If a GB 1933 penny sells for $179,000 last week, I wonder what a 1938 Irish penny would sell for ???

[OldCurrencyExchange 1]

There is only 1 Irish 1938 penny in private hands.

The only other example is held by the National Museum of Ireland, so in effect, the other coin is unique in terms of its availability.

 

Of course, rarity alone is not an indication of value - demand is the most important factor !

 

For background info on the 1938 Irish penny, see

https://oldcurrencyexchange.com/2014/08/21/rare-coins-the-1938-irish-penny/

Edited August 17, 2016 by OldCurrencyExchange
clarity

[Leo 91]

You just need two collectors with deep pockets and an interest in that coin! They probably live in the US.

Which is not unlikely, as that coin has an important historical significance and is not a loose key date, with interest only to completist penny collectors.

[azda 979]

Being a unique coin doesn't mean it would sell for XXX because no one knows what the price actually should be, having nothing to go by means in all probability that people wouldn't bid as high.

Now with the 1933 there are several prices available and is easier to gague it's market value.

I remember a unique hammered coin last year or the year before at DNW with an 8k-10k estimate and never got a bite due to the same reason, so being unique has its downfalls

[DaveG38 405]

Rarity by itself doesn't necessarily translate into high prices. We all know about the fame of the 1933 penny and they do go for astronomic sums given that there are just 6 or so in existence. By comparison, I and a couple of others on here have one of the only 5 available examples of the 1695 DEI GRATIA halfpenny, so in theory fewer than the 1933 penny, yet the price for one of these will likely be a few hundred pounds. It ain't fair.

Edited August 17, 2016 by DaveG38

[1949threepence 3,367]

It depends what cache and charisma (if an inanimate object can have charisma) the rare coin has. The 1933 has it in spadeloads. There are, by contrast, many exceedingly rare coins, which wouldn't fetch a meaningful fraction of what that goes for. 

[copper123 1,485]

Threepence is right I have seen several practically unique coins sell for £300 -£400 because there is a limited interest in the market for them - put the same coin in the papers and give it a bit of publicity and it could fetch £5000 .

That said the rags that are our newspapers are not known for their interest in numismatics , indeed they go out of their way not to publicise it.

Unless you are involved in the london mint office

 

[scott 144]

there is also talk of a 1991 irish small 5p in existance

[Peter 615]

It would make 2 pigs and a potato.Before this thread I'd never heard of it or its rarity.

[copper123 1,485]

prob a pattern

[VickySilver 830]

Uhhhh, yes, as suggested demand may just have a bit to do with price realized. This is not for some obscure varietal ( my term "hyper-varietal") either, but an individual coin in an avidly collected series. That Irish 1938 bit has really made the rounds and gone unsold on many occasions; an obscure moneyer or other such is in a like boat. Also, don't forget there are actually only evidently THREE available 1933 pennies & doubt they are available other than theoretically.

[Paulus 1,975]

Demand and supply as always, with many variables affecting both

[OldCurrencyExchange 1]

I conducted a survey on coin collecting recently and, it suggested that 67% of collectors spend £50 or less per week on their hobby. This, in turn, might imply that above £50 = a different type of collecting, i.e. investment + profit comes into play.

In addition to financial gain, famous coins seem to attract trophy hunters, i.e. people with pots of money, limited numismatic knowledge and a desire to own something famous.

Something similar occurred in the 90's when the Queen sold off some of the royal collection resulting stamps that usually sell for £50-200 selling for £500-5000 simply because they were formerly part of a royal collection (originally) put together by George V and George VI.