has the prices for all the pre-'64 coins with silver content in them ever rose or dropped with changes in the silver prices? i know the prices for the coins has been holding steady, ignoring any changes in the silver prices lately... but in the past, when there were dramatic changes in silver prices, did the pre-'64 coin values rise and/or drop with the changes as well? or is numismatic-interest the main determinant for prices regarding pre-'64 coins?
The value of low grade, common 90% silver coinage (occasionally referred to as 'junk silver') is based almost entirely upon the price of silver. Prices of 'junk silver' have always been tied to the price of silver.
well then, i don't know what they're going for now, but in that case i've missed out on thousand's of dollars in great deals via eBay in the past when the silver prices were way higher than what the coins sold for (in rolls) back then
All pre-64 is tied to the silver price. As silver rises it seems that only the semi key and key coins get saved from the smelter. And even then I have read stories of BU rolls of early Washington quarters being sent to the smelter. I tend to use an increase in silver price to go through the dealers bargain bin. You can sometimes pickup semi-keys for close to spot. For Example when silver was at 12.50 a 1953 Franklin in VF was 5.75 ( 27% premium over spot) Now at 14.71 silver that same 53 Franklin is selling at an 8% premium over spot. Sometimes you can even pickup coins for below spot from these bins since they don't change the price on them.
This may or may not have been the original question: Would the price of say a 1916-D Mercury Dime change much if silver went back to say $5 an ounce?
No it would not. But ask that question about a common date Merc in F condition, and the answer would be yes.
You know, I was thinking the same thing about the 1916-D...but then I looked in an older Redbook out of curosity (which is never the best source for prices-but I thought what the heck). Here's what I found. When I began collecting coins around 1999, you could buy a "junk" silver Morgan dollar for about $7. I looked in my Redbook from 1999 (when silver was about $8 per ounce I believe) and found a 1916-D in F-12 was worth $1200. Now, with the price of silver having increased about 150% in the 8 years since then, the same coin in the 2007 Redbook is listed at $2500. So, even though Redbook isn't that accurate because silver is constantly chaning in value...but it seems interesting that the 1916-D would double in value over an 8 year period. What I wonder is, did the increase in silver contribute to this at all of has the demand just increased that much.
Let me add a few examples to explain what I meant. In the June 06 Coin Values issue a 1937D Walking Liberty half in VG8 was 7.00 and the 47D was 5.00. Now in the April 07 Coin Values issue both the 37D and 47D are 7.50. I would assume that if the price of silver was to drop the 37D would not and the 47D would. In the same June 06 mag they list the price of a 39S Merc for 1.50 in VG-8. Most of common Mercs go for 1.00 in that issue. Now in the April 07 issue the 39S goes for the same price as the commons $1.50.
The demand has increased that much. Since 2001 US coin values pretty much across the board have gone up about 300%. No not every coin has, but the vast majority have. Some have gone up even more. Some have even gone up that much and then dropped 50%. But the price of silver had little to do with it. Yeah it played a part, but the increased interest in coin collecting played a bigger part, a much bigger part. So did the increase in advertising and the news reports - not just news reports in the coin mags, I mean news reports on national TV and in all the local as well as the national papers. In the past few years coin collecting has become big news. The value of the US dollar has also played a part, so has the stock market and declining real estate market. People with money have been looking for places to put that money. All of these things and few more have played a part in the rising values of coins. It wasn't any single one of them - it was all of them combined and happening all at the same time that did it. If any one of them had not happened - the increase in values may not have happened either.
Richie: Many coins have increased greatly recently. This is because of an increase in demand, not silver prices. Example: Recently, last year, copper prices were increasing, but there was no great increase in half cents. However, finally, January Trends I believe, the price of a 1795 1/2 cent in AG went from $175 to $350. Sure copper is up, but this increased as a result of increase in demand, NOT because of the five cents or so of copper in the coin. Also, with the recent increase in silver, using your logic, why didn't the 1901 S Barber quarter increase from its price of $6,000 in good condition? It has been level for nearly a year, during the recent heavy increase in silver. Rare and scarce coins increase by demand by collectors, not silver & gold prices.
I sometimes find it useful to subtract the bullion value from the coin price to calculate the "numismatic value" of the coin. When you can find a coin selling close to bullion value that also has some collector potential, it might be undervalued. For example, some of the modern commemorative coins from the 1980s frequently sell at or close to their bullion value. So you are really getting a collectible coin, mint packaging, ect. for "free."
Certaintly seemed the case with the 1982 George Washington I bought. When you subtract out the value of the silver it contains, it was basically free. It's a very common issue, but you'd think the fact that it's the first modern US commemorative would generate some value from numismatic interest. Guess not.. supply still outpaces demand for it currently. Same with the Statue of Liberty commemoratives from 1986 (besides the gold one). Later issues were minted in smaller numbers and at a time when more people were interested in them, so they've gone up inm value quite a lot more. Just look at how quickly the Marine Corps dollar went up. It's still fairly high.
Hello guys, I have a lot of silver kick outs , like common date Mercury dimes and War Nickels. Last week I sold 3000 Mercury dimes / common dates they were nice coins ...no culls or about goods. Most were fines some better a few very goods but all in all nice coins. I sold them for .70 cents a piece. I could have proberly sold a few here and there and done about .95 cent a coin but I figure that many coins at one sale was decent. I made a good profit .....I didn't have all that much tied up in them. The buyer offered me .25 cent a piece for my War Nickels .....I just smiled and politely declined his offer....their very nice coins as well around 2500 of them. Michael/starnote111
70 cents was a little on the cheap side, imo. I bought some quarters over the counter yesterday and paid 9.5 x face, although admittedly that was before silver adjusted down today...and I was trying to fill an order so maybe I was a little too strong lol. tradernick
He's right on the money (no pun intended) Like it has been said before, it is all about the demand. People want what they can't have or are limited to having. They will spare no expense to get it sometimes. Mintage almost plays a key roll almost all of the time to. The 1950 D nickel is an exception. But mostly, it all points to the demand of something. Phoenix
tradernick, yea' it was a little low, but for that many at one drop it wasn't bad (cash sale) I looked at the listings in the back of CoinWorld at the prices dealers were giving and it's around .95 cent and then most of them are out of state and you have to figure shipping cost plus insurance so ....it wasn't top dollar but I could live with it every once and awhile. Thanks for the reply and feedback and its a pleasure to converse with you. Best Reguards, starnote111
