Pedigree
Often a coin will be accompanied by a pedigree stating who owned it earlier. In my company's catalogue of the John W. Adams Collection of 1794 large cents an effort was made to complete the pedigree of each coin as far back as possible, and many pieces were traced through a succession of owners back to the previous century. In my firm's sales of the famous Garrett, Eliasberg, Brand, Norweb, and .Emery-Nichols collections, to mention just a few illustrious cabinets we have handled, pedigrees were stated when known. Many were the buyers who told me after each of these sales that the knowledge that this coin or that had been purchased from the Chapman brothers, or had been in the Parmelee Collection in the 1880s, or had some other interesting pedigree, added a special dimension of enjoyment to the piece. When I contemplate my previously-mentioned 1787 Washington and Columbia medal I think not only of the voyage of the Washington and Columbia sailing ships and the possibility that my medal may have been aboard one of the vessels, but also that the piece was once owned by T. Harrison Garrett, who kept it as part of his collection at Evergreen House, a beautiful 19th century Italianate mansion in Baltimore, restored in the 1980s by its current owner, The Johns Hopkins University. What a nice pedigree!
In the modern market, pedigrees are often lost sight of, which is a shame, because they are part of a coin's history. One reason dealers don't include pedigrees with their coins is that they are afraid that someone might complain if they ask $20,000 for a coin they bought for $10,000. I say that dealers should charge what the coin is worth, and if a coin is worth $20,000, whether it cost $10,000, and the dealer is making a nice profit, or whether it cost $30,000, and the dealer is taking a substantial loss, is irrelevant. On one occasion, my company paid $50,000 for a coin and sold it for $32,000. At another time I bought a rare Liberty Seated quarter from a dealer who priced it for $1,000, and I sold it for $3,500 a few days later.
Rarity
Is a coin common or is it rare? This thought goes through the mind of most buyers when they consider a coin.
Among Liberty nickels, the rare 1885, 1886, and 1912-S issues are viewed as the highlights of any set, and they have a special desirability for this reason. Among large cents, such rare dates as 1793, and 1799 and 1804 are objects of affection and desire. For the specialist in small cents, the 1856 Flying Eagle, the 1877 Indian, and the 1909-S V.D.B. and 1914-D Lincoln cents are eagerly sought.
