What is a gray sheet and where can I find one? I live in the country and we ahve no bookstore or magazine shop other than Walmart or the drug store and they don't cerry any coin books the library has a 2000 redbook and a 2005 bluebook and thats it for reference material. I'm sure there's a coin shop in Tyler but that's 45 miles away and when I go it's after work so places like are close by 5:30 or 6:00. I know I can google it I just want to make sure I know what to look for when I do Thanks
Here you go: www.greysheet.com/ If you click on "special offers" you can purchase a sample pack for $17.75.
The CDN Graysheet is a compilation of dealer-to-dealer Bid/Ask prices for specific types of coins. The regular weekly issues cover types like Morgan & Peace dollars, Silver Eagle bullion, Mint & Proof sets and a smattering of others. It can provide a decent baseline for the collector to determine their own buy/sell limits, but keep in mind that it is still just a guide. Chris
Just out of curiousity, is the Bid price what they sell to other dealers at and the Ask price is roughly a retail price?
The Greysheet has become more and more disconnected from real transactions in many series over the years, in my opinion. As such, I recently cancelled my subscription after being a subscriber for more than two decades.
I could agree more. The prices in them are so out of the swing of actual transactions, it is crazy. I would love to actually buy coins at grey sheet price. Even for resale, it has become nearly impossible. Also, they, like others, such as redbook and bluebook, do not take into account of things such as overall eye appeal and toning. This has become a HUGE market swing. You almost have to follow what coins sell for what amount to determine the real value of a coin. A coin is only worth what someone will pay for it.
You could get a current version of the RedBook & BlueBook at https://www.whitman.com/store/Inventory/Browse/Whitman-Books
Just curious Tom, but could your perspective possibly be because you don't really deal with Grey Sheet coins ? Now what I mean by that is - the Grey Sheet lists values for coins that are average for the grade. And to a large degree you don't really deal with coins that are average for the grade, but instead with coins that are exceptional for the grade. That in itself would establish the disconnect - would it not ?
That is an excellent question/observation. In the case of MS and PR coinage your points are definitely true and I ave long realized it. The problems I have with the Greysheet are in circulated Seated and Barber coinage where a non- key date VF20 quarter may cost two or three times wat Greysheet has for a price. Those types of cases really serve to undermine the publication and they are not rare events.
I just purchased a single issue grey sheet to see what it's all about. Can someone please answer my earlier question about the bid vs ask? Is the bid price the dealer to dealer price and ask is retail or something different? Because those prices seem freakishly low if ask is the retail price. I know dealers need to make a margin and that's expected but if I could find coins close to those prices I'd be shocked. Granted those are raw and not slabbed prices by my understanding but still. Any help appreciated. Heck, when I look at the bid price of low end(VF) gold it only covers spot by about $20 in some examples of common dates.
Yeah, wouldn't argue the point. But the Grey Sheet is still valid to a degree for the Ask listed is for a coin that can be found at that price or the Ask wouldn't be there. Now the question remains is the coin listed at a given Ask truly as it is described ? Or rather, is the coin accurately graded, whether it be by a TPG or the dealer offering it if raw. Again, you're a discriminating collector/dealer, so you may well not agree with the assigned grade on the coin listed at the Ask. Instead, you would only consider coins that you feel are correctly graded regardless of what the plastic says, or the dealer says. So again that explains why you (or anybody else like you) have to pay more for a given coin. Would you not agree ? Same kinda thing in other words.
The Bid/Ask is pretty simple. There are several electronic dealer networks that many, if not most, of the dealers belong to and use. The Grey Sheet pulls the prices they list in their publications from those electronic networks. The way they work is this - a bunch of dealers will list coins they have for sale and they will list their own asking price - the Ask. Other dealers will be wanting to buy given coins and they will list their offering prices - the Bid. What the Grey Sheet does is go through all of the coins listed (the Asks), and all of the offers listed (the Bids) and they pick out the lowest individual Ask for any given coin, and they pick the highest individual Bid for any given coin - and those numbers are then what they, the Grey Sheet, publishes. Now that said, the prices listed in the Grey Sheet are for raw coins, and for slabbed coins. It doesn't matter if the coin is slabbed or not, it is worth same amount - contrary to what many people think. And, the prices listed are only, repeat only, for "sight seen" coins, meaning coins that are viewed in hand. And yes, you can find the coins listed at those prices or else they not be listed to begin with. And yes, you as a private individual/collector can join and make use of some of the electronic dealer networks so that you can buy or sell, at the same prices, just like the dealers do. But you have to pay the annual fees just like the dealers do. As for your comment about gold, common date/mint gold coins graded as high as MS63 are usually sold for a small premium (about 10%) over spot. This happens every single day, all day. So of course it is also true for any coins graded lower than that.
