I was looking through some early Lincoln cents this morning and a question came to mind (I guess it's always been there)... "If I had to collect just one, which would be better to collect...D's or S's?" To answer that question, I wondered..."Which ones are worth more?" Well, to answer that, I had to decide on a fair comparison. I wanted to focus on dates when both coins were minted and on coins that had significant valuations...so I chose the 23 year period between 1909-1931 and the grade of MS-63. I decided to let the Red Book (2010 is the latest I have) be the arbiter. There were four (4) years during that period when no cents were minted at the Denver Mint (1909, 1910, 1921, and 1923). I didn't want to include die varieties (such as the 1922-D "No D"), but thought it wouldn't be fair to discard the famous 1909-S VDB since it's so popular. I kept the 1909-S VDB, but discarded the others. I guess I was a bit surprised with the result...the total was much closer than I had expected. The 1914-D really evened things out. I think I'm still partial toward the "S" minted coins...but I didn't get the scientific justification I was looking for.
For some reason, since I was a young boy, I always regarded the S mint mark as rarer, more important and most desireable. But this is based on no more than emotion, as my dad lived in San Francisco, while I was in NYC. Everything S.F. Ca. was important to me as a pre-teen. I guess that's why I moved there over 40 years ago. I learned to give up my bias as I aged and saw the value of collecting P, D and S's. Now, I collect the coin I want, not just a mint mark. But sometimes, I wonder what my collection would look like if I kept to the S's only. What would be the value? Just daydreaming.
He's just using an equal pricing guide, this is only meant to be a comparison between the relative values of the two mints. If I understood correctly.
Their prices are fine if you are comparing coins in a series. I wouldn't use them to buy...but if you are simply trying to figure out if/how much more valuable a 1914-D is than a 1914-S...it is a fine resource. If gives you a good ratio or ballpark estimate. Just don't trust those prices for purchasing.
I think using the Redbook for this comparison is a valid resource. But like most have stated, the prices should not be used for purchasing. I really don't understand where they get their prices. Even if they are attempting to predict the market prices six months after publishing, they are still high for the most part.
You have a good point, too...so here's the same chart from the NGC Price Guide (MS63 RB). It looks like the 1926-S really changed things... .............2010 Red Book........................2011 NGC................ EDIT: That's as pretty as I can make it. The 2011 NGC price for the 1923-S should be $600 (vs. $435).
I was using the 2010 Red Book (which we all know is 2009). Why do you suppose the 1926-S has shot up so much?
I think it would be much more representative if you use the average price in stead of selective pricing and also I used the NGC pricing for MS-63 RB. You get a slightly different answer that way.
I see you beat me to it. 26-S in any kind of red is RARE - very rare. Some day they will figure out that the 23-S is even rarer.
Great minds think alike. :cheers: I didn't use the 1909-S and 1910-S since the Denver Mint didn't make cents that year. I (like you) kept the 1909-S VDB because it didn't seem like a good comparison to leave it out. Upon consideration of the newly available information, it would seem that the San Francisco Mint is the WINNER!! :hail:
