How many collectors?

[coppercoins]

Just wondering how many Lincoln cent die variety collectors there are in all - not the typical collector who might like to have a 55 DDO and 72DDO....I'm talking about the ones who are more serious about it and want to collect a set, for lack of a better term.

[SteveAZ]

with almost 100 years of Lincolns out there, there has to be tons of varieties to account for.
I will stick to my basic non-variety set at this point.
BTW, only 16 more lincolns and it's complete (minus varieties).


Steve

[coppercoins]

Sorry, had to make a couple of corrections in the text color of the poll options. Please read the post again...I was asking for how many Lincoln cent die variety "collectors" you think there are...not how many die varieties there are.

[Art]

Based upon nothing more than my own opinion and interaction with other collectors, I'd guesstimate the number of serious Lincoln Die Variety Collectors at around 5K. I'd also guess that as people complete or nearly complete their basic Lincoln sets, many more will turn to die varieties. Things like the hype about Mint quality control, the realization that 55ddo is not unique, and the PR about the 1998, etc type II's is getting a lot of attention.

[cladking]

There may well be even fewer than 50,000 serious Lincoln variety collectors, but many people will add a variety to their collection as they encounter them. Varieties are likely to gain in prominence in the future because regular issue coins have been made in larger numbers since 1932. Most of the desirable coins in circulation are either conditional or varietal rarities so it would seem to follow that collectors will find these coins increasingly important as time goes by.