Upward Pressure on So-Called Dollar Values

Jeff Shevlin · September 18, 2021

There are so many So-Called Dollars that have sold for surprisingly high prices that it is not possible to cover them all in one blog. The interest in So-Called Dollars continues unabated. The prices realized for these historical U.S. medals have continued to exceed the values published in the Pocket Price Guide and the Mega Red Book. Check out the values these recently sold for. Most of these are selling between two to three times their prior retail values.

HK 121 – 1878 Wyoming Battle Massacre SCD
The image at the top of the Wyoming Battle Massacre was engraved by George Morgan, an NGC 63 DPL sold for $1,320. I retail the same grade for $350. In MS 65 I have sold them for $795.

HK 422 – 1915 PPIE Hensley U.S. Expositions SCD
Pictured on the left, an NGC 64 sold for $1,080 in a Stacks auction. It is valued at $450 in the higher grade of NGC 65 in the Pocket Price Guide. That’s two and a half times the value of a MS 65 for a lower grade 64, not even a 65. So what is a 65 worth? I currently have an AU and a BU++ for sale on my website LINK-TO-HK422-FOR SALE the BU++ is only $185. Perhaps it’s time to adjust its cost up?

HK 589 – 1961 Pony Express Centennial in bronze SCD
The Pony Express medal on the right is a very common piece and in MS 66 I retail them all day long at $75. One in NGC 66 just sold in auction for $156. I sell NGC 67 RED for $125.

HK 504 – 1950 California Statehood Centennial SCD
A BU was just sold by a major auction firm for $360, the same grade I retail for $175.

HK 530 – 1959 Alaska-Hawaii Statehood in bronze SCD
Pictured o the left Heritage sold an NGC 62 for $1,020 in August 2021. Right now I have four higher grade varieties of HK 533 and HK 534 for sale on my website at 1/3 that price. LINK-TO-HK533-FOR-SALE and LINK-TO-HK534-FOR-SALE

Values for So-Called Dollars can fluctuate rapidly as the quantities minted are only a fraction of the quantities minted for U.S. coins and it does not take too many new collectors to have an impact on their values.

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