Great Plains Coin Club

South Dakota Coin and Stamp Association C-273 American Numismatic Association C-52973 P.O. Box 717, Sioux Falls, SD 57101 Monthly meetings are held at the El Riad Shrine Auditorium (the old Arkota ballroom) Located at 510 S. Phillips Ave, Sioux Falls, SD 57104-6825

December 2015 Happy New Year! We hope that everyone had a safe and happy Christmas/New Year holiday season. Did anyone get anything numismatic under the tree? I got a nice book on Hard Times Tokens that I had dropped big hints about to my wife. There is probably another numismatic Christmas gift for me but I haven’t bought it yet. 

Dues are Due! Yep, with the New Year comes the predictable calls for dues. For those of you that have already paid – thanks! For those that have yet to pay, the club’s annual dues are $10 if you want the newsletter mailed to you, or $7.50 if you get the newsletter and auction list sent to you via e-mail. Both rates are cheap, and the latter helps the club with postage and you get the newsletter a few days earlier! You can pay dues at the meeting or mail them to the address above.

GPCC Board Meeting Results – Not Much! Due to the absence of President Dean Randall last month, the GPCC Board met and discussed a few items but deferred most actions until later in the Winter/Spring, when we hope that Dean will be back. Stay tuned for news about that meeting. If you are interested in helping with the Board, please let one of the officers know, your ideas and energy would be much appreciated!

Some Coins Not Often Seen I was recently remarking to someone that one series of coins that we haven’t seen much of in recent club auctions is the series. Well, this month we have several lots containing SLQs! Coincidentally, this is the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the Standing Liberty Quarter. In 1915 the mint put in motion plans to redesign all of the minor coinage designs as the Barber dimes, quarters, and halves would be nearing 25 years of being struck. By US law, the Secretary of the Treasury can authorize new designs after an existing design has been in place 25 years or more. To do so sooner would require congressional approval. As part of a movement begun by Teddy Roosevelt to make US coinage more artistic and properly represent the magnificence of this nation, designs from Hermon Atkins MacNeil were selected for the obverse and reverse. The obverse is a design packed with symbolism for the time. Lady Liberty is represented in the style of the Greek goddess of War and Wisdom, Athena, confidently striding forward. Liberty looks to the right, signifying eastward in heraldry, toward the warring countries in Europe already engaged in World War I. An olive branch in her left hand signifies America’s desire for peace, but her right hand holds a shield toward the belligerents, indicating America’s will to fight should it be necessary. The reverse shows an eagle flying from left to right, perhaps the last depiction of a natural-looking eagle on a circulating US coin for the 20th century, as those since tend to look more heraldic. (The returned a flying eagle to the reverse of that coin.)

But this beautiful design was a bit much for some in the American public. The bared right breast of Liberty was considered too risqué, so, in the middle of 1917, the design was changed and Liberty was covered nearly to her neck in chain mail, a kind of armor! Although this was done to alleviate the raised hackles of some with prudish thoughts, it also can be interpreted to show America’s 1917 entry into the War. Concurrent with this change the eagle on the reverse was repositioned and several stars relocated to improve the design and its strikability on the mint’s presses. The SLQ was not without its problems. The raised design wore quickly, with details and relief quickly vanishing. The date on quarters from 1916 to 1924 was elevated above the pedestal and was rapidly worn off, leaving countless “dateless” SLQs for us today. In 1925 the design was modified slightly to make the pedestal recessed to protect the date. The effect on this for collectors can be seen by scanning any pricing guide: note how the prices for lower-grade SLQs suddenly drop for quarters dated 1925-30, compared to the earlier dates. More of the later coins survived with legible dates, whereas the earlier ones often were circulated until dateless. The Standing Liberty Quarter series is also one of the shortest-lived series, only being issued from 1916 until 1930, with none struck in 1922. It’s a short set, a beautiful set, and a challenging set to assemble. Have fun!

