uncirculated coins value compared to etc

[hostagedk]

I think this is the proper place to ask this and if not sorry in advance.

I was outside working today and so happen our neighbor came up our driveway to chat for a bit. The discussion of coins came up and my father just started into CRH and kept saying he was seeing uncirculated coins being sold in our local news paper. He then said he was thinking of buying them all up because they'd be worth a good amount in the future. I had then jumped in and mentioned that I believe uncirculated wasn't worth as much as circulated coins and they had argued with me saying it was vice versa.

So my question is, what is the true answer?

Is circulated coins worth more then uncirculated or is uncirculated worth more then circulated?

 

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[bigfoot1]

uncirculated are more collectable...less to no wear

 

[l.cutler]

All else being equal, the better the condition, the more the coin is worth. So uncirculated would be worth more than circulated. Just common modern coins really don't matter though unless you get into the higher uncirculated grades.

 

[CincinnatiKid]

Even bullion is graded these days. MS 70 grades carry heavy premiums.
In my low grade world, MS 60 -65, collectable coins ain't worth my time. I buy ugly bullion now.
5yrs ago I went on a rampage purchasing MS Morgan dollars and lost money.
Ugly bullion is much safer.
Coinman123, or others more knowledgeable than I will hopefully chime in.
GL
Peace ✌

 

[huntsman53]

Uncirculated (never made it into circulation or was not intended for circulation) coins will always be worth more than circulated (made it into circulation and have a certain amount of wear due to handling) coins! However, even some Uncirculated coins have little value over face value due to being of high mintage which exceeds the collecting and possibly circulation needs. At the same time, some early old coins can not even be found in Uncirculated condition, so the highest graded of these that were circulated, have great value and if even one of these was found in Uncirculated condition, the coin could be worth a mint.

If your Dad or neighbor plans to purchase the advertised Uncirculated coins, advise them to do their research on the coins being sold because as stated above, just because a coin is Uncirculated, does not mean that it is valuable or will gain value in the near future or even 10 years from now. They could end up paying 3 to 5 or 5 to 10 times the actual value of some coins even if they are Uncirculated.


Frank

 

[CincinnatiKid]

Told ya.
Well said huntsman53!
Peace ✌

 

[hostagedk]

Thanks guys for the information, I had relayed it to them so they know in the near future. Apparently my father has already ordered a few coins from somewhere he had seen being advertised. I'll have to post to you guys when he receives them to see what you say about them.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Also note that "uncirculated" is not a grading measurement. Some of the old Morgans were beat to death in the mint bags and have enough damage to lower them several grades even though never circulated. "Uncirculated" coins imply you should have coins of at least MS-60 in grade (on a scale of 1 to 70) - but each coin is graded individually depending on how it was handled and preserved.

 

[huntsman53]

Thanks guys for the information, I had relayed it to them so they know in the near future. Apparently my father has already ordered a few coins from somewhere he had seen being advertised. I'll have to post to you guys when he receives them to see what you say about them.

I sure hope that the advertisement was not from Littleton Coin Company sometimes known as Littleton Coins and that he did not order coins from them as it is an almost guarantee that he will overpay significantly for the coins!


Frank

 

[Davers]

Thanks guys for the information, I had relayed it to them so they know in the near future. Apparently my father has already ordered a few coins from somewhere he had seen being advertised. I'll have to post to you guys when he receives them to see what you say about them.

Please Do, I'd like to see if the sellers are honest.
Thanks Davers

 

[WhiteTornado]

I sure hope that the advertisement was not from Littleton Coin Company sometimes known as Littleton Coins and that he did not order coins from them as it is an almost guarantee that he will overpay significantly for the coins!
Frank

Heed this advice, they are known rip-off artists. Many years ago my mother, with the best of intentions I'm sure, once gave me a gift of a small lot of Susan B Anthony dollars she got from Littleton. As you might suspect, they all looked like regular, circulated dollars that you still sometimes see flowing out of postal machines, subway ticket machines, etc. I didn't have the heart to tell her they were not worth any more than face value.

