So I'm looking into getting a 1878 Morgan (preferably an 8 feather). according to Whitman's official blue book 2009 a VF-20 is $16. On a (probably well known) website a VG is $65. I understand dealers need to make profit, but is this correct? More than four times the price for a lower grade coin? Remember, I'm a noob, so sorry if this is a noob question, but is there something I am missing here?
IMO your best way to determine how much you should consider paying for a coin is eBay. Search completed auctions and see what they've sold for. And the key word is SOLD. If a coin didn't sell, then people considered it overprice for some reason. And searching completed auctions on eBay is free.
You should follow this beauty.... 2 days left! $26.00 currently. http://cgi.ebay.com/1878-8TF-Morgan-Dollar-ANACS-VAM4-MS60-DMPL-ob_W0QQitemZ300303922671QQihZ020QQcategoryZ39465QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
The bluebook is just plain off in this case. I think that's supposed to represent dealer buy prices, but it's still off. Greysheet bid for the 8TF in VF-20 is $28. A reasonable dealer's probably going to buy them from the average Joe for $20-$22, and will retail them for $30-$32.
The Blue Book and the Red Book are for information only. Any prices in them are purely ficticious and probably based on someone's strange dream. :smile The Red Book is about 20 to 25% over on all prices and the Blue Book about the same in reverse, at least 25% under. The original idea was that a dealer should offer you the Blue Book for a rock bottom price and then resell it for less than the Red Book. Sort of like buying a house. The realistate agent says the highest price possible, you come up with the lowest possible price. And the actual price is somewhere in between.
FWIW, the blue book is supposed to represent (close to) wholesale prices that dealers may find the coins at or what a dealer may offer you for a given coin. Red book is supposed to represent what YOU may find coins priced at. I find it to be a decent general guide for most common stuff. Pick a Morgan dollar out on ebay, graded.....whatever, MS-63 say, .....see what it sells for tonight and then look to see where the red book prices it. Chances are it will be within 10-20 bucks. If not within 5 bucks. On the other hand, the grey sheet is a lot more up to date and will tell you what dealers are paying (WHOLESALE) for general series' and types of coins within the past week. You can order them individually whenever you want. This is what a dealer most likely paid or close to it so you will know roughly how much mark up is on what they're selling. And if you're willing to pay it. I normally order one the week before I'm heading to a coin show. I also look at NGC's price guide online, free for a general idea on stuff. It's normally a little high. Also, look at what coins have sold for at Heritage Auctions, (don't forget to remember their 15% auction fee that's included on them), and what stuff goes for on ebay. Heritage also has a list of recent, past sales for coins. But look at the dates as well. The last time some rarer coins may have sold was years ago when spot gold was a third of where it's at now for example. I was looking at a gold eagle that the last ones sold on Heritage in 2007 for around 600 bucks. Now they're going for 800 bucks. Also, sometimes there will be a flyer price in the list or a real low price. Meaning there may have been an exceptional example in that grade or the low price may have been a cleaned or damaged coin.
I bet if the truth be known, most dealers would pay bullion for the 1878 in circulated grades regardless of how many tailfeathers.
I agree. Many dealers will give you only bullion value or a couple dollars over for slabbed MS 69 ASE's.
Truth be known, a pretty large percentage of dealers are thieves. They might pay bullion for a circulated morgan, but one dealer near me is currently paying $7 for ASEs. He won't even pay bullion for bullion.
So back to your question. This type of question comes up all the time since there are so many sources of coin prices available. Prior to purchasing any coin the thing to do is take your time and look up as many such sourses as possible for prices. For example try ebay, heritage, the Red Book, Numismdia, Coin World, PCGS web site. You will find that most do not match so use the lowest and the highest and look for something in between.
Thanks for all of the great advice. I wasn't aware of the redbook, so I just ordered one from Amazon. Typically the first thing I do before I buy anything is look at prices on ebay, but some coins that I want to add to my collection I can't find there, and many of the coins that are on there that I want are usually graded very high and are out of my price range. I think between the red book and ebay I can find a good gauge on the fair buying prices of the coins I want. Thanks for the help.
Also, you may want to make a list of many of the on line dealers. Not for purchasing, but also to see how available a certain coin may be. Remember that since there is no manufacturers list price on coins, there is very little to go by in value except what people will pay, what is expected, what is available. Also, remember that just like many items, regardless of a known price, if that item is not available, no amount of money would make a difference. There are many, many on line dealers and if you watch this forum you will see many mentioned. I suggest you never rush out and buy something from an on line dealer until you've checked them out with other members of this forum first though.
Sorry folks, but I cannot agree with useing Ebay as a guide or guage for a lot of coins. Way to often many people bid a lot of these coins up way to high as either they are novices, unaware of the true value or just plain impatient to get what they want. My own system is Coin Prices magazine along with checking dealer ads in Numismatic News along with a dab of the catalog mailings I get every month. I would never use either the Red Book or Blue Book except as a referance souce for mintage numbers, and historical imformation. Also to keep track of varieties I might not have read about elsewhere. Both of these books are grossly outdated by the time they hit the book stores. Research, research, research, that's the key.
