NumisMedia Market Report: A Look Back at FMV Performance
Posted on 12/14/2010
Even though there is a lot of money available to buy coins, most of this money is moving into US gold and other bullion related items. Further, there have been lots of sellers of coins dated after 1930, thus creating excessive discounting within the 20th century series. Our goal in this year-end report is to identify various coins or series that have risen to the occasion and others that have not performed as well.
One year ago, gold stood at $1,175 and silver was $18.14. These numbers are up 16% and 49% respectively. The increase in gold has led to higher FMV prices in the US Gold series, for coins MS 62 and lower. The increase in silver, however, has only influenced the very low grade coins, albeit, substantially this past year. While the metals influenced FMV adjustments for many coins, the higher prices of metals did not necessarily equate to higher FMV overall. If you look through the Modern series after the 1940s you will notice that the majority of certified coins decreased as the number of coins increased in availability in the marketplace. The last two years saw a downturn in collectors who could afford the finest known coins in some Modern series. At the same time, the number of coins graded in MS 70 and PR 70 for Modern Commemorative Half Dollars and Silver Dollars has swelled. As a result, prices for coins like the 1994-S US Capitol, 1996-S Community Service, 1996-P Smithsonian, 1998-S Black Patriots, 2000 P Library of Congress, and 2003 P First Flight, all Silver Dollars in Ultra Cameo PR 70, have decreased 10-20%.
The following charts list how the FMV for specific coins have performed during the last year.
| Dec. 2009 FMV | Dec. 2010 FMV | |
|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Cents | ||
| 1909 VDB MS 65 Red | $195 | $146 |
| 1909-S VDB MS 65 RB | $4,490 | $4,190 |
| 1910-S MS 66 Red | $3,190 | $2,540 |
| 1914-D MS 65 Red | $21,780 | $19,830 |
| 1922 MS 64 RB | $61,880 | $56,880 |
| Buffalo Nickels | ||
| 1913-D TII MS 66 | $2,630 | $2,410 |
| 1913-S TII MS 66 | $8,260 | $7,740 |
| 1918-S MS 65 | $23,080 | $21,450 |
| 1937-D 3 Leg MS 65 | $35,630 | $38,440 |
| Mercury Dimes | ||
| 1916-D MS 66 FB | $63,050 | $65,330 |
| 1918-D MS 65 FB | $28,930 | $24,050 |
| 1919-D MS 65 FB | $33,440 | $24,380 |
| 1921-D MS 66 FB | $9,980 | $9,650 |
| 1925 MS 66 FB | $3,220 | $1,590 |
| Washington Quarters | ||
| 1932-D MS 65 | $11,690 | $11,250 |
| 1932-S MS 65 | $4,310 | $4,130 |
| 1936-D MS 65 | $1,190 | $1,140 |
| 1938-S MS 67 | $1,660 | $1,560 |
| Walking Liberty Halves | ||
| 1918-D MS 64 | $7,160 | $6,720 |
| 1919-D MS 64 | $33,440 | $34,380 |
| 1934-S MS 65 | $4,160 | $3,720 |
| 1938-D MS 65 | $1,630 | $1,530 |
| 1941-S MS 65 | $1,040 | $970 |
| 1946-D MS 67 | $1,660 | $1,330 |
| Morgan Dollars | Generic MS 66 | $288 | $269 |
| Generic MS 65 | $158 | $160 |
| Generic MS 64 | $59 | $66 |
| 1879-CC MS 65 | $27,190 | $28,750 |
| 1883-S MS 65 | $46,880 | $44,380 | 1890-CC MS 65 | $5,470 | $5,220 |
| 1895-S MS 65 | $25,630 | $24,380 |
| $1 Gold | ||
| TI MS 63 | $1,160 | $1,340 |
| TI MS 64 | $1,940 | $2,000 | TI MS 65 | $6,050 | $5,690 |
| TII MS 63 | $9,380 | $9,660 |
| TII MS 64 | $15,190 | $15,440 |
| TII MS 65 | $35,000 | $33,750 |
| TIII MS 63 | $1,050 | $1,280 |
| TIII MS 64 | $1,380 | $1,630 |
| TIII MS 65 | $2,500 | $2,280 |
| $2½ Gold Liberty | ||
| MS 63 | $1,350 | $1,240 |
| MS 64 | $1,490 | $1,330 |
| MS 65 | $2,690 | $2,220 |
| $2½ Indian | ||
| MS 63 | $1,010 | $1,090 |
| MS 64 | $1,560 | $1,670 |
| MS 65 | $4,350 | $3,880 |
| $3 Gold | ||
| MS 63 | $6,690 | $6,190 |
| MS 64 | $9,690 | $9,100 |
| MS 65 | $20,930 | $20,250 |
| $5 Gold W/M | ||
| MS 63 | $1,280 | $1,220 |
| MS 64 | $1,790 | $1,560 |
| MS 65 | $4,500 | $3,750 |
| $5 Indian | ||
| MS 63 | $2,380 | $2,000 |
| MS 64 | $4,340 | $3,310 |
| MS 65 | $20,930 | $16,200 |
| $10 Gold W/M | ||
| MS 63 | $1,970 | $1,630 |
| MS 64 | $3,130 | $2,280 |
| MS 65 | $6,000 | $5,000 |
| $10 Indian | ||
| MS 63 | $1,920 | $1,440 |
| MS 64 | $3,000 | $2,070 |
| MS 65 | $6,000 | $4,310 |
| $20 Gold TIII | ||
| MS 63 | $3,220 | $2,500 |
| MS 64 | $4,280 | $2,940 |
| MS 65 | $7,090 | $5,270 |
| $20 Saint | ||
| MS 63 | $2,190 | $1,980 |
| MS 64 | $2,400 | $2,130 |
| MS 65 | $3,120 | $2,700 |
Many of the dates listed were randomly selected but are representative of the specific series. As you can see, the majority of these coins have lost value in the past year. In addition, the rare date coins listed are very popular and are generally easy to sell even if the price is not discounted. With prices down for many rare coins, many dealers and collectors feel that it is just a matter of time before they begin to climb back to higher levels.
What you don’t see listed here are the US gold issues which performed really well over the past year. These are generally the lower grades up to and including MS 62 and also the Modern gold coins. Also, many coins prior to 1900 have showed strong results. We will report on these coins in the January issue.
This article is a guest article written by:
The thoughts and opinions in the piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.
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