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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Midas, post: 48464, member: 2761&quot;]You are right.&nbsp; It does depend what you collect.&nbsp; If you collect <u>all</u> Merc Dimes, then a 1916-D is not easy to get...cheap!&nbsp; If you want it, it is going to cost you.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you collect any set of a g<u>iven</u> coin, some coins will be harder than others to obtain...to complete the set.&nbsp; The coins that are difficult to find, or obtain (without breaking your bank account) are called commonly called keys.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, you are right.&nbsp; There are many boneheads out there that represent their coin as a &quot;key&quot;, so take this into consideration...</p><p><br /></p><p>A key date coin could be a coin with low mintage numbers and/or low survival rates.&nbsp; For instance, there were more 1914-D Lincoln cents produced (1,193,000) compared to the 1931-S Lincoln (866,000).&nbsp; Word never got out to the public that the 1914-D was in short supply so people spent them, lost them, and many were extremely circulated and worn before collectors realized that the 1914-D was going to be a &quot;key&quot; date coin.&nbsp; Finding a 1914-D in EF condition or above is very difficult and expensive.&nbsp; Using 2005 RED Book figures (as a general comparison), a MS63 1914-D goes for $2,200 whereas a MS63 1931-S goes for only $100.</p><p><br /></p><p>Word quickly spread in collector circles that the 1931-S was going to be the last &quot;S&quot; minted Lincoln for some time so people hoarded them...even in the middle of the Great Depression.&nbsp;&nbsp; So these coins had much better survival rates and it can be found in much higher grades versus the 1914-D.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also. as you move up the MS scale, these grades and the &quot;best of the best&quot; get harder and more expensive to find.&nbsp; Take that 1931-S Lincoln for an example...given the choice of a MS66 1931-S or a 1931-D MS66 Lincoln Cent, I&#039;ll take the 1931-D!&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; Well as everybody collected the 1931-S and kept them in sock drawers, the 1931-D was circulated because most never gave it a second thought.&nbsp; What happened?...survival rates for a 1931-D in MS66RD condition are way more difficult to obtain than the 1931-S even though 5 times more were minted than the 31-S.</p><p><br /></p><p>Take a 1971-P IKE.&nbsp; Millions were made.&nbsp; A bunch!&nbsp; They are everywhere!!&nbsp; Try finding a MS65 or higher grade of a 1971-P.&nbsp; Sure they made millions, but there are NOT many in decent MS65 or better grades.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, there is a fine line between mintage numbers (which most people look at first), survival rates, popularity, and condition that all dictate what are &quot;keys&quot; versus &quot;semi-keys&quot; versus commons.&nbsp; Read up on coins you like to collect as to what factors contribute to a coin&#039;s market price over the next coin and you will be better prepared to either buy or walk away from the next coin you see.</p><p><br /></p><p>Before somebody tells you it is a key...consider the above.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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