A little more re: Journey
LOST PREFIXES
Insert BEK has jumped from $40 to $175 -- so its registering how rare (& desirable) they really are. Again -- no BEK for sale at the CNA show yesterday (that I saw). There's no doubt that this is indeed a special note and one to get before it gets out of reach. Lately I've only been able to secure rippled AU examples, as all the gems seemed to be snapped up and there's no one willing to let go of them.
BEP's seem to be limping along. There must have been more hoarded than we know. I've never seen them sold at bourses-- only by one eBayer so far.
It is no surprise that the big performers are the 2003 BEL and BER -- even in lower grades.
Also good to see reguler 2004 BER jump to $60 since I've seen less than 5 raggedy examples in all my circulated brick searches. Inserts jumped a whopping 90% to $190!
BET's have gone from $40 (but we all know they've never been sold for less than $60/65 last year) to $70 -- another healthy jump. I think this truly reflects their current market value. I include them as "a lost prefix" only because it is in question whether their full numbers saw the light of day.
Of their predecessors:
Insert FEN's went from $300 to $350 reflecting how seldom we see them for sale. They truly are scarce and hard to get in UNC. Expect the BER insert to continue its meteoric climb (change-over or short prefix inserts are ever popular)
FDY went from $150 to $180 2001 FEE's only climbed by $15 to $150. Knight/Thiessen FDZ went from 120 to 140 but its cheaper cousin the Knight/Dodge prefix stayed the same at $65
On another note:
BEM-BEN jumped from $13 to $20
I would expect lower numbered notes (below 5 M) BEM's to increase in the next issue. There seems to be a general consensus that this note was released in batches, and few have been reported below 5 M.
Regarding the Birds:
I'm a little disappointed to see the Bird $10 notes so stagnant. Especially the Bonin/Thiessen ATX (has remained unchanged $350) Only the T/C BDH, the B/T BDP/BDZ inserts have shown increases (the BDH the most dramatic to $750) I suppose this demonstrates how well made most of these notes were-- and perhaps how overlooked they are becoming in light of the short lived original Journey notes.
Overall: I think the pricing panel, contributors, and Bob Graham did an amazing job on this issue. Kudos gentlemen!