I have been out of coin collecting for and was wondering where you guys go to check prices. I would like to see if any of my collections have changed in value Thanks guys Greg
There are a few price guides out there. I guess I like www.numismedia.com-fmv-fmv Seems to work well for me. Hope this helps.
There are many ways to look at updated prices. 1. Get a Red book 2. PCGS priceguide 3. numismedia And many others. Have fun. I bet some did well and some did not
Ok. I struggle at times with links and copy and paste and all that so try this. You'll probably have to type it in manually. www.numismedia.com/fmv
Depends on the coin... Classic collector coins, key dates, etc. -> Heritage Other sources, moderns in particular -> eBay and Teletrade Old copper -> Copper Quotes by Robinson (CQR) Coinfacts is also a wonderful source for pricing info.
Greg - Regardless of where you look you are going to find numbers all over the place. There can be any of several reasons for this. But one of the most common reasons is that a lot of price guides simply over-value their listings. In other words their listed prices are too high. But you need to always be aware of something else, any given coin in any given grade will never be worth any set amount. That is because all coins are unique and two coins of the same grade (even when graded by the same TPG) are equal. For example, if you use the link provided for Numismedia and you look up a 1878-CC Morgan in MS65, they list the value at $1750. But, if you look up the same coin on Heritage, that same coin sold in the last 30 to 60 days for anywhere from $1200 to $1500. Now Heritage is the real world, those are actual realized sale prices. Numismedia on the other hand bases their values on dealer asking prices. But as you can see there is a pretty large variance in prices on Heritage. And if you look even further you can even find some examples of that 1878-CC MS65 that have sold for over $4000. But those coins had attractive toning. What I am trying to point out to you is that there is never a set price or value for any coin because every coin is unique. Instead of a price there is typically a "price range" that most coins will fall into. And about the only places you can see these price ranges are in realized auction prices. But there is a danger in doing that too. For you can't just look at any realized auction prices. You have to check prices where educated buyers typically buy their coins. In other words places like ebay are not where you want to look. Places like Heritage are where you want to look. People also have to keep in mind that when you are looking up values for your coins, it is comparatively easy with slabbed coins. But when your coins are raw, unless you are very good at grading, things get a lot tougher because what you think is a 65, may not be what a TPG thinks is a 65. And even with the slabbed coins, you have to be able to judge the coins within the slab because the TPGs have a pretty wide range of what defines a 65 themselves. Of course that is why there is a price range to begin with - because some 65s are nicer than other 65s.
I have a real hard time finding latest hammer prices for raw toned Jefferson nickels at Heritage or teletrade....
I saw this (your recent post, elsewhere) so presume we're NOT talking 'valuable rarities' in your collections unless specifically informed otherwise. Beyond HA and 'serious auctions' (not germane) look for a ballpark retail price (not value) for common stuff here: http://www.pcgs.com/prices/default.aspx FeeBay is also fine for your needs. Look at completed auctions only for bigger coin vendors to see what someone professional is willing to sell it for: same-same, average 3-6 recent sales. IGNORE BIN altogether. Avg price (NET -13%) of feeBay is close to 'market value' for junk but NOT what a dealer's willing to pay you, either. I haven't seen anyone quantify Joe Collector's haircut, the real-world value realized at the LCS versus make-believe worth of "numismatic value" online. OF COURSE 'no one can say' (lame excuse) but what's a typical, ballpark offer to an unknown walk-in: ~-35% less than mkt? They don't overpay, either. If common-date UNC Morgans BUY at so-called "melt" in Boston, "numismatic value" is ALOT lower than many presume. You might get full intrinsic value for cull Morgans and other junk, if you're lucky. Also assume you can realize better prices here (and collector sites like CT) or CL - 'so they say' - if you're testing the waters. Please let us know what you find in person, too. And there's my admittedly unprofessional two cents.
I usually open my 1971 Redbook for up-to-date prices, or if I really want up to the minute prices, I'll use the 1982. But it really is a pain Redbook jumping.
Also when two people agree on a willing purchase that becomes the value on the transaction..At that point you can throw out all the price guides and results...
On another thread the Poster "Definer" wrote of price-guides: http://www.cointalk.com/t219331-5/#post1602308 "I only use them as an upper end when buying and rarely will I pay more than about 60-70% of the guide prices when buying.Given your remarks I now have to ask what sets the 'market price' for a particular coin if these guides can't be trusted to be at least somewhat accurate. I do notice that the NGC registry does seem to give lower values to the PCGS coins than does PCGS. I have always taken that as a "marketing gimmick." That seems sensible to me and reasonably close to the abstract 'what is my collection worth' : figure ~30-40% LESS than published price-guides for coin values. What you'll GET (selling) of course, is something different: the agreed price between you and any Buyer at point-of-sale. No one can say for sure how that will play out, but it's also a totally seperate topic IMO.
I disagree. You or I (or some elite group) do not, actually, set anything. Market-price exists, though unknown and constantly changing: it's the weighted average of aggregate sales for a given item on any given day/week/month/ etc. Averaging 'eBay Net 13%' is a fine (though imperfect) metric, and close to retail trade: not exactly the same, but why quibble? Close enough, and not an outlier. Retail premiums have fallen into line, for the most part and old skool coin shop hucksters have withered & died as a result of instant information access in the internet age. The real danger, however, is in seeing a high- or low-price aberration and imagining oh that's the market. No, the one exceptional coin that sets a high price isn't the market; I think HA can be an especially poor metric in this regard. The OP said he collects junk silver; that 'market price' is effectively established by the biggest bullion coin buyers' BIDs in aggregate, I should think. (Yes, they are educated too!) Is there a list of those firms by size/sales, available? Thanks.