Modern Numismatics
Louis Golino has been a collector of American and world coins since childhood and has written about coins since 2009. He writes about modern coins and other numismatic issues for Coin World. He is a founding member of the Modern Coin Forum.
March of Dimes Secondary Market Taking Shape
Over the course of May prices for the March of Dimes special three-coin proof set have continued to increase on the secondary market.
Sets in their original government packaging that have been opened started off at about $90, then moved to $100, and some online auctions for them have recently reached the $120 level. Unopened boxes have traded at similar levels, but with the approach of the cut-off dates next week for PCGS First Strike and NGC Early Release-eligible sets, I would not be surprised to see the unopened sets move higher.
But the real action has been for graded sets, which were initially available on a pre-order basis for about $220 for NGC and $240 for PCGS sets. The prices for those sets are now respectively about $330-370 and $500 and up, which is a very healthy increase in a matter of a couple weeks.
The question, as always with popular modern coins, is whether those prices have peaked.
The Mint initially shipped a rather limited number of sets, and very few dealers have even carried the graded sets so far. The lack of supply has translated into higher and higher retail and auction prices.
But last week the Mint began shipping many backordered sets, and as they arrive and are sent off to be graded, we may see prices for graded sets begin to cool off depending on how many of them were received in time for the grading company deadlines. In addition, early reports from those who submitted their sets indicate that the reverse proof dime, the key to the set, is not receiving PF70 grades very often, and this is likely also driving up values. But the situation could look different when there is more information available on grades received.
Sets in their original government packaging that have been opened started off at about $90, then moved to $100, and some online auctions for them have recently reached the $120 level. Unopened boxes have traded at similar levels, but with the approach of the cut-off dates next week for PCGS First Strike and NGC Early Release-eligible sets, I would not be surprised to see the unopened sets move higher.
But the real action has been for graded sets, which were initially available on a pre-order basis for about $220 for NGC and $240 for PCGS sets. The prices for those sets are now respectively about $330-370 and $500 and up, which is a very healthy increase in a matter of a couple weeks.
The question, as always with popular modern coins, is whether those prices have peaked.
The Mint initially shipped a rather limited number of sets, and very few dealers have even carried the graded sets so far. The lack of supply has translated into higher and higher retail and auction prices.
But last week the Mint began shipping many backordered sets, and as they arrive and are sent off to be graded, we may see prices for graded sets begin to cool off depending on how many of them were received in time for the grading company deadlines. In addition, early reports from those who submitted their sets indicate that the reverse proof dime, the key to the set, is not receiving PF70 grades very often, and this is likely also driving up values. But the situation could look different when there is more information available on grades received.