1964 SMS Lincoln Cent, MS66RD PCGS, Great Modern Rarity. VDB Coins has bought and sold privately more of the 1964 SMS coins of all denominations in the past few years than any other dealer, so public auction records are scarce; most of the coins trade hands privately, and infrequently. This cent is, in our opinion, as nice or nicer than the recent surprise MS67RD cent that appeared in a Heritage auction, where it brought $15,600 despite having a large area of die grease on Lincoln’s shoulder. The current coin was, clearly, earlier part of a five-piece PCGS-certified “set” at one time that has since been dispersed, as the cert #11892052 is four down from our 1964 SMS Kennedy half MS67 PCGS (cert #11892056) that for three years held the world’s auction record for any Kennedy half, $47,000. That world record was superseded in April 2019 at Heritage Auctions’ CSNS Signature sale, where another Kennedy half, not quite as nice but in the same grade and with a similar appearance (until our coin was auctioned, dipped, and crossed to an NGC holder-duh), brought an astounding $108,000. (And the dime is cert #11892053.) This coin has great color and super eye appeal (much nicer than the MS67RD/SP67RD mentioned above) and we are offering it here publicly rather than through auction. The MS rather than SP prefix indicates that this coin has been in this holder for quite a while, as I believe it was in 2013 when PCGS switched from the Mint State designation for 1964 SMS coins to SP for Special Strike. Your chance to jump on a great modern-day rarity.
Update, April 2019: I think the whole 1964 SMS market, all denominations, just moved to a new market level. A complete five-piece “set” of 1964 SMS coins in Heritage Auctions’ CSNS Signature sale brought the following prices: 1c 1964 SMS SP65RB PCGS, $9,000; 5c 1964 SMS SP67+ PCGS $22,800; 10c 1964 SMS SP66 PCGS $10,200; 25c 1964 SMS SP66 PCGS $9,000; and 50c 1964 SMS SP67 PCGS (a coin that is in the same grade but not as nice as the one we sold via Heritage three years ago for $47,000–a world record for any Kennedy half at public auction until now), $108,000! This is a total of five coins for $159,000 … we recently traded via a dealer friend another “complete set” in only slightly lower grades for $58,000.
If you want to take advantage of this fleeting opportunity to own one of the finest 1964 SMS cents graded in MS66RD, I suggest you do so promptly. I am very tempted to pull this coin, put it far back in the SDB, and forget about it for 10 years or so and then see what it brings. Payment will be via EFT or cleared check only, no PayPal on this.
