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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 8322796, member: 112&quot;]Why are old state commems so cheap despite rarity?</p><p><br /></p><p>That same basic question has been being asked by collectors for 50 years or longer. And the answer has always been the same - it&#039;s because pretty much none of them are actually rare. Most aren&#039;t even scarce, even in higher grades, let alone rare.</p><p><br /></p><p>Part of the reason some folks just don&#039;t understand is often because of how they personally define rare. And, how they define higher grades also plays a part but the it&#039;s the definition/perception of scarcity/rarity more than anything else.</p><p><br /></p><p>Then you must also take into account that there are two types of rarity, conditional rarity and absolute rarity. But even both of them are defined differently depending upon whom you ask.</p><p><br /></p><p>To me and a great many others like or similar to me absolute rarity is what really counts. And for a coin to be defined as rare then only 10 or less examples of that coin in any and all grades can exist. If more than 10 exist then the coin is defined as being scarce. And yes, even scarce has a limit. With many coins if 50 to a 100, or more, of them exist they&#039;re not even scarce. </p><p><br /></p><p>And with the classic commems, with almost all of them, there are many that exist, some in the thousands that exist. So rare and scarce go flying right out the window for they are not rare or scarce at all.</p><p><br /></p><p>When it comes to conditional rarity/scarcity, yeah, some coins would qualify as being rare or scarce. With the exception of more modern coins of course, and I say they are the exception because sometimes very high numbers of them exist even in the highest grades.</p><p><br /></p><p>But with conditional rarity/scarcity the numbers are almost always skewed because some say only coins graded by so and so count and none of all the rest count at all. So when you start throwing stuff like that into the equation how much confidence can the market as a whole put on conditional rarity when it comes to value ? Answer, very little.</p><p><br /></p><p>All of that said, to put all of this into perspective they have things called Rarity Scales, each of which was created by a person generally considered to be an expert or an acknowledged authority on coins or specific coin types. And of course each person has different points of view.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is one of the most commonly used Rarity Scales. He doesn&#039;t use words like rare or scarce but the numbers pretty much speak for themselves. And it applies to all US coins.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Universal Rarity Scale by Q. David Bowers</p><p><br /></p><p>Universal Rarity Scale-0 = None known</p><p>URS-1 = 1 known, unique</p><p>URS-2 = 2 known</p><p>URS-3 = 3 or 4</p><p>URS-4 = 5 to 8</p><p>URS-5 = 9 to 16</p><p>URS-6 = 17 to 32</p><p>URS-7 = 33 to 64</p><p>URS-8 = 65 to 124</p><p>URS-9 = 125 to 249</p><p>URS-10 = 250 to 499</p><p>URS-11 = 500 to 999</p><p>URS-12 = 1,000 to 1,999</p><p>URS-13 = 2,000 to 3,999</p><p>URS-14 = 4,000 to 7,999</p><p>URS-15 = 8,000 to 15,999</p><p>URS-16 = 16,000 to 31,999</p><p>URS-17 = 32,000 to 64,999</p><p>URS-18 = 65,000 to 124,999</p><p>URS-19 = 125,000 to 249,999</p><p>URS-20 = 250,000 to 499,999</p><p>URS-21 = 500,000 to 999,999</p><p>URS-22 = 1,000,000 to 1,999,999</p><p>URS-23 = 2,000,000 to 3,999,999</p><p>URS-24 = 4,000,000 to 7,999,999</p><p>URS-25 = 8,000,000 to 15,999,999</p><p>URS-26&gt; = same progression[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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