I'm new at selling coins and I want to sell my coins at my local dealer. I emailed him and he told me he uses the greysheet, I was under the impression that the blue book was all I needed but, apparently no dealers use that since it's only published once a year he stated. I went to the greysheet website and took a look at there sample greysheet. I understand bid and ask price but the part I don't understand is the most common dates part. I have coins from different years that are the same denomination and are the same grading. For example I might have 3 Indian quarter eagle's, all are MS-63 professionally grade by PCGS and the years would be 1927,1910 and 1909 now in the blue book and in any other book the prices would vary but you mean to tell me that my dealer would take one look at the greysheet for that week and would give me the same price for all 3 coins, I'm confused about this. Why does the greysheet not have values for each year of a certain coin denomination?
I don't use the grey sheet but this would be my take on it.... The grey sheet may use averages taken from auctions, sales and whatnot during the previous month or so to come up with a price. Like any guide, it is just that. Dealers will also take into account the popularity of a given coin and pay more or less depending on the demand in their area.
Dealers will not always pay what the greysheet says either, if they believe the coin will be a fast seller for them, or they already have a buyer lined up (want list etc.) they will be more like to pay greysheet, or just under greysheet price, if they believe the coin will not sell where they operate, or have no buyers lined up, they will pay less than greysheet, they don't want to be sitting on a coin for a long time. Your best bet is to take your coins to a few different dealers and see what they offer. No serious dealers use red/bluebook for values, as you said its only published once a year, and the coin values are outdated as its being printed. It's a great reference book though, for mintages, composition etc.
The gray sheet does have these prices. You have to buy the gray sheet to get all the different sheets. As far as your two and a half golds the 1927 in ms63 sheets for $570-$610, and the 1910 $1175-1265, and the 1909 $1225 -$1350
Annually printed price guides are outdated by the time they are on store shelves. Blue Book, Red Book, etc., compile their data for the price guide section several months before they are published and available to the public. By that time, the market has changed considerably, rendering the prices contained in those guides useless.
This. As Boxeldercoin stated, the grey has several sheets, they have monthy supplements, and quarterlies. The weekly sheet has coins that are popular and commonly traded ie Morgan dollars, Walking Liberty halves, Merc dimes. The gold prices given are for common dates in average condition as a guide. For the exact prices he quoted you will need to get the supplement that has $2.5 gold. And also as stated above, don't expect a dealer to pay you bid for any of your coins. You may have to get a few quotes to get a price you can live with.
My sentiments exactly, I wouldn't lay everything on the line with just one or even two dealers. You seem to have quite a bit of really nice pieces, and obtaining a healthy number of bids from 5-10 dealers should be more than worthwhile for you.
Other than with changes in PM value, the problem with the redbook is not that it's outdated - which implies that at one time, the values were good. The real issue is where the values come from... they have little or no relation to completed sales, and are basically retail estimates. Also, it's worth remembering that for a rather large percentage of coins listed (minus PM values) so-called market changes are nearly non-existent from year to year. OP, In many cases, if a dealer thinks someone is willing to sell better coins based on bluebook, but instead tells you he uses the CDN, chances are he is probably a fair guy. That said, you should still take the time to get a few offers and don't constrain yourself to only B&Ms. You could also try to sell on your own... hit a show, advertise, or even search out non-public dealers. Since the coins are somewhat better, selling at a reasonable price should not be that difficult. Also, and just for future reference, the bluebook is basically worthless on all levels.. at least for anyone other than some dreck/widgets/junk peddlers.
No, they don't. The Grey Sheet doesn't use the average of anything to come up with their prices. And they come up with new prices every week. GS Bid - is the current highest bid being offered by a single dealer on the electronic dealer networks. (those bids can change by the day) GS Ask - is the single lowest asking price by a single dealer on the electronic dealer networks. (those asks can change by the day) Yes it is a guide. But not in the same sense that other guides are guides. Other price guides are nowhere near reality, none of them. The Grey Sheet is reality. It sets/establishes prices that coins are actually bought and sold at every day. The way it is a guide is this - the Grey Sheet prices are based on sight seen coins (and ONLY sight seen coins) that are average for the grade, (the coins can be raw or slabbed). But as everyone knows, or should know, not all coins of any given grade are equal. Some MS64 coins are a lot nicer than others, some are not as nice as others, and some are average. Those that are nicer will sell for a higher price than that listed in the Grey Sheet. Those that are not as nice will sell for less than that listed in the Grey Sheet. And those that are average will sell for same price as that listed in the Grey Sheet. Absolutely nobody that knows anything about coins will buy or sell coins based on any other price guide - besides the Grey Sheet.
Thanks for clearing that up. I was basing it on the "Trends" listings that we have in Canada. I apologize for the misinformation.
