Anything strike your fancy?
Are the mintages of some of this year’s commemoratives low enough to entice some late buying from collectors? The possibility occurred to me this morning, so I checked the Mint’s…
Are the mintages of some of this year’s commemoratives low enough to entice some late buying from collectors?
The possibility occurred to me this morning, so I checked the Mint’s website to see what I could find.
I see the March of Dimes uncirculated silver dollar struck in Philadelphia has a sales figure of 24,522. Price is $48.95.
Perhaps even more appealing is the $17.95 price of the uncirculated clad half dollar struck in Denver for the U.S. Marshals Service. The sales number is 29,571.
To put that number in perspective, it means that collectors have spent just $530,799.45 on these coins.
That’s not much for a nationwide audience.
More likely, attention will be drawn to the 6,623 sales total for the uncirculated Marshals Service gold $5. Price is $364.
That is certainly more money than most collectors would spend on a madcap splurge. At that price, the cost of all of these coins sold so far approaches five times what was spent on the clad half dollars.
Obviously, uncirculated clad half dollars are not ranked highly in collector minds.
Perhaps this is the day to begin to change that attitude.
It is not rare, but the 50th anniversary Kennedy set from 2014 can still be had for $99.95.
Sales total 218,648, which insures a wide distribution and a reasonably large floating supply on the secondary market. But the theme still means a lot to many Americans.
Perhaps now is the time to take a flier in the 5-ounce America the beautiful coins.
There is something impressive about their size and their heft.
Even if you do not want to collect the entire set, you might find that spending $149.95 on the Homestead, Kisatchie or Saratoga pieces is worth it.
If I had to spend the money to impress a non-collector, one of these coins is what I would hand them.
The best part of being a collector is you don’t have to listen to anyone when deciding what to buy.
However, I hope you will listen to me and at least pay a visit to the Mint’s website today to see what is available.
Buzz blogger Dave Harper has twice won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."
• Like this blog? Read more by subscribing to Numismatic News.