What do you see as currently over-hyped coins?

Bingo....I have 2 or 3 of some of the Saint-Gaudens Commemorative Silver coins that that's more than enough. If I were making a bet on silver, no way do I pay the then 100-200% premium to silver they cost me years ago.

 

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Underhyped: Surprised nobody mentioned them yet, but Silver Britannias (as of the last time I checked) seem to be sold at the lowest premium above their melt value of just about any currently minted silver bullion coin. Far better value than US ASE's or Canadian Maple Leafs, if you're only buying them for the silver. And entirely my own subjective opinion, I think the design is far more interesting.

Overhyped: I've always thought toning was overhyped. I won't deny that some toning can and does look good, but for me too many of them just look unappealing and if anything should lower, not raise, the value. And it's just so subjective anyway.

 

Miss Liberty on the barber coinage is a bit androgynous.

 

To me, just about anything that has been labeled as a “key date,” variety or die state. The reason is that a bunch of collectors, actually speculators, have decided that buying key dates is a way make money. When I was a dealer, the three legged Buffalo Nickel was a big favorite. The coin was always available. If I could buy one for around GreySheet bid, it was easy to make money.

To me the doubled die craze is the worst. If it takes a 10x glass to see it, it’s a waste of time and money. If it takes a 5x, so what? The naked eye doubled dies are legitimate, but they are not my thing.

 

Overhyped for me is coins touted as being in old plastic. Old holders do nothing for me if the coin is nothing special.

Underhyped would be 3c nickels. Nobody gets excited about these or has ever tried a Well Managed Promotion™ around them. People usually want one for their collection (mine is an 1889 in PR66). There's a lot of room to hype these, but there probably wouldn't be much return in doing so.

 

Nickel 3 cent pieces have always been a favorite of mine (even though I only own 2 of them currently) because when I first found one at a coin store, I didn't even know they existed. So it's nostalgic for me, since it largely represents what got me to continue to be interested in coin collecting. I already was interested when I bought my first one, but I think it's large part of why I'm still interested. Nice simple design that's still very attractive. And the fact that not a lot of people get excited about them or even seem to know about them means they're a lot cheaper than you think they would be. I don't know that I'd ever try to finish a set of them, but it's one of my goals to get a high grade example for my Dansco 7070 type set.

 

And that ended up being a surprisingly affordable set to put together too. I had to settle for proofs for a couple of the later dates, but you are correct. I never understood why that has been such an under the radar series.

 

In some ways it matters more what you mean by the word "hyped". I will state outright, if some guy is on your TV shouting at you that the coins he has for sale are "great rarities"; they are not.
I think coin collecting is a large and diverse population. Those who love toning collect that. Those who love errors focus on that. Still other love conditional rarity or obscure varieties. I don't really think of any of those as hyped. More like choices from the wine menu or different styles of art or music.
I actually think coin collecting will continue to grow rather than shrink for the simple reason there are always more new coins and more new perspectives to come. Some will just be whispered; others shouted. James

 

Not a coin but overhyped are fancy notes because every note printed has a unique serial number. So fancy serial numbered notes aren't any rarer than a mundane serial numbered note.

Underhyped - maybe Classic Jefferson Nickels. You can still put together a complete set of very fine or better coins with most coming from pocket change.

 

I agree but there are legitimate key dates because they fit in many types of collections. An '09-S VDB is the only Lincolns in the aughts. And the only Lincoln with initials on the reverse, etc. The Gem '76 quarter is emerging as a key date despite the fact it is the most common pre-1999 quarter in Gem condition. There are tens of thousands of them! But it is desired by wide swathes of collectors.

Speculators have always done a lot of harm in the hobby but don't forget more than a few turn into collectors and most of we collectors have some speculative blood.

 

I have very little “speculative blood.” Except when I was dealer, I have purchased almost no items in 65 years of collecting with a profit in mind.

 

Overhyped? Morgan dollars.

 

Well, I'm guilty of collecting some of the hype but agree with everyone. I have a Morgan set going and they're overhyped but IMO, not nearly overhyped as modern ASEs.
The Morgans are at least old, they have A LOT of different looks to them than just blast white. Many nice ones are easily obtainable. There's still many challenging ones and huge batches of them have been melted over the years. So what's actually left of anything may be nowhere near original mintages. They are a staple of collectors and represent a nostalgic time period for many Americans. Also readily available at every show. When you buy these you feel like you're getting something.
As someone who has too many ASEs and somehow always obtains more, they are the most overhyped in my view. I think they should let the program go at some point. We'll have enough to go around forever if they stopped this year.

Undervalued: The buffalo nickel. I don't know if not having silver in them hurts the popularity but the design is excellent and some of them are very attractive. The key dates have original mintages near the 1921 Peace High relief or less. Granted they aren't "cheap" cheap, but they could be A LOT more expensive than they are. Almost all of them circulated heavily during their time so low grade ones are readily available across the set. Many dates are very common and cheap in MS. There are many ugly, beat up worn ones though. Some of the early ones are tough in nicer grades because nobody thought to save them when they debuted. By the middle of the series, people were paying attention and saving them for collectors.

Undervalued: Ancients. As someone who discovered them in the last couple years and is still a novice, they are really special. After you have spent years looking at all the basic US stuff, it's refreshing to expand into other areas and learn about other historically important coins. Some which are thousands of years old. Its like trying to learn a different language and often times literally can be.

I can identify many Roman Imperials from the portraits alone now which I think is cool. It's neat to realize the different reverses are what helps drive the demand for most of them. As well as strike, centering and surfaces. Don't know all the intricacies of the Greek stuff and Alexander the Great drachms, tetradrachms for example, but at least I know what they are (and rough time frames) when I see one. Some may be more popular than I give credit for here though. They are desired on the World stage. Not as much in the US but may be changing more than I realize.

 

When I started collecting I had almost none at all. I actually made a little money on my first coin collection (buffalos) but I saw dozens of friends who ALL lost money and when I got it back into collecting in 1972 I vowed not to lose any. Even that though didn't give me "bloodlust" but rather caution and an eye for a bargain. When I discovered I could parlay bargains into an expanded collection I got the eye of a speculator.

I'm selling now but I'm still very much a collector and something of a speculator.

 

If you can break even or make money on most everything you buy, in the short term, you are a lot better than I am, @cladking. I have made money from holding items and having the market catch up.

Years ago, the GreySheet was the “retail” guide for a lot of collectors, but that was mostly for “stuff.” If you wanted the better material, you had to pay for it. As a dealer, I got to be a member of the club and was able to buy a lot of items at discounts. Of course I sold things to other dealers on the same basis. Once I retired that ended. I now pay “full boat” and expect to do that for items which are better than”stuff.” “Stuff” is common material in run of the mill grades.