But not this bad. http://www.greatcollections.com/Coin/169478/Newfoundland-1894-Silver-50-Cents-PCGS-F-15 I stopped at $34, with BP it would of been $39, book value is odd, $32 in F-12 and $80 in VF 20. (One heck of a stretch.) I'm not sure where F-15 would of been at, so I stopped.
I guess the stretch in prices is due to conditional rarity. $80 for VF-20, $260 for EF-40 and $1000 for Au-50. It's a shame guide books don't divide grades up more.
What's the point of dividing up the grades, though? They're guides. They're basically there so you don't go around paying $100 for a F-15 coin, since you can probably get a VF20-VF25 for that price or a little more. You felt the value of a F15 was less than $40, while the eventual winner felt the value was exactly $40. Very simple. Why did you post about this anyway? If you win an auction, great. If you don't win one, because you felt it was overpriced, even better.
I'd be curious to know what guide you are using for your pricing. If it's anything that is not published on a very regular basis (like the greysheet) the prices in it probably aren't accurate. This is true for all coins...not just US coins.
It's only worth what you can get for it. Collect because you enjoy it, not for what you may gain from it.
I agree...but if you are trying to find coins for decent prices, you need to have a decent idea of what the coin is worth. If you think the coin is choice for it's grade or has some special detail you particularly like...of course it is fine to pay a premium. But, I think it's very important to know what a given coin typically sells for before making a purchase. I think this is a nice coin, but the information the OP is using the value the coin is not accurate. My only point was using that resource to come up with a value for this coin is not much better than simply guessing the value using no resource at all. I just want the OP to be cautious of this when making a purchase.
Not a bad looking Vic., hold out for better picked up a 1900-1907-1911 Grade 40-45 $60.00 for all unslabed.
Value is subjective. Consider the "buffoons" that over pay for stuff at coin auctions. I've seen $10 coins bring $35. Did they overpay? Yes they did, but it was worth it to them (or so they think). As far as Camaro said earlier, guides are just that, guides. If a coin is $20 in the guide, it doesn't mean you should pay exactly $20 for it. But it's no big deal if you pay $10 over, or $10 over. Take for instance that 1859 Narrow 9 Canada cent I paid $19.50 for. Guide is only $14.00, but one in a Teletrade auction sold for $38.00 Then take for instance that one coin I only paid $43.11 when guide value is $130. A coin is only worth what your willing to pay for it.
Not quite, a coin is only worth what someone is willing to pay. That said, my point was not to use annual guides to help decide what fair market value is for coins. They are printed far too infrequently and their numbers are already outdated by the time the book hits the shelf. You need to use recent sales prices to find value. With foreign coins, this can be more difficult...but you get a much better idea on what coins are actually selling for.