Okay so if the rebook is not a good price guide for coins.

What is?

 

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Heritage! Or for some, even eBay.

 

For US coins try the gray sheet (Coin Dealer Newsletter) and realized auction prices.

 

Hasn't this been pointed out numerous times to you already? HA auctions, greysheets, online grading prices, etc. Look at them all to determine a good price if you're in doubt.

 

Its free to look around. All it takes is your time. If you have a graded coin in mind, look it up in the redbook. See what they say it's valued at. Go to ebay, do an advanced search for that exact coin and see what past auctions have sold for. Look at the coins. See what the different eye appeal is like which may explain some anomalies here and there. See how close the selling prices are to the redbook.
Then check NGC's guide or PCGS. See how close they are to their guide. Then look at Heritage. See what people have paid for various ones there. Compare that to the redbook. A lot of times, ebay prices may be very close to the redbook guide. It all depends.
Finally, it comes down to what you're willing to pay. If there's a really nice coin, many people will pay over redbook to get it. If it's mediocre or common, most will pay under redbook. It's just a guide. If the redbook values a coin at $100, you aren't going to be able to buy it for $20. But you may be able to get it for $80. IMO, for a guide book that comes out once a year, it's not that bad.

If you're primarily looking at coins that are a $100 or less, the redbook probably is a close enough guide for what you're doing. Most of the time. If you're looking at $3k coins, then you'll need to do more research. Sometimes you have to do some homework. If you're mad about it, just pay whatever you're willing to pay and ignore all the guides. How do you think the prices get into the guides? It's based off of what people are paying around the country. Somebody has to decide. You're a buyer, so you basically play a roll in what the values are without even realizing it.

 

Yeah, buy one of these and see what you think. Compare it to the redbook too. Eventually you're going to get a feel for prices on what you're interested in.

The gray sheet primarily has the more popular collector coins and bullion in it and is somewhat limited. It is used to the extent it can be used at shows. For more unique, individual type coins, the gray sheet doesn't cut it because they aren't in it. There's generic values for a lot of things, like the gold types. In that sense, it's not that helpful. It's not as detailed as NGC's price guide or the redbook. Just so you know what to expect.

 

Well said Vess, I would add that starting an account (free) at Teletrade will give you an additional auction source for prices paid.

 

Yeah, any of those 3 are great tools for looking up past sale prices. Also, be sure to look at the dates the auction ended. You may find a really low selling price but it could have been an auction that ended in 2007. Dealers and more refined collectors that know what their doing tend to use these sites. The same people may use ebay, but they also share ebay with all the fly by night collectors and nuts who don't know what they're doing. Which can lead to inflated values there from any number of the uneducated. This is why some don't like ebay as a guide. Ebay is a 'catch all' and prices can vary greatly.

Keep in mind the fees involved with the transactions. The seller loses 12% on ebay transactions. So if you see a coin sell for $100 on there, the seller basically gets to keep about $88. Then take shipping off of that if it isn't included. It's not as straight forward as it looks if you've never been a seller. Same with Heritage. They have a 15% buyer's premium tacked on that the seller doesn't get. Essentially, you can deduct that off their final values if you're doing a face to face transaction in person.

 

I'll check eBay myself but when comparing to other sites and resources, one will soon realize it's hit or miss with folks buying on eBay. It seems people are paying way too much or you find people paying way less. It's not consistent for sure but one can't totally rule them out, the sales on eBay are real sales just like any coin shop, dealers, dealer at convention and or other auctions.

 

You want current or as current as possible prices, especially considering the fluctuation of silver prices. This is something a price guide (book) can't give you because they are generally written a year or so before printing.

To stay on top of it, you have to have resources handy, access to the internet is great for this. Bookmark and watch the auction sites and coin sellers and see what they are getting for their coins.

 

Why not? Just which auction house would you look for a 1931 Lincoln in XF? How about a circulated 1955 Roosevelt? I don't even use Heritage for a lot of certified MS66 Lincolns because they are below what most reputable auctions deal in. I agree that $250 coins are more accurately portrayed there, but coins less than say about $50, I feel you are better off looking at eBay.

 

Coin World subscribers can check their online Coin Prices site, altho I can't say how close to reality those prices are. Maybe some other poster can comment on that here.

 

Coin World's prices are pretty accurate, and they are one of the most complete monthly listings of the magazines I've been reading.

 

What about http://www.numismedia.com/ ? Another source of price comparison. I also agree, spend the $13 every couple of months for the Grey Sheet. Checking several different sources can give you a general average. Don't rely on just one guide. And as far as the Red Book, great source of information, but doesn't the new edition come out several months before the end of the year prior to it's title year? So how accurate can the prices be?

 

Detecto, now you are getting down to the nuts and bolts of collecting. Knowledge. I agree with posted suggestions of where to look. The interesting thing about any kind of market is price movements, how often something comes on the market, etc. Its those collectors who know this information who benefit in this hobby. If its something you don't collect a lot of, I think a quick check of Heritage or the like wil help, but I suggest learning the market in which you collect most heavily. Dealers do this, and the more knowledgable collectors.

 

NGC added a new feature, "Explorer", within the last few months that is free to everyone. It has links to most of the current auction prices (where available) so you don't have to flip from one site to another.

http://www.ngccoin.com/NGCCoinExplorer/default.aspx

I wouldn't use FleaBay for prices realized because there are too many bidiots.

Chris

 

CDN also has some major gaps. They only go to MS65. What do I do with MS66 or MS67? For Lincolns, they price MS-60 brown, MS-63 red/brown, and MS-64 & MS-65 red. What are the other grades worth? I have a bunch of MS-66 Lincolns. The only place to price them is eBay. They are not on CDN and not handled by the auctions

As for your $150 for that '31 Lincoln, I should be so lucky. But just like at auctions, you don't base it on a single sale and you throw out the odd ball results. And, yes, they happen at auctions too. And to top that off, CDN says that 31 should go for $3.30. My guess is that you should be able to pick one up for less than $1.00 from eBay.