I thought some of you darksiders might be interested in this. Please be aware that I'm trying to determine if it is going to be accessible to non-members as well. Chris Max Spiegel NGC Researcher I wanted to alert all of our Message Board members to an exciting new feature on NGC's website: the World Coin Price Guide. Created by NGC and Krause Publications' NumisMaster, the World Coin Price Guide has values for more than 350,000 coins and thousands of photographs. Best of all, it's free to all users. There are mintage figures, design descriptions, engraver information, and more. One of my favorite features is the up-to-the-minute melt values for gold, silver, platinum, and palladium based on current spot prices -- a valuable tool considering the recent precious metals activity. Prices and photographs are independently compiled by Krause Publications’ NumisMaster and provided to NGC through an exclusive agreement. Many world coin prices are updated daily, and new photographs are added monthly. To read the compete press release, click here. To check out the free World Coin Price Guide, click here.
It looks like NGC might be trying to put the screws on the Numismaster site... both sites however are powered by Krause publications... EDIT: With a little more looking it looks like they are working together... which is strange... because I would think that this would be bad for numismaster... which is a pay site... to be giving this information out for free...
Though Max stated that it was free to all users, I'm still trying to clarify his definition of "all". Does it mean all paid members of NGC or does it mean all members and non-members alike? NGC did pretty much the same thing when they partnered with Numismedia a few years ago. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Numismedia charged for access as well. Maybe Numismaster is finding that paid access isn't what they had hoped it would be. Chris
Max just confirmed that the Price Guide is available to EVERYONE regardless of race, color, creed, religion, nationality or political affiliation. Chris PS. Just kidding on the part after "EVERYONE"!
I actually do have a paid subscription to numismaster. I found that it was cheaper then buying new Krause catalogs every couple of years... and it was searchable.
Cool little addtion to NGC's Collector Society, This has already helped me out with two coins I submitted a few months ago. Thats whats so good about NGC,,,They are all ways trying to make there sites better.
It makes sense to me. Numismaaster probably figures that it is better for NGC to be paying them something, than it is to have very few paying them their asking price. Since day one the problem I have seen with Numismaster is very few were willing to pay for access to the site. In the very beginning, only Charter Members had free, but limited, access. Then later everybody had free but limited access. Then they dropped their subscription price to half of what it was originally. Even that got them very few additional paying members. I sort of figure this is their answer to at aleast getting enough revenue to pay for the site upkeep. Because I seriously doubt they ever were before. That said, in looking at the site and checking a few coins, they still need to do some work. With some coins prices top out at XF, with others prices out at MS60. So even the info that IS available is of limited use. Especially since it is not accurate. Those I did check, prices were way high.
Like anything new, there will always be bugs to correct and fine tuning to be made, but it's a start. Chris
...Do people REALLY believe some of those prices? I took a gander at the NGC searchable world coin schedule there...here's an example of what I discovered: I looked up their price on a S. Korean 1999 5Won coin. .30 cents. Just as misleading and possibly pathologically innacurate as the Krause catalogue. This is why I think so: The 1999 5Won coin has a mintage of 8,000. It only appears in ONE kind of mintset for that year, and that mintset is currently being sold at the sujipbank and sujipmol websites (or anywhere else you can find it) in Korea for around $400US. SO: Somehow(?) the value of the coin is .30 cents??? I've always wondered how they come up with certain coin values...If I want to buy a 1999 5Won coin in MS, then I have to buy one of those mintsets. OR I can wait for a slabbed one to come up for sale somewhere, and that would easily sell for around $200US. THIRTY CENTS?? I wish!
I can appreciate your concern for discrepancies such as this, but shouldn't we also bear in mind that the Krause catalogs list tens of thousands of coins and it is next to impossible to keep up with the trends for every single issue? If you feel that this is a huge mistake, why don't you contact Krause and express your concerns with them? Chris