A Word about Coin Price Guides For quite a few years recently we have used the Coin Prices magazine as the source for our Trends values on the auction list. Well, Coin Prices is no more, as the publisher of that magazine has condensed the valuations from that magazine and now includes them in the Coins magazine. With that condensing, several things have been lost that used to be quite handy, including the pictures of each different denomination and the mintage figures for each coin. Darn, I kinda liked those. However, the valuations have continued to show the same problems as they did back in the Coin Prices days, with numerous errors, silly things, etc. So lately I’ve been using the trends values from Coin World magazine also. They tend to have less errors, and are somewhat easier to read, although they also lack pictures and mintage figures. Coin World also tends to have more valuations, with grades for AG coins for many early sets, and more Mint State grades. However, the valuations are not identical across the two magazines. However, that doesn’t mean that one is “wrong and one is “right”. Both are “trends”, i.e. good guesses as for what a particular coin might be worth. We all know this to be true, since we’ve all seen coins of the same date, mint, and grade, but one is more attractive that the other. I’d pay more for the attractive one and less for the unattractive one, even though they “fit” the same trend value in a magazine. Always use any pricing guide as simply that, a guide. It ain’t the Bible! During the auctions, Verlin has often joked that the price on the auction list isn’t a stop sign, and he’s right. If you see a coin that you want, and it’s attractive or fits that empty hole in your folder, buy it! Some folks think that if they went a buck or two over the trend price, they got “took”. They think that driving to a coin shop or coin show to get a similar coin for the “right” price is a better deal. Paying a few dollars more than I had hoped to pay is still often a better deal than the cost of driving elsewhere, or the time to hunt more, or the shipping & handling for mail order or eBay. The same thing applies to any coin you see at a dealer or at a coin show. Is it really worth giving up on that one in your hand and hoping to find another, just as nice, someplace else? Remember, the only definitive price for any coin is that which you are willing to pay, whether it’s higher or lower than the price guides is immaterial. You’re in charge. Anyway, if you notice that the trends values for coins in our auction list don’t match those in whatever pricing guide you are using, it may be because I pulled them from a different magazine or guide. And for pictures, mintages, and other valuable information? – The trusty Red Book is a must for every collector.

Coin Quiz! Have you noticed that 1921-dated coins are Key Coins in several sets, specifically the Walking Liberty Halves, Standing Liberty Quarters, and Mercury Dimes? 1921-dated coins in each of those are high-priced keys, with low mintages. Why is this? 1921 was not a depression year that required less coins. What gives? 1921-dated coins of the Mercury Dimes, Standing Liberty Quarters, and Walking Liberty Halves are all key coins in those series, with low mintages and high prices now. Why are these 1921 dated coins all rare? (Hint: Key Pittman, senator from Nevada.)

See You at the Meeting!

Great Plains Coin Club Meeting and Auction Sunday, Jan. 10th, 2016 at 1:30 p.m. At the El Riad Shrine Facility (Old Arkota ballroom) at 13th and Phillips. Sunday parking is FREE! There is also ample parking behind the building

spot Gold: ______per oz. spot Silver: ______per oz. × 0.7 = (per 90% $ face)

Lot Description Grade Trend Bid Notes 1 Indian Head cents: 1881 (VG), 1903 (F) $ 6.65 2 German Coins: 1918,19,21,22 5 pf; 1922 10pf; & 1973 2M 3 1882 Shield F $ 30.00 4 Two Cent Pieces: 1864 (XF but corroded), 1865 (G) $ 59.00 5 1909-VDB F $ 12.50 6 1931-D Lincoln Cent VF $ 8.00 7 1938-P Unc. $ 7.50 8 Set of 1999 "colorized" state quarters in case 9 1979 US Proof Set Proof $ 8.25 10 1990 US Mint Set & 1970 US Proof Set $ 12.65 11 1941-D Walking Liberty Half AU $ 24.00 12 1958-P Franklin Half Proof $ 11.00 13 Barber Quarters: 1907-P (VG), 07-O (G) $ 20.25 14 1984 S.D. Souvenir Dollar, Cathedral series, .999 fine BU 15 Standing Liberty Quarters (all P): 1925(VG), 26(G), 27(VG) $ 25.30 16 Quarters: 1914-P(VG) Barber, 28-P&29-D SLQs (both G) $ 25.65 17 1910-S Lincoln Cent VG $ 21.00 18 1875-P Seated Liberty Dime G $ 16.00 19 1930-S Standing Liberty Quarter VF $ 11.50 20 Barber Quarters: 1909-S,10-P, 16-P G $ 25.50 21 Dimes: 1908-P, 12-P&D, 15-P, 41-D, 42-S .43-P, 43-S G-VF $ 28.60 22 Roosevelt Dimes: 1955-P(BU), 56-P(BU), 58-P(Proof) $ 20.30 23 Roos.Dimes: 1955-P(BU), 64-P(BU),96-S&98-S Silv.Proofs $ 18.80 24 1944-P Walking Liberty Half BU $ 34.00 25 1923-P Standing Liberty Quarter F $ 33.00 26 Washington Quarters: 1958-P, 60-P, 64-P Proof $ 17.10 27 Washington Quarters, both silver proofs: 2003-S IL & AR Proof $ 17.00 28 1898-O Barber Quarter VG $ 28.00 29 Barber Dimes: 1906-S(VG), 07-S(VG), 13-P(VF) $ 18.80 30 1835 Half VF $ 89.00 31 1886-P BU $ 52.00 32 1887-P Morgan Dollar BU $ 53.00 33 1896-P Morgan Dollar BU $ 44.00 34 1898-P Morgan Dollar BU $ 53.00 35 1904-O Morgan Dollar BU $ 60.00 36 1921-S Morgan Dollar XF $ 34.80 37 1921-D Morgan Dollar XF $ 33.00 38 1921-P Morgan Dollar XF $ 37.00 39 1897-P Morgan Dollar XF $ 46.00 40 33 Jefferson in folder, incl. full set of War Nicks 41 34 diff Kennedy Halves, 1964-85, in folder, inc. 7 silver $ 77.00 42 Indian Head Cents: 1863 & 1879 G $ 15.75 43 1860 VG $ 15.00 44 1864 Indian Head Cent VG $ 15.00 45 1901-O Barber Dime VF $ 27.50