 

[Argentium]

There are actually certain collectible coins that are worth more in circulated condition than their high grade counter parts -
a sort of loose example of this (comparing the lowest uncirc. grade- MS 60 with Proof ) an 1862 Seated Liberty
Dollar is listed (2015 Redbook ) at $ 5,500. in MS 60 - the proof edition is $4,750 . I realize that the O.P. was
asking about circulated vs. uncirculated coins . I'm quite sure I've seen examples of this as well - and I'll post them
when I can verify same . The explanation has to do with "surviving populations " of a given coin which in some
cases are more easily obtained in uncirculated grades - due to widespread melting of circulated coins by the mint
in some years .In terms of later silver coinage - Massive quantities were shipped out to refiners for melt value at
the time the Hunt Brothers cornered a large chunk of the silver market (1979 /80 I think ) driving the Silver price
up to around $60 if I'm remembering correctly .Who really knows what that did to surviving population numbers
compared to original mintage numbers of silver coins - We can't know the answer to that .

 

[l.cutler]

Yes business strike coins are sometimes worth more than proof, but all else being equal a circulated coin will always be worth less than an uncirculated.

 

[hostagedk]

Please Do, I'd like to see if the sellers are honest.
Thanks Davers

Sorry guys I haven't had much time lately to get on and post up the pictures for you guys to see what he had ordered. Here are a few of what he had got, and the company is Littleton and also Falcon Currency. He only got one coin from Littleton and the rest from Falcon.

Steel Wheatie- $1.95

1954-s wheat back- $2.95

1998 Hong Kong 10- $1.75

1999 25 Centimos- $1.50

2005 5/C Africa- $1.75



This is what info he wrote down for me and also the pictures he had taken, I hope you can see them pretty well, some might be blurry.

Forgot to add they're all uncirculated except the steel wheat.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

The 1943 (XF40) = 38¢ and 1954s (MS60) = 30¢


Lincoln Cents, Wheat Reverse 1943 XF Price History | NGC

Lincoln Cents, Wheat Reverse 1954 S MS 60 Brown Price History | NGC

 

[huntsman53]

I am sorry to say that he paid $9.90 plus whatever the shipping costs were for 5 coins worth maybe $3.00 total!! A Local Coin Shop or even eBay would have been better! Just be relieved that he did not sink many hundreds or even thousands of dollars in a bunch of coins that might have a total value to 25% of what he paid.


Frank

 

[hostagedk]

Thanks guys for letting me know and i'll pass it along though i'm unsure he will listen as I tried to tell him many times now and he argues with me that they're worth more. Especially now since he has the official redbook he looked in there at the prices and was going off that. I tried telling him though from just my knowledge being on this forum over the years that I knew better, that they were not worth as much as he thought.

 

[WhiteTornado]

The 1943 (XF40) = 38¢ and 1954s (MS60) = 30¢


Lincoln Cents, Wheat Reverse 1943 XF Price History | NGC

Lincoln Cents, Wheat Reverse 1954 S MS 60 Brown Price History | NGC

In addition to what Charlie P posted, I'm betting those world coins you posted would not be worth even $1 combined.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Remember, too, that the Redbook is a number that a dealer will try and sell below; and to do that they will only pay 60% of Redbook when buying to resell. Key dates, otherwise desirable investment grades and coins they have open requests for they'll pay more for. The site I linked to compares what they're actually selling for at auctions in almost real time.

Foreign coins that are not gold or silver have very little following in the U.S.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

The negative I see about purchasing uncirculated coins is this:

In my early days of collecting, I purchased quite a few "graded" uncirculated coins. These higher grades have no universal standards, except from the seller and the buyer. I'd go to coin shows to test the water. What I purchased as MS-65, the dealer would say AU when I offer for sale.

There is FAR too much leeway for outright deception.