by Michael E. Marotta
© Copyright 2000 by Michael E. Marotta
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by Michael E. Marotta
© Copyright 2000 by Michael E. Marotta
Hundreds of overlooked rarities await the sharp collector. Look in the Red Book under "Bust Dimes".
| Year | Mintage | Good | Ex.Fine |
| 1832 | 522,500 | $14 | $175 |
| 1835 | 1,410,000 | 14 | 175 |
| 1836 | 1,190,000 | 14 | 175 |
| 1837 | 359,500 | 14 | 175 |
Technically, a coin with 1/3 the volume should have 3 times the price. Consider "Seated Dimes":
| 1841 | 1,622,500 | $ 8 | $ 45 |
| 1841-O | 2,007,000 | 9 | 65 |
| 1841 | 1,887,500 | 8 | 40 |
| 1841-O | 2,020,000 | 9 | 125 |
Technically, a coin with smaller volume should have a higher -- not a lower -- price.
These same anomalies exist all across the entire range of collectible money. Look at the numbers for $5 Gold Half Eagles.
| Year & Mint | Mintage | VF-20 | AU-50 |
| 1843 | 611,000 | 175 | 350 |
| 1844 | 340,000 | 175 | 350 |
| 1852 | 573,901 | 175 | 275 |
| 1853 | 305,000 | 175 | 275 |
| 1901-S | 3,648,000 | 160 | 185 |
| 1903-S | 1,855,000 | 160 | 185 |
Early coins with 1/3 to the mintage of later ones are available for only 10% more. High-grade rarieties with one tenth the mintage are available for only twice (not ten times) the price.
Many commemoratives of the 1920s and 1930s were melted after disappointing sales. The mintages are objectively low; the coins are objectively rare. Confederate Bank Notes, money of the American revolution, colonial Spanish coins, ancients, Alaska Tokens, and every other facet of numismatics has these unexploited anomalies waiting for the right moment.
These untapped veins of riches will not be unclaimed forever. Markets do change. Before World War II (1940), few collectors pursued Date and Mint sets. So-called "serious collectors" -- the richest and smartest East Coast WASP businessmen of the capitalist era -- limited themselves to Type Sets. Then, an enterprising Jew in Texas, B. Max Mehl, awakened the general public to the riches to be found in old coins. In one generation -- from the 1930s to the 1950s -- coin collecting was transformed!
Today, collectors pursue overdates, repunched Mint Marks, varieties of Morgan Dollars, and many other kinds of coins previously ignored by an earlier generation.
Now, with the 50 State Quarter Program and the New Golden Dollar, sophisticated market researchers hired by the United States Government predict 75 million to 100 million new collectors. Numismatic markets are in for an earthquake, a volcano, and an asteroid collision all at once!!
Some new collectors will flood the existing channels of collecting. Others will seek unexplored territories, looking for bargains. Prices on traditional coins such as the Morgan Dollar will rise immediately. Right behind them will be the previously quiet anomalies in Bust Dimes, Seated Liberty coins, $5 Gold Half Eagles, and Early Commemoratives among many others. Imagine that when the prices of all coins double, you will own the coins that will sell for ten times more than today. Any collector with the savvy to milk the numbers today will be the envy of other collectors tomorrow.