I read a while back on the forums that an American 'rare' is a European 'uncommon' (not the exact words). And that brought up an interesting point, how rare does a coin have to be for you to consider it rare personally?
Myself, ignoring other factors e.g. commemorative or not, I consider anything with less than 10,000 mintage to be rare, less than 50,000 to be semi-rare and less than 100,000 to be 'uncommon', with anything above being common, but I know different people have different criteria for the 'rare' title.
Circulating coins:
Big country - big mintage of coins.
Small country - small mintage of coins.
Commemorative coins - it's different here. The availability of coins in a given country is of great importance due to the popularity of numismatics in the issuer's country.
In one country, the 100,000 edition is very much in another country, it is a very small edition.
over 1,000,000 - common
100,000 - 1,000,000 - uncommon depending on the coin
1-100,000 - rare depending on the coin
Also, it should be in god nic, preferably have a story and age
'We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.'
Sir Winston Churchill
Rare for me actually depends upon my coin of interests. There are some coins like the Albanian 2 Frank Ar struck in 1935, has a mintage of 150,000 but half the no. of people in rarity index has this.
For me, I consider 1 - 1000 the rarest.
1000 to 100,000 the rarer
100,000 to over 1,000,000 the most common.
There are also questions arising about price. Price varies according to rarity: mintage and if mintage is low, price is high but in some places, people often value the coin more than it is and still, we see again some coins are cheaper though they are rare in some cases like the Liechtenstein Krone of Johann II struck from 1900 to 1915 for maybe only 25 to 50 EUR.
In my opinion, the mintage is not the true factor to determine if a coin is rare or not. The real question is "How many coins did reach to us?"
Sometimes we do know, but most of the time we don't. For belgian coins we often have the % of how many coins did return to the national bank. Sometimes there are high mintage but only a few % are still in houses, so these coins are rare despite their high mintage, or at least uncommon. Sometimes the opposite.
Moreover, mintage for older coins (let's say, before 1700) is often unknown, and what makes the coin rare is : how many are there available on the marke? (also :how many people want to buy it?)
For me mintage doesn't really come into it, it's how hard it is to get. New Zealand commemorative $5 coins have mintages of only a few thousand, usually about 5,000. But because they're made for collectors and don't circulate then all 5,000 go into the hands of collectors. Since there is not much demand for them then they are pretty easy to get hold of. There are always some available. However the Australian 1930 penny had a mintage of 3,000 but because they circulated, and there is a high demand for the iconic coin, they are exceedingly hard to find and you'd be lucky to get one for less than $10,000.
On another thread I think I said that rarity starts at 100 known examples. Something isn’t really that rare if you can find multiple offerings in a single year.
The question is according to what we should consider a coin as rare ?
Rare for me means hard do get (without regarding the price), but the scale is different if we speak about ancient or modern coins :
- About ancien coins, if I can find more than one on sell during the past two years (except if they all came from a single collection), I don't consider the coin as rare.
- About modern, I'm not sure but I think a millesime can be consider as such if it represents a tiny part of the total amount of this type in circulation (1/10 000 ?) ; another standart can be the condition of the coin.
For my specific collections, I came with my proper definition of Rare based on the following:
1. Last records (Auctions, Ebay, etc) older than 3-4 Years... means this coins are not easily available in the market.
2. Last Auctions sale prices, way much higher than even the values expected by the auction houses. (X2, X3)
3. FIne Metals (Gold / Silver) coins with low mintage e.g. below 50.000 but older than about 100 Years (High chances of many coins melted)
4. Specimen / Proba, Essai coins, if you add them to your collection you will see how difficult is to obtain them.
5. High Quality... while I am not an "UNC ONLY" collector, I do enjoy a VF - XF without dents, marks, etc. etc...
With the above said... My auction activity nowadays mainly focus on those ones that I dont see too often for sale / auction as they normally comes when some collector dies...
I think everyone agrees that a number can mean different things depending on what coin it is; for example my 1834 Maundy 3 Pence of William IV only has a mintage of 8,000 pieces but it doesn't seem to be 'rare' by most definitions of the word.
It depends. I have a 1 tālā coin from Tokelau with a mintage of 10,000. But considering the island only have about 1,500 inhabitants, it means that every one can have almost 10 each.
