1971-D Kennedy Half Dollar DDO-017 per Variety Vista

[Scottickes]

Hello everyone. It's been a while since I was on here. I am trying to learn the rarity of the 1971-D Kennedy Half Dollar DDO-017 per Variety Vista. I recently found 6 of them while hunting through bank boxes. All in one box and is nice MS condition. I took them to a coin show and ANACS was there and helped me get them sent in for attribution and grading.

I have tried looking everywhere for any sales on this variety, coming up empty. It is also not listed in the population census on ANACS, NGC or PCGS, so I don't even know how rare it may or may not be.

Does anyone know of any online resource that I haven't found that might shed some light on this. I took a flyer on them, by sending them in for attribution and grading, since I think they'll grade MS-65 or better. Also, I figured that if I can't find information on their rarity or non-rarity, then maybe I'm the first to have them graded (I doubt that though).

Any help would be appreciated.

Scott Ickes

[MintErrors]

The only thing I can say about this is, it could be found in Mint sets. In my opinion, that means they were either minted close to the US Mint set production time or, they were plentiful enough to be added into a Mint set.

In appears that this variety has not gained enough popularity to be added as a "FS" number, which brings more collector interest. I love Kennedy variety and errors, and even with my semi-biased stance, this coin is one I would probably pass on. The reason for this is, it looks just a little too "mushy" for me. I love those classic Kennedy DDO's.

If there is no data from the third party grading services on this variety, then there is probably not much out there as in actual population numbers. Circulated examples usually drop pretty dramatically in value compared to Brilliant Uncirculated examples. CONECA 'used to" do population numbers, but I do not want to stub anyone's toes and pull out "old" numbers that were removed from the CONECA master list. Yes, I have all of them for the Lincoln Cent and Kennedy Halves, thanks to archive.org...

Designation:	17-O-I-CW (4)
		Description:	Strong spread on IN GOD WE TRUST, designer’s initials, date, and LIBERTY, with four serifs on lower I of IN
		Grade:	MS65
		Population:	4
		Markers:	Obverse is ODV-003 Master Die / Master Die Can be found in Mint sets
UVC-571	DMR-023	Stage A:	Small die gouge next to bust above the mintmark – EDS Slanted die scratch above the first T of TRUST Reverse is EDS
		Stage B:	MDS (unconfirmed)
		Stage C:	LDS (unconfirmed)
		Reported by:	Larry Nienaber

Uncirculated DDO generic examples to the right buyer might net a collector one or two portraits of Ben Franklin. The Kennedy halves are subject to a harder grading standard since they are some what a larger coin than most - a lot more area for issues to affect grade. For example, I bought original BU rolls of 1964 Kennedys and out of about 200 coins we submitted to ANACS, one came back as a MS67, with about 25 in MS66, with the rest in MS64/ 65.

The Kennedy halves don't seem to dramatically leap in price from one grade to another above MS63, so value can be subjective and..... A coin is only as valuable as the buyer is willing to pay for it. And.... a decent amount of Drama can add a premium.

I skirted on the edge which I hardly do. CONECA kinda frowns on prices/values and questions about grading. I hope what I said makes sense.

[atrox001]

Are you sure your 6 half dollars are the 71D DDO-017, the DDO-006 is very similar to the DDO-017 and often mistaken for it. The best way to tell the difference is with the doubling on WE TRUST, on the DDO-017 it is much stronger, see the photos on Variety Vista. The markers listed on VV for the DDO-017are very good ones.

[Scottickes]

I'm absolutely positive that it is the 017 DDO's. Every coin has the die scratch at an angle above the first T in trust and the die chip above the mint mark at the bottom of Kennedy's bust. Also, the ANACS representative at the show agreed that it is definitely the 017. I've been doing this for 56 years and I look at 6000 kennedy halves every week. I have no doubt that they are all 017s. Just can't find much on value or census the coin. What I've learned here is more than I had found on my own, thanks to MintErrors help.

[Scottickes]

Thank you for the assistance so far with this. I just got the coins back from ANACS. I did get the 1971-D DDO-017 attribution on all six of them! Two coins are MS65 and four coins are MS66. Does this change the estimate of the values much? I'm having difficulty knowing what to ask for them.

Thanks for any opinions or advice you can offer.

Scott

[MintErrors]

Thank you for the assistance so far with this. I just got the coins back from ANACS. I did get the 1971-D DDO-017 attribution on all six of them! Two coins are MS65 and four coins are MS66. Does this change the estimate of the values much? I'm having difficulty knowing what to ask for them.

Thanks for any opinions or advice you can offer.

Scott

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Coneca frowns talking about value of the coins, since it is an agreement between two parties. The amount can change drastically between two people, so it's difficult to know what they are worth. We don't have a good idea how many have been graded, as there are no population numbers. Add in that if there aren't many sent in, there seems to be limited interest.

You can see the price guide for a fair market value of the coins grade and then figure out how much you might be able to add. Drama, presentation and being able to show the variety in clear photographs can go a long way.

The price guides at pcgs.com and ngccoin.com may help some. I will say that 017 should not bring in as much as a coin with the FS designation. My best advice is to slap a decent price on it and see where it goes. But always remember: an item is only as valuable as a collector is willing to pay for it.

[Scottickes]

Mr. Kozera,
Thank you for the tip about pricing discussions. As I'm new here, I didn't know, but will respect that going forward. Thank you for this though. It actually helps.
Scott

[Scottickes]

Here's an update. I got the 1971-D half dollars back from ANACS. All of them got the DDO-017 attribution. Two of them are graded MS65 and four of them were graded as MS66. I'm quite happy!