ABOUT A YEAR AGO I GOT A COPY OF THE GREY SHEETS AND WAS MYSTIFIED AS TO WHY THE PRICE ON THE 1986 WAS $12.50 / ROLL. I DON'T REMEMBER WHETHER IT WAS THE P'S OR D'S.I HAVE A LOAD OF THESE:goofer: IN AU/BU CONDITION THAT WERE TAKEN OUT OF CIRCULATION. DOES ANYBODY HAVE AN IDEA AS TO THIS VALUATION
Both the 1986-P and 1986-D cents are anomalies, and they're higher than $12.50 now. Of course, you have to find someone that wants them. And, AU won't cut it. They have to be typical rolls; MS-63-65 would be appropriate.
There are a few factors at work here. Probably the main factor is that the mint failed tpo solicit their regular mint set customers for sales of their 1986 mint sets due to a computer glitch. This dramatically suppressed sales of the sets. Setting aside pennies is highly variable from one year to the next because they are so inexpensive that large numbers can be saved but few people were doing it in those days. To some extent savings would depend on quality since people tend to not want to set aside poor coins. The Philly production was pretty bad because of plating and surface problems. (note that if a coin corrodes in a roll it wll likely spot the adjacent coin). Mint set quality was actually pretty decent and the mint finally got a handle on most of the worst plating problems with these. While I don't think any buyers are really expecting MS-65 quality in the rolls, they do expect them not to be corroded and tarnished and this usually will mean MS-62-65 with the Philly and a little better and wider spread with the Denvers. Really over time there will be a lot more of the modern cents and other denominations emerge as being tough. The demand for rolls is quite subdued and comes largely from retail set assemblers. While some of the cent rolls exist in ample quantities some do not but it isn't apparent due to weak demand. Quality can also be a huge problem. Some people will open up their rolls and find that the coins are just junk. Even some of the coins that are common in gem will be rare in superb gem.
Greysheet bid on "BU rolls" for 1986-P is $15 and for 1986-D is $25. That doesn't mean you'd get that price. Most dealers would pay less than that. I would say MS-63 quality is fair. A point higher or lower wouldn't make much difference.
