where else can you get a coin with a 2 million mintage for $3 ? Thats the price I've been paying for MS pieces on Ebay. Guy~
I'll admit to hoarding a few of the 1987 P&D halves. I bought two at a coin show a few years ago. They were $4.00 for the P and $4.50 for the D. Since then I actually found a few roll searching. The best ones were found in rolls.
You've got to remember that coin prices listed in guides are just basically a guess. That is why they are all called guides. The next thing is coin prices like many other things are based on demand. You could have a car that had only 477 made and if no one wants it, the price is low. I've got one of those. However, regardless how many were made or are left, if the popularity demands it, the price is high. Example the 57 Chevy. Same with coins or anything. The larger the denomination the less the populace collects them. Almost all kids collect cents and nickels. However, the amount of collectors of larger denominations drops off dramatically since not many can afford to stash away a thousand half dollars compared to thousands of cents. Therefore you could easily accumolate a nice collection of halves but remember when and if attempting to sell them, the price will probably still be low.
