I just got the Redbook I bought on Amazon. I noticed the prices are a little high, I must have got some bargains. What do you do if your coin is higher of a particular grade? Do you add some to the price? For instance this coin below is F-15 and the Redbook price is F-12 is $4.50 cents (I paid $2.75 with shipping, a quarter more than the last bidder).
Actually, I don't pay attention to the price guide in Red Book because it's so outdated by the time each edition hits the shelves. I find a better source for prices is online completed sales. Numismedia lists the price of an F12 1906 IHC, at $2.
Right, I saw that as well. I think the book is good though for times when you are out just to give you an idea if you got a good idea. So the going rate for F-15 of that coin on Ebay was $0.75 more than Numismedia but $1.75 less than Redbook. I think Redbook is good though for those sellers in a live setting where some sellers may be overcharging.
I'd say it's a good guide to use in scenarios where if the sellers price exceeds what's listed in the Red Book, then you might want to pass on buying.
I use the red book for general information. Mintages, coin compositions, and which coins are rarities. I never used the prices listed. As stated, they are out of whack by the time the guide is on the shelves.
The older I get, the more often I grab a Red Book for a quick answer. When it comes to pricing, I look at what they are selling for at that time. CoinFacts is a great tool but it cost for the ease of quick information.
Generically, for ALL price guides, any coin listed at less than $20 is a cheap coin, and price guides will list too high a price. Coins over $1000 are expensive coins, and price guides will often list too low a price. For coins in between, you never know what the price guide is versus market price, so it pays to research. That is just a generality, but it helps understand guides better. There are "conspiracy theories" as to why this is, but without getting in to them lets just say this is a good way to think of price guide information. The takeaway everyone should understand is you are not "making a lot of money" by buying group lots of 50 cent coins you get for 20 cents a piece. if its a 50 cent, 1 dollar, or even a 3 dollar coin most of the value of that coin is simply the dealer marking it for sale. Its really his handling charge.
I don't find any of the annually printed price guides to be useful at all. They're good for mintage figures, and errors, but prices are not reliable for me. If I was to rely on an printed price guide, I'd pick Grey Sheet as that is printed monthly. But for the most part, I search completed sales from several different online sources, Heritage, TeleTrade, and eBay.
I agree with medorama completly about under $20 and over $1,000 coin pricing. By the time a dealer has bought, inventoried, priced, and listed a $10 coin he's got more sweat equity in the coin then he will ever get out of it. There is a natural floor on prices sold by dealers simply based on the time and effort it requires which is represented in the red book pricing, but that does not mean your coin is worth that much. Another consideration is condition. I may very well be willing to buy a choice low grade coin for book value as choice low grade coins are hard to come by. But that does not mean an f15 with rim dings is worth book value. For a lot of coins condition is as much a factor in price as grade is, sometimes more.
The problem with redbook values is not so much in that they are "outdated" (saying so implies they once were valid). The real issue with the listed values is in where they come from. Don't take my word for it.. look this up (IIRC, this is explained somewhere on the Whitman site) and you will see what I mean. While in some cases it could be argued that some values are indeed outdated - by the time the 2011 edition was released, silver values had already surpassed what was claimed in the book - but generally speaking, this has little to do with its questionable pricing. Not exactly. The weekly edition covers only a select few types/grades, and while the monthly expands this greatly, many types are still not touched. For these you would need the quarterly supplements, which often are as useless as any other guide. The CDN definitely has its uses and benefits, but is far from perfect. There are plenty of coins that regularly trade well under, others that can rarely be touched at anywhere close to ask, and a few select dates trade at multiples of CDN. Well said, sir. It never ceases to amaze me how many people will converge on the widget tables at some small shows, just to buy anything and everything priced at a fraction of common guides and/or back of CDN bid. The "deal mentality" seems to overtake common sense and the only one laughing all the way to the bank is the dealer. There is almost always good reason why such coins sell at the levels they do.
Right, if you are shooting for perfection on a well circulated coin, maybe you would want to pay Redbook prices but that is hard to find. Coins that circulate slam into each other during use and are dropped. Even coins that are held in coin banks slam into one another. I don't really mind slight imperfections like the one small ding I am seeing on the rim of the IHC above. I don't believe that would keep it out of a slab or something or not make the F-15 grade. Some of course prefer only to buy coins in pristine condition and that is okay too but they would of course be expected to pay pristine prices. On the other hand though, for the prices they suggest in the Redbook, I would agree that there should not be any dings at all and the coin should be very attractive. Right though, that condition is as important as grade. If the coin is ugly and has dings and stuff you can get that for lower than 1/4 the Redbook price. But as far as a guide is concerned, the price listed I would pay well under it to consider the price a good deal and certainly wouldn't go over the Redbook price. For instance, I went to an antique flea market and a guy was selling standing quarters for $15 with a redbook price of $8 and a few 3 cent wheats in some sort of plastic slab for a dollar, it would be a good idea to stay clear of the entire table for coins. He did sell many other things but this was also in a highly touristy area.