At the same time I have a South Korean 100 won with a mintace of 5,000,000. But with a population of almost 51,500,000, it means that 1 out of 10 have this coin, and it should therefore be rarer than the Tokelau coin.
My meaning of rare is very dependant on mintage figures.
1-500 extremely rare
501-5,000 rare
Any coin above this figure could be classed as difficult to obtain.
It is very difficult to actually confirm the rarity of a coin without bringing the mintage figure into the equation somewhere. Also to be included would be the age of the coin. This is where the possibility of lost coins enters the fray.
I am very sure that if Einstein were alive, he would work out a formula for us and add it to the forum
Rare: Under 50 thousand minted
Pretty rare: under 25 thousand minted
Rare: under 10 thousand minted
Very rare: Under 900 minted.
Extremely rare: pattern strikes
Old coins:
Rare: Under 125 thousand minted
Pretty rare: Under 55 thousand minted.
Rare: Under 20 thousand minted.
Very rare: under 2.5 thousand minted
Extremely rare: Under 1 thousand minted
Ultra rare: -patterns-
Ok, this topic depends on the location and the collector's interest. For example I mostly doesn't get Rs 10 common coin and if I get any commemorative coins of Rs 10, then it's rare for me as the circulation has gone limited.
In the US, the classic Sheldon rarity scale (as found in "Penny Whimsy", 1958 version) is:
R-1 COMMON
R-2 NOT SO COMMON
R-3 SCARCE
R-4 VERY SCARCE (Population estimated at 76-200)
R-5 RARE (31-75)
R-6 VERY RARE (13-30)
R-7 EXTREMELY RARE (4-12)
R-8 UNIQUE OR NEARLY UNIQUE (1, 2 or 3)
So, for me "rare" means 75 or fewer survivors. It would be interesting to see the European rarity scale, where "uncommon" is equivalent to R-5.
It's a particular annoyance for me to continually see coins ranging from scarce to common-as-dirt described as rare. While I'd be more than forgiving if it was a young or new collector, there's no excuse for those with more experience to be doing this. Even more so, when it's done by supposedly reputable dealers. Just how reputable can you be when you're blatantly misrepresenting one of the key factors in a coin's value? I'm fairly certain that anyone willing to mislead others about a coin's scarcity will have no qualms about misrepresenting it's grade or avoiding any mention of problems such as cleaning. In my view describing a common coin as rare is on a par with describing one struck in brass as gold.
It's a free country. You have every right to describe your everyday coins as XXXRAREXXX and I have every right to therefore assume you're a crook. Anyone remotely familiar with eBay will know who and what I'm referring to.
While you can't really put numbers on it, I think every seasoned collector knows exactly where the rarity "sweet spot" is. If you're going to be a successful collector then you really need only one basic skill - how to value a coin. The individual talents which make up this asset include the ability to accurately grade coins, spot problem coins and interpret mintages. You can get by without the first two skills by buying slabbed coins - in effect paying someone else to tell you how nice your coins are. Silly. For the last part though, you're on your own.
There's good news.... of all the skills you are going to need in order to grow a well rounded collection it's by far the easiest to learn. Most mints publish yearly figures of the number of coins struck. Once you grasp the concept that hardly anyone collects fantasy coins from fantasy countries so their 10,000 mintages are not at all significant you're well on your way. Business strikes are where the bullet hits the bone, anything else can be ignored. It's not all plain sailing, more secretive regimes don't publish mintage figures and sometimes the figures can be misleading due to subsequent recalls and smelting. For example you would be quite foolish to attach much value for the figures listed for Morgan Dollars. This is where judgement and experience come into play.
I have noticed a recent trend towards what's termed "grade rarity". This refers to a usually older coin which might be readily available in lower grades but is rarely seen in top grades. Although it might seem to further cloud some already muddy waters I think it' a useful assessment tool. I generally approve of anything which helps to place a coin correctly on the value scale but I can't help but anticipate it being extended by the unscrupulous to include lower grades, thus rendering it meaningless.
