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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;National dealer, post: 12859, member: 487&quot;]This is going to be an expansion of my other thread in which I asked about rare or key coins. </p><p><br /></p><p>As a starting point in determining the relative rarity of a coin, mintage numbers are the used. This approach is often misleading. </p><p><br /></p><p>When browsing through the latest Red Book, mintage numbers are given for each coin. Sounds good on the surface. What these numbers indicate are the number of coins with that date struck at that particular mint. What is does not do is give an indication of what is still available. </p><p><br /></p><p>If we use the mintage number alone, many coins can be seen as rare. </p><p><br /></p><p>Examples:</p><p><br /></p><p>The 1877 Indian Cent has a mintage of 852,500. Certainly the key in the series.</p><p>The 1909-S Indian Cent has a mintage of 309,000. Yet the 1877 has near double the current price tag.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The 1914-D Lincoln has a mintage of 1,193,000. A Key in the series.</p><p>The 1931-S has a mintage of 866,000, yet is considered only as a semi key. Selling for much less.</p><p><br /></p><p>The 1893-CC Morgan has a mintage of 677,000. </p><p>The 1899-P Morgan has a mintage of 330,000. Yet the 93-CC is sold near 10 times the price. </p><p><br /></p><p>Many factors make up the difference when it comes to rarity. One is surviving examples. A great number of coins were melted during silver rushes over the course of the years. As silver rose above melt value, people melted all they could get a hold of. The US Mint did this often also. Another factor is the great Morgan holdings sold during the great GSA sales. These dollars sat in treasury vaults for 80 years. Many semi key dates became common during these sales. Collectors tended to collect the first and last in a given series, and oddities as they came into fashion. During the discovery of the famed 1955 Doubled Die Lincoln, these coins were being sold at less than a dollar. Once the demand rose, the value rose with it. </p><p>A few series have the added bonus of being highly collected. Demand for Lincoln Cents and Morgan Dollars have driven their values much higher than most others. A top set of Three Cent silver pieces can be put together for the price of a single 1895 Morgan. Many have mintages in the few hundred thousands. Yet because of their collectibility, are considered common. </p><p><br /></p><p>The following is a short list of mintage numbers that correspond with common dated coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>1855 3 Cent Silver Mintage 139,000</p><p>1864 3 Cent Silver Mintage&nbsp; 12,470</p><p>1876 3 Cent Nickel Mintage 162,000</p><p>1888 3 Cent Nickel Mintage&nbsp; 41,083</p><p>1846 Seated Dime&nbsp; Mintage&nbsp; 31,300</p><p><br /></p><p>All can be bought cheaply in circulated grades. Many for under $25</p><p><br /></p><p>Just goes to show what mintage numbers can mean.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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