I see a number of you talking about buying at prices relative to the latest bid/ask price. I understand what that is and I know what the Greysheets are (I've never seen one, but I know what it is). Do you guys subscribe to the Greysheets? If not, how do you find out what the current bid/ask is on a particular coin? Thanks, Wally
You can either subscribe to Grey Sheet or you can buy individual copies and download them to your computer any time you wish.
Pay to who ? To another dealer, yes sometimes. To a collector - never. Typically a dealer will pay a collector 10% - 15% under bid. But it will never be sight unseen, unless you have a very special and long established relationship with that dealer. 99.9% of the time a collector will have to ship his coin or coins to a dealer and only after the dealer receives the coins and examines them will the dealer even make an offer. Then if both parties are in agreement the dealer will send payment to the collector.
Jeff: It also depends upon the grading service: NGC, PCGS & ANACS, usually are okay. Repeat after me: SGS VERY BAD. Write that one hundred times on a sheet of paper then chew it up, so that you'll never forget it.
I don't own any certified coins...I was just curious as to what the 'Grey sheet' was even for. The prices must come from some type of transactions, don't they?
I am thankful nearly every day that I found this forum. I want to thank you all for being so willing to share your knowledge. Where (if anywhere) does the Blue Book fit into all of this? Is it sort of a once-yearly updated list of these dealer-to-dealer prices? Or are the prices in there typical of what a dealer would pay (that bid-10 to 15%) to a collector? There are just too many sources out there for (supposed?) pricing! Using a 1938-D Walker F-12 for example: 2008 Blue Book: $70 08/24/07 Greysheet Supplement: $105/$115 bid/ask Today on PCGS Price Guide: $155 10/2007 CoinValues: $200 It makes my head spin. If I took a solid F-12 '38-D Walker into a reputable, busy coin shop today, what could I expect to get for it? Thanks, Wally
Wally, You can buy the Greysheet, week old copies on Ebay for a cpl bucks. I suscribe, thats the only way to get the monthly and quarterly that over a year cover all series. There is also a certified coin newsletter, but again, that is dealer to dealer and can also be bought on ebay, single copies.
Actually being one. Coin dealers have shops, they advertise, they go to coin shows and set up booths, they belong to dealer organizations. In other words, most coin dealers know who the other dealers are. And yes the Bid/Ask prices in the Grey Sheet come from someplace - they come from dealers that are contacted on a weekly basis by the Grey Sheet staff.
As a dealer I would be willing to buy this coin at $65 all day. If it was a wholesale transaction (purchased from another dealer) or part of a group of coins I really needed to buy I'd like to buy it at $75, but would press to pay $80 if need be. I would likely pass on the coin at more than $80. Guys like Coleman Foster who deal in that kind of stuff as their primary business would likely offer slightly more.
Well, I think he just said it. This link may give a better idea of what Greysheet is about. http://www.greysheet.com I subscribe to Greysheet myself. This does NOT mean I go into shows and expect dealers to give me bid or even ask as I am NOT a dealer in the true sense. It does give me a great idea as to trends in certain coins. One DOES have to realize that dealers do have overhead, organization fees etc to be in business. They have to COVER these costs to stay in business. It's just like any other business. One might also note that the typical issue of Greysheet is not like picking up a coin magazine filled with retail prices. What is traded most is what shows up week to week. Quarterly supplements cover many of the other series. Greysheet is most definitely not for everyone. IT IS a useful tool if you know how to use it. Coins magazine has the "trends" value. Greysheet is a much better indication of real trends. Learning the hobby, getting to know dealers and then looking into Greysheet is the real way to go in my opinion. I have collected for over 30 years now and subscribed to Greysheet for 3 years. Depends on how much time you have to study and learn I guess.
Doug's given a very good answer here. I would like to add that the Blue Sheet (CCDn) is the sight unseen bids for certified coins (NGC and PCGS only) and is based on actual dealer bids as placed on CCE which is a dealer to dealer only trading community. Unseen ask prices tend to be significantly lower than the real market for properly graded coins because dealers know that when they get slammed (lingo meaning someone hit their bid and is sending them a coin) they know the coin coming will almost certainly be a "just made it" coin for the grade. This is why most people use the greysheet as it doesn't have such a big discount already worked into it. That said, the pricing of a coin is usually not so simple as just looking it up in a book/magazine, as there are constantly changing factors (like how salable the coin is to that dealer's clients) that affect the price a dealer will pay.
That statement is the most meaningful statement so far. All atempts to discuss a coins price is almost the same as a used car. Maybe even less regulated. Any coins price is mainly price and demand. All the coin prices listed in the Grey Sheet, Red Book, Blue Book, PCGS web site, other magazines, booklets and on and on and on mean absolutely nothing if no one is buying. A dealer can point to a coin, show you a price but if your not buying, that price is useless. I could show you a coin and say it is $1,000 but if you and everyone else would only pay $0.50, then that is all it's worth. Always remember there is no manufacturers list price on old coins as there is on a bar of soap.
