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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;bannishg, post: 1042584, member: 25474&quot;]I found myself perusing my coin collection this morning, and re-discovered that I have an 1877 cent. Usually a collector would never forget possessing such a coin, and would surely be one of the collection&#039;s flagships. Not this one.</p><p><br /></p><p>I acquired this key last year for what I thought was (and still think is) a bargain: $150. All of the lettering, as well as the date, are legible, but some mild pitting and rust-like corrosion make it quite the fright-pig. Though completely lacking any aesthetic appeal, I still have a fondness for it, hard to explain, perhaps it could be summed up as &quot;it&#039;s so ugly that it&#039;s beautiful&quot;. (I&#039;ll try to post pics of it soon, as well as some other gnarly fillers I have).</p><p><br /></p><p>This had me wondering......</p><p><br /></p><p>Is there any other reasons for collectors to purchase fillers other than to &quot;obtain a tough date on a budget&quot;?</p><p><br /></p><p>Are they sensible investments, like the choice grade coins?</p><p><br /></p><p>It is a no-brainer that all coins increase in value over the years (and VERY seldom depreciate, with the exception of gold coins, which are bound to fluctuations in gold trends). Even the fillers ride the wave of appreciation: the comparison of values circa 1995 against today&#039;s values speaks for itself, and I can back this up with my vast collection of old coin magazines. However, it is very difficult to assign a value to a filler.</p><p><br /></p><p>First of all, most value guides don&#039;t document the grades under &quot;GOOD-4&quot;. Second, there are many dealers and collectors that refuse to even associate themselves with fillers, especially if they have been cleaned/holed/plugged/ex-jewelry/whizzed/plated/dipped etc........ A dealer once offered me only $50 for my 1877 Indian cent, claiming that he is normally un-interested in fillers. I declined. He may be able to purchase the coin at such a price from some uninformed heir or heiress, but I have seen low-ball cents very similar to mine go for well over $300 on eBay. </p><p><br /></p><p>As far as gold fillers, I don&#039;t see much of a point. I just don&#039;t see the point in purchasing a dented and cleaned common date $20 St. Gaudens for $1450 when problem-free uncirculated pieces start at about $200 more (this is not relevant to me at the moment because double eagles are currently out of my league). The low price variance between fillers and gems in this case can be explained by the value of gold: the content alone in any double-eagle is worth a minimum of about $1300, so even a PO-1 example might sell for, say $1350. This would not be worth it in my eyes if a decent piece only costs 5-10% more.</p><p><br /></p><p>Then there are the super-keys:</p><p><br /></p><p>1901-S 25C: This coin is completely out of my league. G-4 pieces trade at the same value as an all inclusive 6-day stay in Hawaii for 2 at an upper-scale hotel (about $5,000). VG-8 pieces hover around $10,000 and you surely couldn&#039;t get a piece in MS-60 for any less than $60,000. </p><p><br /></p><p>A recent specimen, only PO-1, sold for $1450!!! A FR-2 to AG-3 piece is usually offered around $3000. I realize that this is the key-to-end-all-keys as far as business-strike 20th century coins are concerned, but would you be willing to spend thousands on such a filler? I don&#039;t know if I would. </p><p><br /></p><p>In my opinion, the price result of a filler at auction requires the presence of at least a few desperate type-collectors. If the auction is only attended by dealers and speculators, the fillers will probably yield poopy results.</p><p><br /></p><p>For what reasons do you, or under which scenarios would you purchase fillers?</p><p><br /></p><p>Greg[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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