Undervalued (Underrated) Coins

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jim Archibald on March 20, 2009 at 7:59pm

I have always been a "contrarian" collector going against the flow and actually looking for these bargain coins. One of my personal favorites is the lowly Jefferson Nickel. In that series there are several coins that might fit here, but one of my favs is the 1943-P Proof Jefferson War Nickel. It is a one year type coin with a low mintage of 27,600 pieces that is sixty-six years old. This coin can still be found already certified well below "redbook" price.
Another pretty neat coin is the 1931-S Buffalo Nickel, with a mintage of 1.2 million, it's a bargain in BU condition and a very beautiful coin as well. I'll mention just one more here so some other folks get an opportunity to chime in. That coin will be the 1899 Morgan Dollar. This issue from Philadelphia has a mintage similar to the major keys to the series at a small fraction of the price. The Morgan Dollar series is one of the most popular U.S. coin series among collector's today, second only to the humble Lincoln Cent.
There are many more like these out there, and all it takes is a little time spent in research. Always "buy the book" as they say, before you buy the coin. However, if you don't actually use those books, they won't help. So let me leave you with these words of wisdom, do your homework. There's a old saying that knowledge is power, and that's true in numismatics probably more than anyplace else. ~ Jim
U.S. Coin Collecting

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gary on March 20, 2009 at 9:25pm

I can think of 3 right off the top of my head.

1926-S Lincoln Cent Only 4.5 million made.
1914-S Barber Quarter only 264,000 made and still at a low price.
1910-P Barber Half and less than half a million made, its only worth $20

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by CraigL on March 21, 2009 at 8:14am

Thanks Jim and Gary. I think the Jefferson nickel is an underated coin in general and would be a very interesting set to collect. I am starting to put together a US type set and figured what better way to do it then by selecting underrated coins from each series. I have a lot of research and reading in front of me.
This leads to another question for people that do type sets. Do you try and get the best condition coin you can afford for each series, or do you try and keep the coins in the set pretty similar in condition. I can see advantages to doing it both ways.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Phil C on March 21, 2009 at 12:02pm

Hi Craig. As an old type collector I'd say in general get the best coin you can. In the long run, it usually pays off in how much more your coins appreciate. I try to get a key or semi-key date and that's paid off well for me. I'm just a workin' guy so I don't have a big budget. I try to buy those sleepers and occasional auction bargains to make a few bucks to feed my habit. Speaking of sleepers, I'll throw in the 1912-S Liberty nickel. Its 1/5 the production of the key 1885, only valued at 30% of the key price, appears to have been saved only a little, and shows up on Ebay about the same as the 1885. That's what Jim means by doing your homework. Phil C

CraigL said:

Thanks Jim and Gary. I think the Jefferson nickel is an underated coin in general and would be a very interesting set to collect. I am starting to put together a US type set and figured what better way to do it then by selecting underrated coins from each series. I have a lot of research and reading in front of me.
This leads to another question for people that do type sets. Do you try and get the best condition coin you can afford for each series, or do you try and keep the coins in the set pretty similar in condition. I can see advantages to doing it both ways.

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion