Olympic Swimmer Mark Spitz’s premise that “records are made to be broken” is a good one. For collectors, it happened again early this month. On November, 8, at the Robert Siegel Auction in New York, one of the famous “Inverted Jenny” 24-cent 1918 Air Mail stamps went across the block. Though the catalog value for the rarity is about $500,000 – and upwards of $900,000 if the gum on the back is pristine and “never hinged” – this one went for a whopping two million dollars.
In fairness, of the 100 known to have been printed, it is said to be the nicest specimen with outstanding centering. That centering, freshness of color, and undisturbed gum made it particularly desirable – and, valuable.
Condition has become the hallmark of collectibles, be they cars, coins, stamps, baseball cards or most anything. There are few exceptions. One item also just sold which surely brought more in marginal condition was a paper menu from the ill-fated ship Titanic....
The water-stained page with the White Star Line logo at the top listed the offerings in First Class for April 11, 1912, just two days prior to the sinking. A few of the listed offerings were oysters, squab, lamb, duck and French ice cream. Last week, that worn menu, the only one known surviving from that day, brought $102,000. So, there can be exceptions, but they are certainly not the rule.
Those who have been to coin or stamp shows have probably seen individuals sitting at a dealer’s booth sifting through boxes. They spend hours carefully examining each coin or stamp. You’d think the item’s condition would be quickly evident with just a glance. Plus, wouldn’t the dealer have checked them out before putting them out for sale to the public? Maybe not.
What so these collectors are doing is called “cherrypicking.” That is the skill of being able to look at a selection of coins or stamps to find the one or two that might have anomalies or special strikes/printings that have substantially higher value. The same is true for paper money.
The practice is most prevalent among coin collectors. That’s because of the larger number of irregularities found on coins. Most aren’t obvious. Still, they are out there and often worth many times more than the normal numismatic value of a collector coin. Sometimes, thousands more.
One of the more frequent abnormalities is called a “double die” coin. That’s when it is actually slightly mis-struck creating what appears to be a blur beside a word, date or image. One of the most renowned happened on a 1955 Lincoln cent. Of the almost one billion pennies minted that year, it’s estimated 10,000 to 20,000 were double-struck. It’s most evident when looking at the date or the wording “IN GOD WE TRUST.”
If this searching sounds dull, consider that, instead of being worth merely a few cents, one of those double die pennies is currently worth upwards of $15,000 to a collector. Even in lousy condition they bring over $1,000.
That’s just one example. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of quirky coins collectors pay dearly for.
The book, “Cherrypickers’ Guide To Rare Die Varieties Of United States Coins” was first published in 1990. It detailed intricacies to check for to find a scarce and valuable variety. It was an immediate hit among not only collectors but armchair treasure hunters.
The Cherrypickers’ Guide covers US coins from half cents of the 1800s through Washington Quarters as recent as 2009. For those assuming a circulating coin as modern as one struck in 2009 can’t be too valuable, that particular variety of 2009 quarter climbs from two-dollars in nice condition to $1,500 if it is the rare variety. Many might still be in circulation today.
Cherrypickers’ Guide is now in its sixth printing and includes more coins than ever. In fact, so many varieties of coins have been identified, the book has expanded to two volumes.
Produced by Whitman Publishing, the 300+-page books feature detailed descriptions and close-up photos of what to look for. They retail for $39.95 apiece and are available at many coin dealers, book sellers, or directly from the publisher at www.WhitmanBooks.com.
A glance at the calendar suggests we’re barely a month away from Christmas and just two weeks from Hanukkah. For those looking for a compelling holiday gift, this might be a rare find for a casual or serious collector you know.
For more collecting information and advice, log on to: http://prexford.com/.