anyone know about 1938 D/D/D/S Buffalo's??

[Matt Dinger]

hey guys, anyone the prices on the D/D/D/S i had one come back in NGC MS66 and i can't find any on the web for auction.....just wondering if it carries any more premium over the standard D/S

[Matt Dinger]

nevermind, i called heritage and got some values....

[Robert]

so what's the story?

[Matt Dinger]

yeah it's like $500-$1000.....ngc pop in 66 is 19 with none better.... the regular D/S pop in 66 is over 500

[MARS]

Matt,

The 1938-D/D/D/S FS-020.5 IS the "regular" D/S and most PCGS and NGC D/S coins are this OMM; although I've seen other OMMs in the regular D/S holders also (and I don't mind it when those do turn up). The D/D/D/S attribution is just a clarification issue. There might be a premium on a coin slabbed as this to an uniformed collector concentrating on the CPG varieties...especially if the slab includes the FS number. I've been offered a few of these "FS-020.5" slabs with their premium prices in the past and have politely declined every time...tried to educate the dealer the first time and he just got upset; probably thought I was trying to rip him off. The few dealers that I've purchased Buffalo varieties from to any extent just seem happy to have a customer that knows ANYTHING about the series...and I certainly am not an expert.

CPG states that the "other two (sic) varieties" command less of a premium; but I would probably pay a premium over the "regular" D/D/D/S price levels for comparably graded ANACS examples of OMM-2 (D/S South) (only a small premium for this one), OMM-3 (D/D/S), and OMM-5 (D/S Southeast)...I already have an example of OMM-4 (D/D/D/D/S) that I am perfectly happy with at this time, and OMM-4 is the most common aside from OMM-1.

Same with the 1938-D/D RPM...RPM-2 (the "regular" RPM) is very common but commands a nice premium in PCGS and NGC holders in higher grade...while other equally or more impressive RPMs for the date (RPM-1 comes to mind) are much less common but can be obtained for only a small premium. I even have one of the tough ones in an unattributed PCGS MS67 holder.

The interesting thing about Buffalo RPMs and OMMs is that aside from a handful of 37-D, 37-S and 38-D varieties most of the known RPMs in this series are at least very scarce if not downright rare and are generally tragically undervalued at the present time in my opinion; unless they happen to be one of the lucky ones that are listed in the CPG...and even some of those are VERY cheap. With fewer than 200 recognized attributed RPMs and OMMs this series is very different than Lincolns and presents its own unique challenges.

When I worked for Heritage I saw some rather "optimistic" values attached to Lincoln varieties...and that's an observation from the KING of optimistic pricing on Lincoln varieties...so my advice is to take anything on the high side pricewise that you may have been quoted with a grain of salt.

Roger

[Matt Dinger]

i was just going on the NGC pop reports to determine the rarity.....that is usually a good indicator......the normal D/S in 66 is over 500 while this particular coin has a pop of 19 in 66 and none higher......it's just funny that a coin with such a low pop compaired to the others would only comand a little premium.....is their a reason for this???

[MARS]

[Matt Dinger]

intresting.......i wonder what the real breakdown is....

[smed]

The single fact you can glean from a pop report is how many times they've put a certain grade on a slab. Comparing rarity and pop is like saying Grand Central Station is a better place than the North Pole because more people go to GC.