Good deal, or should I run the other way?

[Narthoniel]

My local coin store has 9 1950D Jefferson Nickles for sale. They are in uncirculated condition, and they are asking $15-$20 each. Wanted the opinion of folks here as to wether this seemed fair, or unreasonable.
Thank you for your insight,
Anthony

 

[treasurefiend]

Well I don't have my red book with me, but I looked on PCGS prices, granted yours arn't slabbed, but it can give you an idea of the value. PCGS has this:

MS60 MS63 MS64
1950-D 13 15 17
1950-D FS 15 18 35


My guess is that they are MS60 and he is going to make his markup.
Now the question is does the coins have FS (full steps).

If you have bought from him before, he could be giving you a deal on some MS63's. I used to buy a lot of coins a few years ago from my local coin shop, I always got a better price than he had listed. Also when I had to sell some coins, he always gave me alittle more (cutting into his profit) for the price.

When I was in high school I got my first job just so I could buy a Double Eagle coin. He had a 30 day lay away policy but he let me have my coin on layaway for 3 months. I have had good experience with coinshops and bad, one place that I went to, to buy a coin that I talked with them and agreed on a price on the phone, only to have them raise the price once I got there. Remember though, they are in business to make money, know what you want and how much the coin is worth, but also expect to pay a markup.

 

[jewelerdave]

in 1950 everyone knew that that year was going to be a short run, most 1950s are uncirculated. So the price will be the same for ever. Finding one that has circulated is harder than finding one that has not. They all go about the same price, and have and will for years. no shortage really. and stagnant price.
fill the hole in your collection but they are not a good "investment" lots of people have lots of them, and all in the same grade.

 

[Narthoniel]

Good to hear Dave, thanks. I wonder why the run was short, and how it was made known to the general public.

 

[fistfulladirt]

Personally I would never spend that kind of money on nickels. I would look for 9 silver Morgan or Peace dollars, they are much more beautiful to look at. Just my .02,

AMC

 

[jim4silver]

Run like the wind. I agree with AMC, use that money for silver, or maybe towards a gold purchase. Alot of coin dealers push numismatic or semi numismatic coins because they usually make a bigger profit on them than bullion or junk silver, etc.

One coin dealer I sometimes go to always recommends some several thousand dollar rare coin or another, but I never give in. Try selling something like that and see if you can recoup what you paid for it.

My advice is stick to bullion, unless you are buying a numismatic coin from someone super cheap and you really know what you are doing. A few bucks for the nickel in question will not break you, and if you want if for your collection than fine. But in general beware of paying high dollars for something with a low intrinsic value.

Jim

 

[Silver_Fox]

Run, run runthen stop when you see silver.

 

[waseeker]

Good to hear Dave, thanks. I wonder why the run was short, and how it was made known to the general public.

Back in the 60's & 70's the 1950-D Nickel was considered very scarce. The mintage of 2.6 million was small by the standard of that time and about 1/3 of the mintage of the 1950 nickel. The 1965 Red Book lists a value of $22.00 for an Uncirculated 1950D.

As I recall the story a person in Texas had acquired and was hoarding a large quantity of them. When they eventually got released to the collecting community the price dropped accordingly and has stayed pretty constant since then.

As one of the key dates in the series it's probably worth owning a couple of them, but don't expect to turn them for profit anytime soon

As to how it was made known to the public - The mintage numbers are available and as people started trying to add the 1950-D to their collection, there simply weren't enough to satisfy demand so the price when up.