Bought my 2012 RedBook today. And it's already outdated. The silver bullion melt value chart for US coins on p 412 tops out at $43/oz. The gold value chart, however does go up to $1875/oz. Do they know something we don't know?
It was outdated before it was ever printed. I buy one about every 5 years; my current one is a 2008. And I don't use it for pricing.
It's a "nice to have" for my numismatic library. I like the color pictures they've started using in the last few years. Very nice touch.
Pretty much the same here. I let a few years go by before grabbing a new volume. I did pick up the Red Book Professional late last year and I like how they indicate an auction date and price (though the particular auction isn't cited) for one particular grade of a coin being considered.
Me too, my current is 2007 and I decided the other day it was time for a new one so I ordered the 2012. I'll probably get another around 2017.
What is the best source for pricing? I usually use ended eBay auctions as a guide. I use the redbook as a reference and buy one every few years, but take their prices with a grain of salt. I was on the PCGS site and my understanding you can subcribe for about $12.95 a month to see their current pricing guide. Problem with that is that would probably be for only slabbed coins, which I seldom buy. I'm sure there is a number of magazines, but again, I don't want to pay a monthly or annual subscription. Is there a reliable free or at least very cheap source?
You can subscribe to the CDN(Coin Dealer Newsletter) or "GreySheet" for a monthly fee. That will give you dealer to dealer wholesale prices, with a bid/ask spread. As a collector you might not always be able to get those prices, but the info is useful for bargaining. I find a lot of dealers will give you close to Greysheet ask, which means they're probably getting a lot of their coins for less than greysheet bid. But they need to make a profit. The other thing I find is that usually, coins on eBay will sell for really close to Greysheet prices. Redbook prices are generally high, I consider them to be retail prices. Greysheet is more of a wholesale price guide. This is an over-generalization, and the prices will vary from coin to coin, but usually RedBook prices are 15-30% higher than Greysheet.
i have a 2010 redbook ... other than tweaks on the prices ... in general, is there typically any new info (text) in a new version
Always try for dealer prices. "Your money is just as good as any dealer's." - the shop I go to in Vienna, VA. If it's a sub $200 coin, ask, not expecting much. If it's a decent $500 Morgan, I ask and we work out a deal, slightly above wholesale, but below retail.
Each year will have a newer year of mintages...which is still typically a couple years behind. There is also info on new commemorative coins. All information easily found online.
I reference it on occasion and the minor expense of $15 doesn't bother me. Over a year it gives me sufficient value.
This is the thought process I've gravitated to as well. Other than the newly released stuff, there simply isn't enough change from one year to the next to warrant getting a new one every year. I've got the 2009 and 2010. I might wait for the 2015 to come out now.
I think it shows how much they didn't know. Those prices were a long way off when that book went to print. I'm sure they felt that range would be adequate until they could adjust it in next years, but it looks like they were wrong. I just looked at the chart in the '09 book. They only went up to 20.00 and 1,100.00 at that time, for 2008.
