Quote:
Originally Posted by Bedrock  what is the standard for coins? |
There is no pricing standard for coins.
Pricing coins is an art, just like grading coins (and for similar reasons).
The closer a coin is to being a commodity, the easier it is to price. For example, consider ASEs. Basically, they're a commodity for these reasons :
- There are millions of 'em
- anybody can get one any day of the week
- they're all the same (or very close)
Sure, I know some make a big deal of 69 vs. 70. But for any given issue, there's a reliable price for 69s and one for 70s.
In classic US coins, you can get
close to "commodity" status with many series. Common date Morgans, for example.
Close... but no cigar ! Morgans show why coins aren't commodities. Not all MS65s* are created equal ! Some are better than others and command a higher price.
Take it to an extreme and consider very rare or unique coins. Where is the pricing guide for those ?
One place to look for prices are auction records... but even there, be very careful. There is significant "scatter" in prices for a number of reasons.
One major reason for uncertainty is small sample size. The rarer a coin is, the fewer data points you have, and some are old.
So the bottom line is take in data from every source imaginable and use good judgement.
* of the same issue 
