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The Presidents Column

I want to encourage everyone to come to the Christmas party, no need to bring anything unless you want to! We will have presents for everyone in attendance, also it has been brought to the attention of the board of directors that at the last auction there were 2 slabbed coins that appear to have been broken out and replaced with inferior coins, we are going to review them at the next board meeting and make a determination at that time, so PLEASE everyone submitting coins take a close look at the slab and make sure it has not been compromised, as this is a serious issue and we need to be on the lookout for fraud.

Remember, if the front doors of the church are locked on meeting night, go around to the back door to the meeting room and knock on it to gain entry.

Allen Nichols / President - (907) 357-2414

Recap of the November 3^rd Anchorage Coin Club Membership Meeting

Recap of the November 18^th
Anchorage Coin Club Board Meeting

Club board meeting called to order at 6:30 PM by Club President Allen Nichols. Meeting was held at the Turnagain BBQ Restaurant located near the University Center.

Correspondence reviewed. Thanks go to club member Robert Hall (one of our original founders of the Anchorage Coin Club in 1988) for his generous donation of $100.

Review of club's financial "picture" by Board. "Picture" looks good as our club goes into the end of Year 2015.

Meeting then focused on details of the upcoming club's Christmas Party event on December 10^th.

• Everything in order for the party.

• Larry Nakata/ John Larson/ Dan Barnhart will pick up the club items needed for the Christmas Party.

• At this time, we have lists submitted for about 20 coin lots for the Christmas Coin Auction. Figure that most of the auction lots will likely be submitted on the day of the event (Dec 10^th).

• Lots of door prizes should be available for the event. Carl volunteered to wrap the door prizes.

• Larry Nakata plans to be at the Central Lutheran Church by 5:30 PM to set up.

  • As others show up, we'll try and get everything ready by 6 PM.

  • As soon as things are setup, immediately eat.

  • Sell raffle tickets for the Christmas Raffle Coin (1937-P Walking Liberty Half Dollar graded NGC MS-65).

  • While eating, items can be logged in for the Christmas Coin Auction as well.

  • Upon conclusion of dinner, greeting and distribution of door prizes.

  • Do the raffle.

  • Main Event- Club's Christmas Coin Auction.

  • Wrap up by about 8:45 PM. Cleanup.

As there was no further business to discuss, Board meeting concluded at 7:30 PM......

Larry Nakata/Secretary

        Absolute vs. Condition Rarity

        In numismatics there are two major types of rarity, absolute and condition:

        Absolute rarity: an ascribed rarity to a date or series because of low mintage.

        An example of absolute rarity is a 1913 Liberty Nickel of which there is only five known examples each essentially priceless. Because the Liberty Nickel is so scarce in any and all circumstances it has absolute rarity.

        Conversely an 1886-O Morgan Silver Dollar in uncirculated condition is conditionally rare due to the lack of overall quality for the date. Despite relatively high mintage, just over 10 million, an 1886-O Morgan in uncirculated gem quality is nearly unobtainable with just 14 graded MS61 or higher by NGC.

        Often collectors assume a relatively high mintage indicates the rarity of a particular date will be diminished, even though this is not always the case. For instance nearly half a billion Franklin Half Dollars were minted but less than 300 have been graded in MS67 or higher by NGC. In perspective for the entire series it's less than one in 1 1/2 million or .000067%, graded MS66 or better by NGC.

        Dan's Part:

        So, another thing to consider besides absolute and conditional rarity for the value of a coin is supply and demand. For many 20th century coins, popular ones like Mercury dimes, Standing Liberty quarters, Walking Liberty half dollars, and Buffalo nickels, prices will reflect the high demand for a limited amount of supply.

        Survival rate is very important as many events over the years, like gold and silver recalls, huge meltage of coins held in government vaults, some never being released for circulation, like the 1933 $20 Gold Liberty coin.

        Saving by the public, or lack there of will also affect the price of the coin. Some low mintages of coins, like the 1950-D Jefferson Nickel, were heavily saved by the public, so there are lots of them in the market in high grades, making them very available and affordable. Small denomination coins tend to circulate more than larger denomination coins, especially in the "olden days", so the many are rare in nice circulated conditions (VF20 and above), causing them to be pricier. The average circulated condition for a Morgan Dollar is Fine (F12) to Very Fine (VF20), and for a Peace Dollar it is Extra Fine (EF40) to Almost Uncirculated (AU50), because Morgan Dollars circulated decades longer than Peace Dollars. However, the Peace Dollar design has a lot of "open" space on the Obverse, making them condition rarities in uncirculated grades as the design was prone to being more receptive to bag marks.

