Or do some of us just have more money than common sense? - Another long one

As we all know when Dr. Sheldon had his book Penny Whimsy published he was presenting the numismatic world a detailed catalogue of early large cent varieties (known at that time for the years 1793 to 1814) as well as an approach for pricing these cents. Under his concept every die variety/die combination would be assigned a value in its basal state (1) which was the lowest collectable state. Now more than likely his basal state was better than today?s poor or fair in that a coin in its basal state was still required to have enough detail to determine its Sheldon variety not just its date. The basal state valuation would reflect various factors including its rarity. So how did this pricing system work? For each of the standard grades Sheldon assigned a single multiplication factor, except for UNC where he provided a range of from 60 to 70. To determine a large cent?s value in a given grade you would take the basal state value and multiply it by his assigned multiplication factor for that grade. Thus if a large cent was assigned a basal state valuation of $1.50 it would have the following valuations as a function of grade.

Grade Multiplication Value

Factor

G 4 = $6

VG 8 = $12

F 12 = $18

VF 20 = $30

XF 40 = $60

AU 50 = $75

UNC 60?70 = $90 to $105

I am not saying Dr. Sheldon?s scheme for developing prices for large cents was right. But what I want you to look at is where the emphasis was placed when it came to pricing such coins in the 1950?s. Let?s remember Dr. Sheldon was no dummy when it came to collecting (and thus purchasing) large cents.

The first big jump in price comes at XF. When you get to the grade of XF most of the coin?s detail is there (in effect the design is complete, but the high points are worn, not necessarily totally missing). As you progress up from XF the price increases really are not that significant, why because you are not gaining that much more in detail features. When it comes to the grade UNC, the detail in theory is complete but that is not really the case. You have full strikes and weak strikes. It is totally possible to find an AU (maybe even an XF) with more detail than an UNC. I would argue that Sheldon?s system assumed full strike coins from the grade of XF up. Thus there was no real reason to pay super premiums for a high end UNC versus a low end UNC since the detail was there and all you are talking about are differences in surface marks.

So how does this 1950?s approach to pricing large cents compare to today?s approach? The following values for a 1795 Lettered Edge Large cent comes from NGC?s coin price guide.

G = $540 (the corresponding basal state value would be $135)

VG = $660

F = $1,140

VF = $2,100

XF = $4,810

AU = $7,310

MS60 = $10,630

MS61 = $12,190

MS62 = $14,690

MS63 = $21,880

MS64= $47,190

MS65 = $66,880

I will let you decided how closely current prices correspond to Sheldon?s system for the grades G through XF. There is a larger jump in valuation at AU and from AU to MS-60 the valuation increase is reasonable. But oh my word, going from MS-60 to 65 forget it. We still have contact marks with an MS65. Tell me how many fewer contact marks does one get paying and extra $20,000 to go from MS64 to MS65 or paying $25,000 to go from MS63 to MS64? It appears that Dr. Sheldon?s emphasis on detail has given way to the number of minute surface marks but most importantly bragging rights on grade. I would be the first to admit that a 62.5% increase in price you would have to pay going from XF to MS-65 using Dr. Sheldon?s approach appears to be low. But I really can not understand the rational that gets you the 1,390% increase we have today. Are we collecting the coin or the grade? Take my word for it I?ll take an MS-63 to save $45,000. Heck I love great looking AU?s and would be perfectly happy with a beautiful brown AU 1795 large cent with just the slightest hint of circulation and at the same time save almost $60,000 over an MS-65 with possibly more surface marks than an AU but I will admit the MS-65 gives one the plus of the UNC having no indication of circulation.

My custom set ?Diversity in Numismatics? contains an AU-58 1827 Bust Half Dollar. Why in the world would I or anyone spend an additional $9600 to replace what I believe is a truly beautiful coin to go to an MS-65???

As a collector I think Sheldon had his head screwed on straighter than most of today?s collectors which appear to me to have more money than brains, but I also will have to admit that Sheldon?s approach to pricing any type of coin is not valid for today?s market place.