I got a Fr. 2004K Lime Seal $10 today. I look in one book and it has a value of $90 for a UNC 63, I look in another and the value is $275. How do you determine a bills value thus what is a fair price to pay?
How much did you pay for it? That's a more accurate gauge of market value than any book. Now look at what others are paying in completed auctions on Heritage, eBay, and using the Track and Price database (only marginally useful for small notes). For the record, you can get the note you posted in the new pickup thread for around $80 on theBay and Heritage. So the $90 is not far off...
The values in any guide book are usually the opinion of the author. In Uncirculated 63 I show the following values: A Guide Book of United States Paper Money : $250 United States Currency : $225. But the market dictates the value at any given time. Here's a screenshot of the most recent sales in the Track & Price database for this note in 63 grade.
Looking at the auction data it appears there has been a noticable drop in the value of this bill at auction. The one source I look at seems to vary price considerable by reserve bank the other seems to just lump them all together. Judging by recent auction data I definitely overpaid. It is sort of frustrating when you use a resource to try to determine the range for a fair price and really can't. A bit discouraging actually. I will probably keep the bill as a reminder of how easy it is to overpay. But unless I can find better resources for determining value of bills I might not really be cut out for collecting currency.
I don't know anyone who never paid more than the minimum for a note. Frankly, even if you paid $200 for this note, that's an extraordinarily inexpensive lesson in this hobby. And keep in mind, some day you will stumble onto a great deal, and probably offset what you feel you overpaid with what you underpaid. I know I did - example, got a nice choice fine Chief for $275 a year ago. That is insanely undervalued. You'll stumble into something as well. The key is to do a little research with *real* market results, again by looking at auction results at eBay, Heritage, and using T&P, as in funkee's screen cap. Hey, my 63 is in the list, third one in the PMG holder! As you can see I drive a hard bargain...
Well at least I paid under $200 and negotiated 10% off the asking price. I would be less frustrated if this was one of the bills I am really looking for. In this case I bought it because I thought it was a deal.
Frankly, $150 isn't BAD for this note. It's a nice 64 - there's one on theBay now with offset third printing that is not as nice as yours. You didn't get a "deal" - but you got a nice note at a reasonable price it sounds like.
Thanks. I will try to keep that in mind. I am also going to try to focus on the bills I really want which will minimize any disappointment over price.