        Many coins are prone to weak strikes. I have been reading one of the Red Books that focuses on Buffalo and Jefferson nickels. For the 1913-S Type II Buffalo Nickel as an example (which is on my wish list by the way), only 15% had a "good strike" with good details, even a smaller percentage with sharp strikes. This makes finding one with a good strike, even in lower grades a challenge, and so folks are willing to pay more for such a coin than what a price guide will say it's worth.

        Coins with eye appeal, nice toning, they can go for many times what the price guides state!

        I guess my point here is that the price guides that list coin prices based on mintage, availability, and grade are just that, just guides, as they really don't take in consideration many other aspects of how much a coin can actually be worth on the market.

        There is so much to learn about coins! It seems like the more I learn about coins and coin collecting, the more that I realize that I have a long way to go, but that is what makes this hobby so fascinating and fun!

Dan Barnhart

List of Coins To Be Submitted for December 10^th Christmas (Live) Auction

From Mark Carufel:

1. 1893-S Morgan Dollar graded NGC G-4 Minimum Bid (MB) 1900

From Bill Fivaz:

2. 1852 U.S. Silver 3 cent (trime) VG MB 24

3. 1918/7-D Buffalo Nickel G MB 675

4. 1921-D Mercury Dime AG (damage) No Minimum

5. 1945-P Mercury Dime MS-64+ Partial Bands (Scarce) MB 19

6. 1826 Bust Half Dollar VF+ (Holed) MB 29

7. 1917-S (Obverse) Walking Liberty Half Dollar G MB 15

8. 1956 (T-1 Rev) Proof Franklin Half Dollar PF65+ MB 125

9. 1893-CC Morgan Dollar G MB 125

10. 1921 Peace Dollar EF MB 85

11. 1852-O $2 & 1/2 Dollar Liberty Gold VF MB 275

12. 1891 Canada Large Cent EF MB 25

13. 1930 Canada 5c (Really Nice!) MB 22

14. Circa 1920 Germany 20 Pf (octagonal) Strong Clashed Dies BU MB 9

15. 1873 Belgium 5 Fr (Position B) KM#-24 BU MB 100

16. Morgan Dollar Grading Set (MS-65/64/63/60) MB 395

17. Donation coin: 1885-P Morgan Dollar MS-61 P/L

From Jim Sabrowski:

18. Three (3) Peace Dollars MB 60

19. 1867-1967 Seward Alaska Purchase Centennial 2 piece Medallion Set. Serial # 2425 Silver Medallion (156.1 gm) and Bronze Medallion (151.5 gm) both 64 mm. MB 105

20. Donation coin: 1904-O Morgan Dollar graded PCGS MS-64

21. Donation coin: 2000-D Kennedy Half Dollar graded ICG MS-64

From Allen Nichols:

22. 1904 Indian 1 cent ANACS MS64 RB MB 900

23. 1877-CC Seated 25 cent amazing toning PCGS MS64 MB 2000

24. 1872 Indian 1 cent ANACS PF62 MB 3000

25. 1872 2 cent PCGS PR65 RB MB 800

26. 1854 1$ Gold Type II PCGS AU50 MB 500

27. 1934 Peace 1$ PCGS MS64 MB 400

28. 1864 L Indian 1 cent Bronze NGC AU53 BN MB 350

29. 1942/41 Mercury 10 cent ANACS AU50 MB 900

30. 1928-D Mercury 10 cent PCI MS65 Full Split Bands MB 2500

31. 1795 Flowing hair 50 cent ICG VG10 MB 2000

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ANCHORAGE COIN CLUB
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

NAME:_____________________________________________________

ADDRESS :_________________________________________________

CITY:________________________ STATE:_______ ZIP:___________

TELEPHONE (HOME):________________________________

                (BUSINESS):________________________________

MY COLLECTING INTERESTS ARE:________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

SIGNATURE:________________________________   DATE:_______________

MEMBERSHIP DUES:

Anchorage Coin Club
P.O. Box 230169
Anchorage, Alaska 99523

Anchorage Coin Club
PO Box 230169
Anchorage, Alaska 99523