Trophy Coin Battle: 3 Legger vs 1909 S VDB

If your grandma gave you $2,500 to buy a nice trophy coin for your collection - For that amount of money would you get the best 1937 D - 3 legged Buffalo Nickel :hammer: or a 1909 S VDB Lincoln Small Cent :bow: (And why?)

 

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3-Legs would be my choice. Of course $2,500 sure won't get you the "best" by a long shot. I have always liked this variety and would definitely add an uncirculated example to my collection if I had the money.

 

Easy...the 1909-S VDB is a true coin. The 3-legged Buffalo Nickel is an error/variety resulting from a faulty die.

When you buy a collectible coin, you are buying the history and story that goes with it. Picture back in 1909 when the first Lincoln cents were being minted with the initials VDB in both Philadelphia and San Francisco. Word gets to the mint to remove the initials VDB immediately because the public wasn't too keen seeing the artist's three initials so boldly on a circulated coin.

Opps...we already made a bunch and many were already released. Too bad...remove those initials at once!

So the 1909-S VDB is the holy grail to any Lincoln collector. I got mine about 4 years ago (PCGS MS63BN) and I can't believe how much it has gone up! I like Buffalo's as much as the next person, but when you compare a true coin to a faulty die, there is no comparison.

 

Well as long as Grandma is buying, I guess I would go with the S-VDB. No reason other than I'm particular torwards small cents.

 

Take a guess which one I would get. No, this isn't tricky. :smile :smile :smile

 

Personally I'd go with the nickel... I prefer the design more, and it's an interesting error to boot. Sure I'd be excited to find a 1909 S VDB, but the date, mintmark, and initials are the only thing that makes it any different from any other what penny. If I ever found a 1909 S VDB, I'd sell it and use the proceeds to get the nickel, lol...

 

Interesting Reasons!

I want BOTH coins badly - And NO my grandmother isn't buying :goofer: lol

I'm not sure which one to chase first. I will eventually own both, but I'm not far from affording an MS - 63 ... I think 63 is the lowest grade I'd go on a 09 S VDB and with the penny design potentially changing in 2009 ... Hmmm, I have to believe pennies are only going to go up. However, I do believe the 3 Legger is always going to go up too... there is just something magical about that 3 Legger. Oh dilemmas ... dilemmas!! :headbang:

Esky

 

I would go with the 1909-s VDB cent because the cent is a coin in the set. The 3 leg Buffalo is a variety. That's only if I had to choose between the two. I would rather have both. Some people have 2 Grandma's.

 

A very simple choice, the 1909 cent all the way. I'm a coin collector, not an "oddity" collector. Simple as that!

 

You overestimated the generosity of my dear grandmother.

Personally I'd prefer a 1954-S Full Step Jefferson nickel, but she took it all with her.

 

I'd go with the SVDB because it is a legimite variety. The three legged isn't a needed date and mint combination, it isn't a true error since it repeats identically on many pieces, and it isn't even a die variety because earlier states of the die had four legs. At best it is just a late die state of a normal coin. Just a worn out die that should have been discarded instead of re-used.

 

I would go with the 3 legged Buff.....sure its a oddity--some call it an error but IMO they are harder to find...
a S VDB is fine...you might can get one is MS63B or such for that money....but there are also LOTS from that date....400,000+ of them minted...no one knows how many 3-legged Buffs are out there.

I think its totaly up to you....if it was me....I wouldn't buy one big one...I would take part of that money and buy a nice S VDB in XF or such...and then maybe a 3-legged Buff in VG.

Speedy

 

Exactly what I was going to say, but you beat me to it. :smile

 

well. i sure hope my grandma loves me. i want BOTH. The 3 legger is history, and the VDB is a chance mistake.

 

Easy. The cent. A true coin, rather than an oddity.

 

I'll Go With the Buffalo

1937 is a key year for me, it happens to be the birth year of my mother. Part of what I like to do, really for myself, is to collect year sets of the birth of my family members. However as a collector I am fanatical about getting the highest grade coins I can afford for these year sets.

Having a 3-legged 1937 nickel would be amazing. To name just one. :whistle:

 

1909 S VDB!!! The king of obtainable U.S. coins!! What every collector since being a kid has wanted to find!! Even non-collectors take notice when the S VDB is mentioned; they know they have heard of it somewhere before!!

 

One think I've never understood with the 3-legged Buff is this....
They say the lowest part on a coin is the highest part on the die....and that means that the leg would be "in-dented" somewhat into the die....so when they say it was worn off by die polish...then HOW...that would mean that one of the deep place on the die was worn up-wards....doesn't make "cents"....I can see a grease filled die....but how can a die be worn up-wards...when wear would make it go down?
I know I'm not smart on how the dies and things work and I want to learn more but this is one thing that has be beat....

Speedy

 

I'd go with the 1909-S VDB, simply because it's a regular mint issue and not an error coin.

 

My statement of prefrence was assuming I had to choose one of these two btw, lol... in actuality with that much money I'd rather buy several different coins. I could easily finish off a 20th century typwe set with that, including the gold, and still have some left over to get a few other coins.

I don't get why an oddity is considered LESS desirable than a normal run of the mill coin that just happens to be rare. Rarity of a coin doesn't excite me really... the coin has to be interesting in its own right for me to care. I'd prefer a common interesting coin to a rare boring one any day.