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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 814882, member: 112&quot;]Now this probably isn&#039;t going to seem like it makes sense, but it is how it works.</p><p><br /></p><p>First of all there is the popularity factor. The 1916-D Merc is extremely popular. The 1863 Half Dime is not popular at all. The reasons for the popularity, or lack thereof, are many. But one of the biggest reasons is that there are countless articles written about the supposed rarity of the &#039;16-D Merc. You can find them without even looking for them. But just try to find an article about the 1863 Half Dime. You&#039;re gonna be hard pressd to do so.</p><p><br /></p><p>Another reason is the cost for the coin. High dollar value brings lots of articles, lots of people talking about them. Low dollar value and nobody notices. It&#039;s not news.</p><p><br /></p><p>The &#039;16-D Merc in MS64 is a $20,000 coin. The 1863 Half Dime in MS64 cost $1000 or less. And as you hav already noted the mintage of the half dime is but about 1/3 of that of the Merc. And there are far, far fewer &#039;63 Half Dimes that have been graded by NGC &amp; PCGS than there are &#039;16-D Mercs. 537 &#039;16-D Mercs vs 141 &#039;63 Half Dimes. And that is in all grades. What this shows you is that not very many half dimes still exist.</p><p><br /></p><p>And that&#039;s where the other factor comes into play - the one that really doesn&#039;t make sense - until you stop and think about it. You see for a coin to become popular and thus deserve a high price there has to be enough of them to go around - enough to make a market in that coin. There has to be enough that a large percentage of the people who want one - can have one. If they are willing to pay the money of course. And the more people there are that want one, the more it costs. </p><p><br /></p><p>But if there are not enough of them to go around, not enough to make a market, then people know this. And they will not even try to find one, they consider it a waste of time because they know that only a few exist - which means they can&#039;t have one. </p><p><br /></p><p>So it is actually quite common for coins of much greater scarcity/rarity to cost less than coins that exist in much higher numbers.</p><p><br /></p><p>Like I said, it doesn&#039;t make sense - but that&#039;s how it is.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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