1876 circulated business-strike set; how hard are the coins to find?

[shirohniichan]

I posted this on the other side of the street, but I didn't get many replies.

 

Is my experience reflective of the true situation in the coin market?

 

Cent:

Difficulty: Easy to find in AG to VG; scarce in unimpaired VF to AU

Notes: Lots of junk out there

 

Three cents:

Difficulty: Somewhat easy to find in VF to EF (didn't look for lower grade examples)

 

Five cents:

Difficulty: Somewhat scarce in unimpaired VF to EF (didn't look for lower grades)

 

Dime:

Difficulty: Easy to find in AG to F; a bit harder in unimpaired VF to EF; fairly easy in AU

Notes: There are tons of cleaned, scratched, and otherwise impaired 1876 dimes out there

 

Twenty cents:

Difficulty: Somewhat scarce in unimpaired grades G through AU

Notes: There are lots of cleaned and dipped out '76 double dimes out there; they are generally easier to find in unimpaired EF to AU than they are in G to F

 

Quarter:

Same as dime

 

Half dollar:

Same as dime and quarter, but harder to find in unimpaired VF to AU

 

Trade dollar:

Difficulty: Fairly easy to find in EF and above

Notes: Type I/I and I/II make up the vast majority of business strikes; II/II is extremely rare, and those

that come to market are usually impaired (harshly cleaned or polished); chopmarked examples are

scarce

 

Gold dollar:

Difficulty: Scarce in all circulated grades

Notes: Usually cleaned, scratched or otherwise impaired in grades under AU

 

Quarter eagle:

Difficulty: Scarce in all grades

 

Half eagle:

Difficulty: Very scarce in all grades

Notes: While not as rare as the eagle, you may have to wait years to find a choice piece for the grade

 

Eagle:

Difficulty: Very tough to find in any grade; truly RARE

Notes: You can wait years to find a decent piece

 

Double eagle:

Difficulty: Fairly common in F to AU

 

I only specialize in double dimes and trade dollars, so I would appreciate comments from those who know about the other series.

[toyonakataro]

Just curious, is 1876 important year to you?

Is it your birth year? I thought you looked a bit younger last time I saw you.....

[michael]

somewhat easy for all coins in xf to au to unc for all coins

[shirohniichan]

1876 marked my 10th wedding anniversary, so it has sentimental importance.

 

I thought the base and silver coins were less than easy in unimpaired conditions.

[Tradedollarnut]

1876 marked my 10th wedding anniversary, so it has sentimental importance.

 

Really? You're older than dirt!

[TJ'S Coins]

I've been dabbling with this same year. So far I have CC Quarter NGS MS61, An S Quarter that is VF30 and a P Half which grades AU55. Being the centennial year of the nation, you might pay a slight premium to find problem free coins. I've seen a lot of lower grade coins and some mid-range that have been cleaned, etc. I haven't looked at the gold for this year so I can't really help you there.

[toyonakataro]

You could have bought a few original rolls of seated half dimes for me, then

 

By the way, we made a two-day trip to Hiroshima last week.

Could have been a great trip if I hadn't quarelled with my wife....

[EZ_E]

A nice compliment to the set would be the HK 20/21 centennial medals. The 38mm designs come in silver, bronze and gild. There is also a very lare (c. 60mm ?) design. Very nice medals and the first produced by the US Mint.

 

 

The prices are still reasonable although they have been rising over the past couple of years or so.

[shirohniichan]

A nice compliment to the set would be the HK 20/21 centennial medals. The 38mm designs come in silver, bronze and gild. There is also a very lare (c. 60mm ?) design. Very nice medals and the first produced by the US Mint.

 

The prices are still reasonable although they have been rising over the past couple of years or so.

 

I have all three (bronze, gilt and silver) in the 38 mm size and one of the large bronzes. The large silver medals used to be available with original case for around $125 about 5 years ago, but they've probably doubled since then.

 

It's actually easier to build the set in mint state (as long as you have the funds and can live with an AU58 eagle [i think that's the highest graded one so far]). I had all but the eagle until I sold the set in 2003.

[shirohniichan]

You could have bought a few original rolls of seated half dimes for me, then

 

By the way, we made a two-day trip to Hiroshima last week.

Could have been a great trip if I hadn't quarelled with my wife....

 

Stop arguing with your wife and you'll enjoy your vacations more.

[jtryka]

The double eagles are fairly easy up through MS-62, beyond that they get tought really fast! The CC will also be challenging but certainly availble in circulated grades. Good luck!

[TomB]

The problem comes when you stipulate that they must be original and problem-free. Truly, most of these coins are available if you accept problems (dipped, cleaned, holed, bent, scratched, etc...) but to obtain each in choice grades that have eye appeal, well, that is tough. In truth, and I think someone wrote this already, getting these pieces in PF or MS might be quite a bit easier, save for the wallet, than finding them in attractive, circulated grades.

 

Let's see pictures!

[RGT]

Here's one I sold on ebay a couple of months ago. I got a whopping $35 for it.

 

[TomB]

That's all!?!?!?!?!?

[RGT]

Ok, you caught me. The winning bid was actually $35.56.

 

I owned the coin for eight years and lost money on it. Selling raw coins on ebay starting at 99 cents and no reserve is a [embarrassing lack of self control] shoot. I've done very well on some and poorly on others. I don't think it's my pictures since the one I posted here is the exact one I used in the auction.

 

Sorry to diverge the thread into my personal ebay rant.

[Bruceswar]

ouch sorry to hear that...

[shirohniichan]

Here's one I sold on ebay a couple of months ago. I got a whopping $35 for it.

 

 

Thanks for rubbing it in!

 

I went out looking this weekend and found some coins in the dates I was looking for, but they had problems (rim dings, small digs on the reverse, etc.). I don't mind minor scratches from circulation, but I'll pass on bigger problems.

[shirohniichan]

Here are some scans of the coins I have so far:

 

 

 

I also have a cleaned quarter eagle with EF details somewhere, but I haven't taken a photo of it yet.