Oldmanruff

I've been purusing the value list in the latest Coinage mag and find that the values for the 1999D state quarters seem very high and worthy of my interest. Seem there are very few MS 67 samples of these coins, anyone out there have any intelligence on this matter?

 

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I don't know a lot on these, but the earlier State Quarters bring pretty good money in the ultra grades like 67.

 

I'm quite hesitant to pay strong money for common coins in uncommon plastic. It just doesn't make much sense to me. I'd rather a much rarer coin in a little bit lower grade.

 

I was thinking it might be worth my while to purchase some 1999 quarter mint sets and submit the 1999D quarters to be certified in the hopes of getting some high grades for a good investment? What does anyone think?

 

I agree. I'm a big fan of the classics and don't collect moderns at all. But, I guess some people do.

 

I don't really know, but I was under the impression that the mint sets often certify a couple of points higher than most uncirculated coins of the same ilk, and unless the Denver mint was having problems and had a extremely poor strike there should be some MS 67+ among those available and the cost for a set of Denvers finest goes for about $10.00 tops.

 

I think you would find that you would go through a LOT of 1999 sets before you found one that might come back MS-67. You have to consider that you aren't the first person to think of this. People have been going through the 1999 sets for 8 years now and as you can see from the pop reports and price guides, not many have been found. And you have to have a very discriminating eye to be able to pick out the coins that have a good chance of making 67. Otherwise you will tie up so much money in coins that don't make the grade that you aren't actually making any money on the few that do.

 

Hi.

There are several reasons these states issues are rare in superb condition. The major one is that they were generally very poorly made. The mint always has trouble with a new design for a few years before they get the bugs worked out of it so all the states coins are susceptable to being poorly made. Some of the designs just naturally strike up well so this isn't a problem with all of them.

When the first states coins came out collectors had been studiously ignoring current coins for more than a generation. The general public didn't pay much more attention to them. This meant the mint didn't have customer pressure to make nice coins. They had reduced the relief of the designs for years to make them easier to coin and still the standards were quite low. Even the low relief coins rolled out of the mint with weak strikes and covered in scratches. They continued this same practice with the states coins but now it was met with howls from all fronts; people demanded better. The mint responded and all the coinage is being made a little better.

Initially, too, people didn't realize how big the states quarters were going to be and insufficient numbers were saved of the hundreds of millions minted. Most new collectors don't even think about saving nice examples and might have a poorly made coin that kicked around in circulation in their collection. As they become more sophisticated and compare the various coins then they start wanting all the coins nicer or at least to meet some minimum standard. This puts extra demand on the small supplies of mostly poorly made coinage.

Almost invariably since 1964 the best coins have gone into mint sets and apparently 1999 quarters were no exception. However, 1999 mint set quarters tend to be pretty poor, especially DE and PA. Also the premium above the total value of the coins for the set is very high. This means that it's impossible to cut up quantities of sets and make a profit on the too scarce gems since you lose this premium when the set is destroyed. Of course you could cut only those sets which are profitable but then you're left looking for large numbers of sets to check or selling large numbers of sets at retail. It can be difficult and time consuming to find sufficient numbers of sets unless you have good contacts and selling anything retail can be difficult. There is a very low spread on modern mint products so this is an easier field than most.

A lot of people just can't accept that well made and well preserved moderns can be rare. It seems to surprise even more when the coin is an ultramodern such as '99 quarters. A lot of recent coins will prove to be elusive even in just unc condition. Try finding a roll of '98-D nickels for example. The simple fact is that since 1972 coins don't save themselves any longer. In the old days coins would be saved as backing for paper or lost in bank vaults. They could get in the back of a FED vault and sit there in pristine condition for decades. This assured not only uncs of old coins but a steady supply of nice XF's and AU's in circulation. In 1972 the mint switched to FIFO accounting which meant they had to rotate their stocks on a First In- First Out basis. There are now only the coins that were saved intentionally and collectors quit saving new coins in 1965.

There are lots of "opportunities" to profit in the later coins but, as always there are numerous pitfalls. Be very careful before trying to get into these markets and do your homework. As always most people find collecting coins to be the surest way to have fun and "profit".

 

I thank you all for the many insights your have shared with me on my concept with the 1999D quarters, and I've decided to not pursue my plan, unless I stumble over some mint sets at a truely reasonable price and rate it worthwhile to follow up. The chance of this is slim to none. I guess I'll just sit back and try to think up something else that would be worthwhile.