My dad just called me from work and asked me if I was interested in buying a 1931-S Lincoln from one of his friends down there. I have no idea what the grade is because my dad just told me "it looked really nice it was red with good details". I'll see if he can bring it home and let me look at it before I buy. I was just wondering what I should pay for it in Very Fine, Extremely Fine, About Uncirculated or MS. I dont' trust the Redbook and I dont have an updated Grey Sheet
Ok thanks bg. And i have the ANA grading standards book so whenever i see the coin i will make sure to spend some time and give it a really acurate grade then tell you guys.
What problems do you have with the pricing offered in the Red Book? The prices others quoted seem similar to what the Red Book would have offered. It seems it's really just a matter of grade. I know one thing about the Red Book . . . I've heard from a lot of people that it sure is read!
Greysheet bid/ask is as follows for the 1931-S G $100/$110 VG $105/$115 F $110/$120 (rarely ever seen in grades below VF ) VF $112/ $122 XF $117/ $127 AU $123 /$133 MS-60 BR $130/$140 MS-63 RB $145/ $160 MS-64 RD $260/ $285 MS-65 RD $575/$625 Any mint state coins are tough to buy at those levels if they have eye appeal for the grade, nicer coins are trading above sheet, and any PCGS, NGC or ANACS will also trade above those prices ( if you get it slabbed ). Read the reports, Lincolns are freaking out these days, I am not trying to hype them at all. If I could buy 63-RB at $160? I'd order 10 of them.
Haleiwa, My feelings match yours concerning redbook. For the life of me I can't understand the almost hostility exhibited toward this book. Sure the prices are dated. However you get a ballpark figure and can go from there. I personallydon't let a year go by without a new redbook. It has rarely let me down when I have a question about a coin. (50 years of using the redbook) I would say that after reading and posting in this forum for several months that many of the newbie questions can be readily answered by consulting the redbook. Why anyone would balk at spending anywhere from 11.95 to 16.95 for a wonderful reference is beyond me. Apologies in advance if this has turned into a rant.
Haleiwa and rohumpy The Red Book is a great refrence book and I reccomend it to many people. The prices on the other hand are not often accurate. A publication that is released once a year and printed before that year even starts can't possibly be accurate on a market that is as volitile as Lincoln cents currently are. Some prices will be close but others are way off. The publishers try to predict which coins are going to go up in price for the next year. If that coin doesn't move as much as they predict theen that price will be too high. if they fail to realise a date that does start to move then their price for that coin will be too low. Red Book is a great general reference for just about anything but pricing. Richard
There's nothing a book can do about the really volatile coins but I've found that a lot of the prices are actually pretty close. I've watched many coins go on ebay. They actually hover around red book pricing pretty closely most of the time from what I've seen. Especially for example silver dollars, buffalo nickels, etc... Guess it depends on what you're watching.
Thanks Jack. Theres a big difference in these and the Redbook prices. (Redbook is alot lower) My dad didn't bring the coin home, I'm guessing because I didn't seem too interested in it last night. But now I'm definitely interested so I'll get him to bring it home from his friend at work tonight and get you a picture tomorrow.
From what I can see on eBay, you will be luck to get one AU or better for less than 1/3 above the greysheet.