I guess it all starts with us. If we, either cynically or innocently, misrepresent a coin as "rare" then we do a great disservice to our fellow collectors and to ourselves. The faux rare chickens will finally come home to roost once you move beyond the pocket change stage and begin turning up genuine rarities. If you've already used up the "rare" tag on your 1952 sixpences then how are you going to describe your 1926ME Penny?
So I'm sorry I can't give a definitive answer to the question posed, but I would make a heartfelt plea to each of you to think long and hard before describing a coin as rare.
To put all of the above in context, I own several thousand coins, not including junk silver, bullion "coins" and a big ole bucket full of dateless Buffalo nickels and wheat cents. Of all those coins only five are genuinely rare.
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
For me, a coin with 300,000 and less is "rare". Then there are coins from the Kingdom of Hawaii and German New Guinea where the vast majority of the coins were melted down.
I am sick and tired of eBay sellers who say "key date" every time a coin is worth more than $12 in VF condition. Puh-leeze!
As for rarity, I think it has to take into account offer and demand. I have Newfoundland coins with a mintage of 10,000. Can you imagine the value of a circulating Lincoln cent that would have been struck at only 10,000 total?
In addition, different technologies mean different ranges of errors and varieties. Design errors can be quite rare in modern coinage. In ancient coins, every die is different from the next since they were individually cut by hand. It would be rather pointless (and hugely boring) to try to collect every variety.
Citeer: "Camerinvs"A related problem is the concept of "key date".
Unrelated, really but anohter gripe I have commonly with Ebayers is how they make their titles stuff like "VOIR ----->>" or "LOOK @@@@". It's just annoying; if someone wants your coin they won't need directions to notice it, but the "directions" will more likely annoy other people sometimes.
Citeer: "Camerinvs"A related problem is the concept of "key date".
Unrelated, really but anohter gripe I have commonly with Ebayers is how they make their titles stuff like "VOIR ----->>" or "LOOK @@@@". It's just annoying; if someone wants your coin they won't need directions to notice it, but the "directions" will more likely annoy other people sometimes.
Now the postage is a little expensive to Canada and no doubt to Europe, but I suggest one of you British penny collectors jump on this unprecedented, stunning opportunity before it's too late. Carpe diem my friends, carpe diem.
I do not aspire to "rare" coins, that are "only so many known examples" or such, and all inviolate, in holders of course. nope, not me.
Within my budget, I do like to have some low mintage (maybe <100,000) or "hard to find" types, and will cough up the premium when I am feeling flush and can "finish a set!"
For example, I am very happy to have France 1900 and 1913 2 Francs, both under 500k mintage.
these are the "key dates", I hate you KEY DATES !! but I want you too!
This hobby is cruel. I want so much stuff I can never have, and if I find a good deal it may well be a fraud.
Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac
Hard to answer...
I had in my hands a 1 real from 1808 with a mintage of 1800, that's rare.
I also have a number of 1940's Papal States 5 and 10 lira silvers. mintages of 4-5000, rare enough that the pictures on numista are of my examples...
Loruca
I collect anything: If it's Italian or Italian states i collect it even more!
Citeer: "Mr. Midnight"
This hobby is cruel. I want so much stuff I can never have, and if I find a good deal it may well be a fraud.
It's called the "hobby of kings" for a reason!
Quote: "...many European kings, princes, and other nobility kept collections of ancient coins. Some notable collectors were Pope Boniface VIII, Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire, Louis XIV of France, Ferdinand I, Henry IV of France... Perhaps because only the very wealthy could afford the pursuit, in Renaissance times coin collecting became known as the "Hobby of Kings.""
But yeah, I sympathise with your sentiment. The day I get a Wreath or Gothic Crown seems to be pretty far away.
Citeer: "Mark240590"Rare is a rough one. I think unless there’s 100 or less then you have a scarce piece.
My Gold Coast Ackey. Rarely seen but still only scarce in my eyes. Some of my princely states 1/4 anna etc rarely seen still only scarce though.
I'd consider your Ackey semi rare. Extant population may be quite high, but most are in established collections, so they are fairly rarely seen.
I really hate this topic because the whole concept of 'rare' doesn't really matter, but I was thinking about it the other day and came up with something like this:
Seen at auction more than every 6 months or so: Common
Every year or so: Scarce
Every 3 years: Rare