GPCC Newsletter & Auction List - page 3 of 4 GPCC Newsletter & Auction List - page 4 of 4 Lot Description Grade Trend Bid Notes 46 1949-D Franklin Half AU $ 25.00 47 1902-P Morgan Dollar VF $ 39.50 48 1923-P BU $ 40.00 49 Standing Liberty Quarters: 1927-P, 28-P, 29-P AG (G=$25.50) 50 1869 Two Cent Piece, NGC MS-64RB (63-RB=$210, 65R=$550) 51 Barber Quarters: 1894-P, 1900-P, 14-D, plus one dateless AG (G=$30) 52 16 Diff. Mercury Dimes, 1917-1944 $ 30.00 53 2001-P&D Jefferson Nickels, both ANACS MS64, 6 steps MS64 $ 16.00 54 2007 Presidential Proof Set $ 5.35 55 1941-P Jefferson Nickel, PCGS MS-65FS (full steps) MS65 $ 55.00 56 Wash. Quarters, all PCGS: 76-P(63), 76-D(64), 76-S(65) $ 26.00 57 9ea Indian Head Cents circ. 58 9 diff Eisenhower Dollars circ. 59 9 diff Kennedy Clad Halves circ. 60 1941-P Merc, 36-P Buffalo, 62-P Roosevelt, and 23-P Merc circ. 61 Buffalo Nickels: 1934-P, 36-P, 36-D, 37-P VG-F 62 Lincoln Cents: 1913-D(VG), 17-D(VF), 59 & 60, both proof $ 24.25 63 1915-D, 18-S, 21-P&S, 23-P Lincolns, plus 64-P Kennedy 64 Lincoln Cents: 1909-P and 1909-P(vdb) F $ 16.85 65 1922-D Lincoln Cent VG $ 24.50 66 1924-D Lincoln Cent VG $ 45.00 67 1864 Two Cent Piece G $ 16.50 68 1866 G $ 18.50 69 1882 Shield Nickel G $ 18.50 70 1908-O Barber Half G $ 37.50 71 Lincoln Cents: 1960-D Small Date and Large Date BU $ 3.00 72 1839-O Seated Liberty Dime F $ 40.00 73 1857-P Seated Liberty Half VG $ 50.00 74 Stamp Album, stamps, and lighted magnifier 75 8 Hot Rod dollar-sized coins, silver plated, in fancy box 76 Nice nickel board, 62 diff Buffalo, Jefferson, & Canadian 77 95 diff. Jefferson Nickels in two folders, 1939-1995 78 Washington Quarters in folder, 1999-2003-P&D, complete 79 Lincoln Cents in Folder, 1941-75, complete 80 250 mixed Lincoln Wheat Cents 81 20 diff Lincoln Cents: 4 errors, 5 BU wheats, 11 BU memorials 82 Roosevelt Dimes: 1946-D, 47-D, 52-D, 56-D BU $ 10.75 83 1864 Two Cent Piece, large motto G $ 16.50 84 1853 Three Cent silver G $ 32.00 85 Washington Quarters: 1945-P (XF), 45-D (VF), 45-S (XF) $ 15.80 86 1877-CC Seated Liberty Dime G $ 32.00 87 1874 Indian Head Cent VF $ 61.00 88 1865 Indian Head Cent XF $ 40.00 89 1847 Seated Liberty F $ 23.50 90 Three Cent Nickels: 1869 (VG) & 1873 (G) $ 34.00 91 1865 3¢ Nickel (F) & 1862 Seated Liberty Dime (VF) $ 41.50 92 Braided Hair Large Cents: 1845 & 1842 G $ 32.00 93 Braided Hair Large Cents: 1835 & 1848 G $ 32.00 94 Barber Dimes: 1900-S, 02-O, 09-O, 12-P, 16-S G $ 18.83 95 Nickels: 1901, 09, 11, 11 Libs, + 1867 Shield, no rays circ. 96 Seated Liberty Dimes: 1853, 54, 57, 58, 74, 77 AG-VG 97 22ea Indian Head Cents, many better grades 98 1931-S Lincoln Cent VF $ 77.00 99 Lincoln Cent Set, 1909-2015-S in binder, incl. many proofs 100 1852 & 1853 Silver Trimes (3¢) plus 1851-O S.L. Half Dime