As we posted just recently about the remarkable price that a PCGS MS62 1943S sixpence achieved we thought it worthwhile mentioning the surprising price that another coin realised just recently. This coin, a PCGS MS66 1958 shilling is just one of three coins at that grade and was bought for the eye watering price of $610 on the Australian Ebay. This is slightly more than 7 times the current catalogue value in Gem.
The 1958 shilling, which has mintage of over 8 million coins is by no means scarce, but suffers from what is known as 'condition rarity'. Basically this means that while 1958 shillings are common, 1958 shillings in high grades are not. A quick look at the PCGS population report supports this, with just 18 of the type graded in mint state, compared with 94 coins for the 1959 shilling. The 1959 shilling has a mintage of just two million coins more than the 1958 shilling.
So here's another coin to look out for. 1958 shillings in gem grades are not common and the astute collector would do well to look out for raw coins which could then be graded by PCGS. The growing market acceptance of PCGS graded coins in Australia could then allow for significant profits to be realised if the coins were then sold.
Posted by mnemtsas at April 13, 2011 1:08 PM
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