1966 DDR FS801 NGC MS66+ Lincoln Cent 2 2

[Coinfreak64]

This may be the only Top Pop for this beautiful Variety to date. PCGS has graded 5 , AU55 AU58 MS62 BN, Great Collection has sold 2 in last 13 years both from PCGS MS62 BN, 1700 3300. This is a rare coin "Unicorn" , it hard to get a value since none have been graded at this level and none sold. The attached pictures are of a different 66 DDR F801 note it is RD as well my scope is not good with colors. I have one slabbed and 1 raw. thoughts on value. 

 

[Henri Charriere]

Let's see now... briefly: "rare,"..."hard to get a value,"...."none have been graded at this level and none sold."

So much for the myth of Fair Market Value.

What I see coming is an auction with all interested parties tuned in and, barring fanatics (who must have this coin at all costs) including taking any auction quite personally and will not let any prominent collector or anonymous man woman or child prevent him from claiming his God-given eyes on the prize, a top bid will be made and value established that you and the seller, in that one moment in time, will accept.  Then, as sometimes happens, some whippersnapper with a straight-grade MS-67, bearing all the attributes you've mentioned--and additional ones, according to the gods of FMV, though a finer coin in every respect, fetches a lower price than your fine example.  Such is life. I wish you all the best.

[J P M]

I think the amount would depend on Who would want it.

[Henri Charriere]

On 5/20/2023 at 1:58 PM, J P M said:

I think the amount would depend on Who would want it.

 

On 5/20/2023 at 1:58 PM, J P M said:

I think the amount would depend on Who would want it.

And... who will promote it, the language used, the hype attending its attributes, and demand.  As one member put it, it's amazing sometimes how you can push a product no one knew he wanted or needed and formerly never even knew existed!

[Coinbuf]

On 5/20/2023 at 10:22 AM, Coinfreak64 said:

thoughts on value. 

Value is determined by the function of supply and demand, you may have the corner on high grade supply but without any demand the value can be limited.   One aspect to demand for variety/doubled die coins like this is the inclusion in registry sets, when these variety coins get included in registry sets the demand is greater, somewhat at least.   In this case the coin you have is not included in any of the NGC Lincoln registry sets, at least I have never seen it listed and I have half a dozen Lincoln registry sets.   It is however listed and a required part of at least one registry set in the PCGS registry, that may explain why the two sales and the prices realized recorded at GC were PCGS graded coins.

I am not a variety coin collector so the value of a coin like this is quite low to me, it doesn't have the wow factor like a 55/55 or 72/72.   But to a Lincoln variety collector I'm sure that it would be quite sought after as I think the top pop for any of the PCGS graded coins is MS65RD.   You would have the best chance to maximize your hammer price by crossing it over to PCGS, even if it fell a grade to MS65 it would tie for top pop and would be a prize for a motivated PCGS Lincoln variety registry collector.

 

[Coinfreak64]

thank you all so far for your feedback. With regards to PCGS they have graded 5 the highest being MS62BN it claims there are 7 in total but only 1 in MS65 i cannot reference that anywhere and it may just be a data entry error. I have contacted PCGS this past few days and asked them to verify if it indeed has a MS65 Graded 66DDR FS801 Variety and in RED. I also contacted NGC because they dont even reference  the 2 that sold on GC. So there where things stand for now. 

[Coinfreak64]

i did look at the auction sites listed on PCGS there are some top one but i do not have any experience with any sales on those sites except ebay. any sites would be appreciated. 

[Coinbuf]

On 5/20/2023 at 11:14 AM, Coinfreak64 said:

thank you all so far for your feedback. With regards to PCGS they have graded 5 the highest being MS62BN it claims there are 7 in total but only 1 in MS65 i cannot reference that anywhere and it may just be a data entry error. I have contacted PCGS this past few days and asked them to verify if it indeed has a MS65 Graded 66DDR FS801 Variety and in RED. I also contacted NGC because they dont even reference  the 2 that sold on GC. So there where things stand for now. 

It could be a data entry error, that does happen.   The top set in the PCGS registry set I referenced above is not visible to the public so it could have the MS65RD example in that set, no way to know, the second highest set has an AU in that slot.

GC does not share its auction history with the TPG's the way Heritage and Stacks does, so you will not be able to find any of that data on the auction history listed by the TPG's.   If there truly is a 65RD it most likely sold via private contract and thus there will be no public record of the sale.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Coinbuf

[GoldFinger1969]

On 5/20/2023 at 2:39 PM, Coinbuf said:

GC does not share its auction history with the TPG's the way Heritage and Stacks does, so you will not be able to find any of that data on the auction history listed by the TPG's. 

I didn't know that...anybody know why ?  Aren't GC's auction results public anyways ?  I would think the TPGs could just "grab" them off the website if GC didn't send them periodic updates.

[Sandon]

    Although this relatively minor doubled die cent will benefit from being listed in the Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties, as indicated by the "FS" (Fivaz-Stanton) number, and by being recognized by the major grading services, it will never attract much attention from the broader numismatic community because it isn't listed in the "Redbook" or other major numismatic guides and will likely never be.  All of the Redbook listed doubled die varieties, unlike this one, are readily discernible to the non-farsighted naked eye or under low magnification.  Some, like the 1955 and 1972 type 1 doubled die obverses, command high prices even though thousands of each exist due to the demand from regular Lincoln cent collectors.  The 1958 and 1969-S doubled die obverses combine prominent doubling with extreme rarity and publicity.  The only doubled die reverse Lincoln cent listed in the Redbook is the 1983, which also features far more prominent doubling than this 1966 variety.  A minor doubled die variety like this one is likely only to be of much interest to a relatively small group of specialists. Its scarcity actually weighs against its value being readily determinable due to the infrequency of publicly recorded sales.

    If you wanted to sell this coin, it would be most likely to attract multiple interested collectors through a major numismatic auction house such as (in alphabetical order) Goldberg (goldbergcoins.com), Great Collections (greatcollections.com), Heritage (ha.com) and Stacks Bowers (stacksbowers.com).  Many serious collectors avoid doing business on ebay, except with sellers who are known to be reputable coin dealers. 

   

[Coinbuf]

On 5/20/2023 at 11:48 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

I didn't know that...anybody know why ?  Aren't GC's auction results public anyways ?  I would think the TPGs could just "grab" them off the website if GC didn't send them periodic updates.

Ian addressed this on the PCGS forum a few years back, I don't recall the specifics of why now, just that he had his reasons.   Yes GC's auctions are public to a point, if you want the pricing info you have to be logged into the site.    And the TPG's are not going to pay someone to sit there, log into GC and spend hours copying sales results and then imputing that data into their system.   There is no bottom line incentive to do that, remember that both NGC and PCGS are now owned by wallstreet and in my experience wallstreet doesn't do anything for free or that doesn't enhance their bottom line.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Coinbuf