RE: $1 Mule rarity/scarcity questions

Goldseeker · April 06, 2014, 05:57:42 PM

Why does this coin in a battered state demand such a price: Easy, supply and demand me thinks.

There may be 6,000 or more of these coins about and not all finds have been publicised. I would presume about 1/3 to 1/2 of finds have been publicised and people who want one will pay to secure one regardless of the price.

I sold one approx. two years ago that was advertised as a "road kill" Mule on EBay and there were other Mules on EBay at the same time that were much better than mine. I got $593.00 for my "road kill" and that was far in excess of the price achieved by others.

If people want one then they will pay top dollars to secure one. I will not refuse the money that they offer.

Fulvio · April 06, 2014, 08:41:40 PM

Quote from: 'Goldseeker' pid='46029' dateline='1396772862'If people want one then they will pay top dollars to secure one. I will not refuse the money that they offer.

Troutski, you never play musical chairs when you were a kid?

If there are more people than there are chairs, not everybody can sit down. Its as simple as that. And if there are six thousand or six million mules, and six thousand and one or six million and one people chasing them, then they will start bidding against each other...
You of ALL people should understand that thoroughly, given your course reversal in certain other areas based on market dynamics.

As Goldy said, not all of them have been found, nor made available. There may be 6,000, but a large slice are MIA or tightly held. Some by people with truckloads of them. So when you want one to complete your collection, what ya gonna do?

1,700 1930 pennies is only scare, not rare as well. But the difference is they're not circulating and have all been found, unless stashed back in the day and forgotten. And they're worth a heck of a lot more than $400, aren't they?

My view is that if you want a compete collection, you need both. Therefore not every collector can have a complete collection. And that's a good thing. The hobby needs 1930 pennies and mules, and a whole lot more. If they didn't exist, we'd be forced to create them. We need more collectors, and this is what brings them in. Not NCLT that halves in value, not rabbit ears or broadstrikes or slabbed MS68's. People get interested in potential fortunes in their pockets. The rest can come once they're hooked.

runway · April 06, 2014, 10:41:31 PM

Who cares about what category this 2000 $1 coin with a 10c die used on obverse is.
The coin is real and circulated,different from same dated 2000 circulated.
Any circulating variety coin is always great to chase and to find one is about as good as it gets.
I still haven't found this 2000 "mule" nor a 66 wavy base 20c but have found just 1 2001 Federation $1 upset and the potential is still there to find these in circulation...now that is what excites me as a collector ... not caring about grade whatsoever

autocoupler · April 07, 2014, 12:07:48 PM

Quote from: 'runway' pid='46064' dateline='1396789891'Who cares about what category this 2000 $1 coin with a 10c die used on obverse is.
The coin is real and circulated,different from same dated 2000 circulated.
Any circulating variety coin is always great to chase and to find one is about as good as it gets.

I,m with runway on this one. Who cares! I'm a greyhound, just give me something to chase:yahoo:

Fulvio · April 07, 2014, 12:38:32 PM

Quote from: 'autocoupler' pid='46072' dateline='1396838268'Who cares!

While it makes no practical difference what you call it, it does make a difference in some peoples minds. The "I don't collect errors" crowd for example, who do however collect varieties.

Goldseeker · April 07, 2014, 03:07:17 PM

The only one I need to personally find now id the 1966 Wavey Line. I shall not be looking for these for some time yet.

As others have said, it's the chase that gets me excited and when I do find one, then it even more exciteable.

Steveqld · April 07, 2014, 04:22:33 PM

Probably doesn't make a great deal of difference except for consistency. At the moment we can't even define with any certainty what constitutes a "mule" so whether it's an error or a variety is of less significance.

It's possible for the same characteristic to be classified differently in the USA, Canada, UK and Australia and probably others.

I think the absence of a consistent and recognized classification system reflects a lack of maturity in the field of numismatics. How can we use scientific methods to identify varieties/errors but not have a system to describe them?

Fulvio · April 07, 2014, 04:29:50 PM

Quote from: 'Steveqld' pid='46082' dateline='1396853553'I think the absence of a consistent and recognized classification system reflects a lack of maturity in the field of numismatics. How can we use scientific methods to identify varieties/errors but not have a system to describe them?

Fair comment. There's lots wrong with numismatics, and much of it comes down to the people in it being for the most part not scientists or researchers. While it might be OK to dumb down some things to the lowest common denominator (TV, Road Laws, Politics...), we should in most fields of endeavour be trying to raise the bar instead.

Anyway, drifting way off into off-topic-land here... :dodgy:

autocoupler · April 07, 2014, 07:54:59 PM

[/quote]
While it makes no practical difference what you call it, it does make a difference in some peoples minds. The "I don't collect errors" crowd for example, who do however collect varieties.
[/quote]

Ah them n those huh! So long as we're all doing whatever it is that makes us happy :angel: Personally, errors don't do it for me , but throw one in with a variety and you've got me :dodgy:

runway · April 08, 2014, 12:05:11 AM

Errors or varieties ... whatever is different are an exciting part of numismatics