[ARC5] 13.5 to 20 Mhz ARC-5 on Ebay

[David Stinson]

William Donzelli wrote:

> 20 percent survival rate "rare"? That is amazingly good for any set.
> 
> I think the huge demand for the set (possibly more than any other military
> set?) distorts the definition.

I disagree entirely.  I think survival rate as
a percentage of net production is irrelevant.
Survival rate plus demand plus
probablity of acquiring a set for your collection= "rarity," IMHO,
and >10 surviving in a market with such high demand
should certainly qualify.
After all: it doesn't matter to the collector 65 years later
if there were 50 minted; he wants to know
how many are left and what his chances are of getting one.
Those chances are well-described by "rare,"
since the odds of acquiring even one of the four seperate models
over the lifetime of the average collector is small.

Had every one survived, the low production of 50 of
each model would still qualify them as "uncommon,"
again by the lights of demand vs. supply.

Just one fella's "two cents,"
Dave S.