Truemag

Menu
  • What’s it Worth?
      • US Coin Values WorthU.S. Coin Values
      • 1943-copper-centU.S. Error Coin Values
      • Paper Money Values WorthU.S. Paper Money Values
      • Paper Money Error ValuesU. S. Paper Money Error Values
      • Philippines Coin Values WorthPhilippines Coin Values
    • Close
  • Sell Your Coins
    • Sell Your Coins
    • CoinSite Buyers FAQ
    • Truth in the Coin Shop
    • Should I get my coin collection appraised?
    • Close
  • Gold & Silver
    • U.S. Gold Coins
    • Bullion Gold/Silver
    • Territorial/Fractional Gold
    • Silver
    • U.S. Silver Coins: When They Ended and What They’re Worth
    • Morgan Silver Dollars
    • Close
  • U.S. Coins
    • U.S. Coins & Currency
      • U.S. Cents
      • U.S. Nickels
      • U.S. Dimes, Quarters & Half Dollars
      • U.S. Dollars
      • U.S. Gold Coins
      • Close
    • Exceptional U.S. Coins
    • U.S. Classic Commemoratives & Government Sets
    • History of U.S. Coins
      • The History of U.S. Coins
      • Commemoratives
      • Close
    • United States Paper Money
    • Close
  • World Coins
    • World Coins & Paper Money
    • World Coins – History
    • Selected World Coin Articles
        • North America
          • U.S. Coins & Currency
          • Exceptional U.S. Coins
          • Colonial America
          • Canada
          • Close
        • Europe
          • France
          • Great Britain
          • Spain/ Spanish Colonial/ Latin America
          • Italy/Vatican
          • Germany/Austria
          • Close
        • Australia
        • Asia/Middle East
        • Close
      • Close
    • Close
  • Coin Doc
    • Articles & Opinions
    • Ask the Coin Doc
    • Coin Doc’s Archives
    • Numismatically Speaking
    • General
    • Close
  • Exceptional Coins
    • Exceptional U.S. Coins
    • Close
  • Errors
  • Cleaning Coins
  • Fun Coin Q&A
  • FAQ
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Valuing Coins
    • Coin Grading
    • U.S. Gold Coins
    • United States Paper Money
    • Coins in General
    • Resources

How important are the Population reports?

Reed C. writes: How important are the grading services’ Population reports? I hear more and more about low “pop” coins. Everybody talks about “what’s the pop?” Are mintage figures now meaningless?

Population reports can be suspect and should be used with discretion when purchasing coins. They’re best employed only as a reference. The reports only show the number of coins in a specific grade. They do not report how many time the same coin might have been graded. Though the grading services ask that the inserts be returned if a slab is opened, this is often not done. In the case of some extremely rare pieces, there are more graded than actually exist.

The reverse can also be true. I once observed a telemarketing company sending in large numbers of different dated low grade $5 and $10 Liberty gold coins for grading, the kind that dealers pay around melt or a bit more for. They then touted these PCGS graded common date U.S. gold coins as rare and referred to the population report as evidence of this fact. The truth is that rarely does one send coins in for grading where the coin’s value is close to melt value, unless it is for the above sales pitch.

Some inexperienced collectors paid large premiums for low grade gold because that coin was the “only one graded”. A common date VG $5 Liberty is still just worth melt whether it is in a slab or not, even if it is the only one graded.

Jan 1, 2014coindoc
England's East India Company coin1947 Canadian maple leaf cent
You Might Also Like
 
Some 1982 cent facts
 
Info on an 1866 3 cent piece
coindoc
5 years ago U.S. Coins & CurrencyCoin Grading, Valuing Coins0
The Coindoc's MOST POPULAR
  1. U.S. Coin Values
  2. U.S. Paper Money Values
  3. U.S. Error Coin Values
  4. U.S. Silver Coins: When They Ended and What They’re Worth
  5. Sell Your Coins
  6. Philippines Coin Values
  7. U. S. Paper Money Error Values
  8. 1878-1921 SILVER MORGAN DOLLAR
  9. Is my 1957 Douglas Dillon $1.00 silver certificate worth $5000?
Menu
  • About Us
  • U.S. Coin Values
  • Sell Coins
  • U.S. Coin History
  • Exceptional Coins
  • FAQ
  • Contact
  • Privacy

 

2019 © CoinSite