Seeking Out “Sleepers”

Don’t expect to find “sleepers” in the most popular U.S. coin series, including Lincoln cents, Buffalo nickels, Mercury dimes, and Morgan dollars, but it’s a different story with the rest of the American numismatic universe. Series in which relatively few collectors are pursuing date-and-mintmark sets provide thrifty hobbyists with opportunities to obtain less common and even semi-key dates for small premiums. Here are some examples. 

Why purchase an 1864 2-cent piece (mintage 19,822,500) when the somewhat-less-common 1868 (2,803,750) or 1869 (1,546,500) won’t break the bank? How about an 1875 or 1876 3-cent nickel? Their respective mintages of 228,000 and 162,000 are lower than the fabled 1916-D Mercury dime, with its 264,000 pieces struck. Then there is the 1888 “trime” that comes with an attention-grabbing mintage of 36,501.

Seated Liberty coinage is loaded with sleepers, and this is especially true for pre-1853 issues. Finding examples in decent-looking “collector grades” may take some effort, but they’re worth the wait. As for later dates, why not seek out 1865-S and 1866-S Seated half dimes with identical mintages of 120,000? The 1869 half dime (208,000) is another option.

Dime specialists might be drawn to dates such as the 1859 Seated Liberty (mintage 429,000) and 1870 (470,500). The Barber series includes a number of 10-cent pieces struck at the New Orleans Mint, and some are quite affordable. A 1907-O brings more “cool” to the table than the ultra-common 1911 or 1916.

Barber quarters and half dollars are full of dates with moderate mintages. Both series circulated heavily, so coins in Fine or better can be few and far between. Barber 25-cent pieces such as the 1895, 1900-S, 1906-O, 1910-D, and 1915-S are tougher but reasonably priced. Nineteen Barber half dollars have mintages of less than 1 million, and not all of these dates are expensive. Check out the 1896 (mintage 950,000), 1905 (662,000), 1911-D (695,080), and 1914-S (992,000) for solid value. 

Why place an ultra-common Washington quarter from the 1960s in a type set when scarcer options such as the 1938-S (mintage 2,832,000), 1946-S (4,204,000), 1949-D (10,068,400), and 1958 (6,360,000) are affordable? Collecting dates with a measure of scarcity can be done without putting yourself in financial peril.

A version of this article appears in the October 2023 issue of The Numismatist (money.org).