Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="WingedLiberty, post: 1200446, member: 26030"][ATTACH]126458.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]126478.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]126460.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]126461.vB[/ATTACH] I am very happy with my Flowing Hair and Seated Liberty -- both have great color and visual interest. The Seated Liberty was a difficult acquisition.  This coin fired off at a live auction with a lot of motivated bidders and I ended up winning it (barely) at a 1.92x premium -- however it's very unique looking with a lot of visual appeal, so I didn't mind paying up.  I was shocked though when the price kept shooting up in $100 increments every few seconds before the hammer fell.  I wonder if this might be slightly undergraded and might actually be closer to a PF63, which could explain the spirited bidding. The Draped Bust I bought from 900Fine (a CT member) for $350.  That's my "best bargain" coin in the lot.  I don't think I've ever seen a colorfully toned example of this type. Though there must be a few out there.   The Capped Bust I bought for $355 from Bust-Half-Nut (an ebay seller). I LOVE my Walker and Franklin. Both of those are a harder find than you would think for an attractive, colorfully-toned example.  For the Walker I paid a sizeable 2.68x toning premium ($750, ouch), however this coin is the most beautiful WL I have ever seen (and might vie for the most beautiful coin, of any type, I've ever seen).    The photograph was taken with my iPhone and does not fully capture the beauty of this coin.  For the Franklin I paid a HUGE 4.25x toning premium ($152).  The bidding was heavy and fierce -- however, I thought it was the most appealing Franklin I had ever come across, with visually striking, uniform 2-sided color, so I was willing to pay up for this. This coin just "pops" in hand. The Kennedy was from my 2010 Silver Proof Set that I bought from the Mint on the cheap - they practically gave the coin away at the price the Mint was selling the 14-coin silver proof set ($58).   The mirror on the Kennedy is a good 10" deep and I photographed it with a Redbook reflected in the field -- however I wonder if I should try to find a toned Kennedy as this coin is so silver in color that it looks like it doesn't belong with this grouping.    A beautifully toned Kennedy is a REALLY hard find - you just don't see them very often. Finally, I wanted to add that the Half Dollar denomination is my favorite for type collecting for a number of reasons: <ol> <li> half-dollar coins are large and details are easier to see with the naked eye</li> <li> the largest size, one-dollar denomination coin had a lot of gaps in production (many missing years) so $1 coins always seemed like a "choppy" series to me</li> <li> after 1978, they kept changing the size of the one-dollar coins, while half-dollar coins stayed roughly the same size from 1794 to date, so a collection of half-dollar type coins looks more tied together than one-dollar type coins (IMHO)</li> <li> half-dollar coins provide more major types (I think the most, at 8? ... not sure about that)</li> <li> the major (design) types are (for the most part) identical between the dime, quarter, and half from 1796 to 1916, so why not collect the largest version</li> <li> half dollars are just on the edge of being a coin that circulates, so it's recognizable, while still being a little bit exotic</li> <li>high-grade half dollars can be cheaper than dimes and quarters of the same type and grade because halfs didnt circulate (wear down) as much -- so more are available in high grades</li> </ol>Hope you all enjoy this little view! P.S.  I thought I would provide the estimated field population (coins remaining in existence) for all the major Half Dollar types -- these numbers were interesting.  (Numbers were gleaned from the Guidebook of U.S. Type Coins) Field Populations:    <ul> <li>Flowing Hair = 3,500 to 6,000  (very rare) </li> <li>   Draped Bust = 11,000 to 15,000  (very rare)</li> <li>   Capped Bust = 1.2 million+  (scarce)</li> <li>   Seated Liberty = 1.5 million+  (scarce)</li> <li>   Barber = 2 to 4 million  (scarce)</li> <li>   Walking Liberty = 100 million+  (common)</li> <li>   Franklin = 100 million+  (common)</li> <li>   Kennedy = 1 billion+  (common)</li> </ul>Based on these numbers, I think that the real bargain coin here is the Draped Bust. Notice how the field population falls off a cliff between the Capped Bust and Draped Bust type. The DB is in the numismatic sweet spot: RARE (about 100 times rarer than the CB) AND RELATIVELY CHEAP (about 3 to 10 times less expensive than the ultra-rare FH).  I think anyone that doesn't have a Draped Bust, with a couple of hundred bucks to spare, should try to pick up a lower grade example.  You should be able to find a PCGS-graded F12 for around $350 ... and VG08 around $200.  With a field population of less than 15,000 --this could be one of the great numismatic bargains in existence today. The Draped Bust (Heraldic Eagle reverse) was only minted for 7 years between 1801 and 1807.  You aren't really spending that much and you are getting a 200+ year old coin that is just dripping with history (who knows Thomas Jefferson himself may have had the coin you buy in his hand) and has an extremely low population for the entire type. Here's one firing off Sunday night for those interested (current bid a bit over $200): <a href="http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=3&campid=5335874456&toolid=10001&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2F1807-PCGS-VG08-Draped-Bust-Half-%2F280691306109" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=3&campid=5335874456&toolid=10001&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2F1807-PCGS-VG08-Draped-Bust-Half-%2F280691306109" rel="nofollow">http://cgi.ebay.com/1807-PCGS-VG08-Draped-Bust-Half-/280691306109</a>[/QUOTE]

Create my FREE Account!

Log in or Sign up

Reply to Thread

Useful Searches