where do they come from? They are way too high compared to what collectors can buy coins for, infact most of the CDN bids are too high.
NGC uses Numismedia pricing. http://www.numismedia.com/ I have no idea where PCGS gets their pricing information.
For me the only sources of data that really mean much are completed sales from Ebay and Heritage. The true monetary value of any coin is what you can turn around and sell it for, and those sites will tell you that.
For lower end material yes, there are a lot of areas though where they're to low for nice material. There is usually a reason why something would sell below every price guide
They are just two of the factors I use in pricing a potential purchase. Auctions are the best tool. Others may disagree but I find NGC usually runs a bit higher than PCGS.
PCGS uses the same data as everyone else - real-world sales results - and then increases the prices until their egos are satisfied.
The 2014 P and D Kennedy set is all over the place. In sp 67 they are selling between 15 and 400 dollars. completed sold listings are all over the place. same for the Kennedy PCGS 70 birth set coin. NGC sells a 70 for 50 bucks. While PCGS sell the same coin same grade for over 130
But my point, and I am sure some will agree with me, same coin, same grade, a big difference in price. Therefore, you're only paying for the name. Take a look at completed sales for the 2016 Kennedy birth set proof between NGC and PCGS. PCGS beats them hands down as far as sales go. I'll go with the highest most recent sales on ebay. NGC 46.00 PCGS 142.49. To me paying an extra 96.49 for a label is nutty. This is why it's really important to buy the coin, not the slab, JMO.
Haven't you hit the nail on the head Silverhouse ? You would want to buy the coin at $46.00 and would love to sell it at $142.49 ? I still question which group, if any, to go with, to look at their assessment of any piece, and the grade they give it, and make the correct decision on whether to purchase or not. But what about 'greysheet' ? So many factors and yes as some say I even look at eBay, Heritage and the like in the decision making. After a while everything becomes foggy and at times poor choices are made, or so we think. I still do that but it's because I want that coin because I like the way it looks TO ME !
Instead of worrying about price guides and which one is right and which one is wrong, why not use a source that let's you see all of them in one convenient place at the same time - Heritage.
NGC bases theirs on Numismedia, but they do also have their own market analyst that compiles sales and adjusts the price. The NGC price guide (when it first started) was a direct port of Numismedia, now they are different. The sales of one company or another may be stronger or weaker depending on the series, quality, or date. There are trends in certain areas, which have been discussed at length. The topic here is the actual price guide (not the sales trends). The PCGS price guide on their website explicitly says that it is only for PCGS graded coins (continuing their marketing strategy of perceived exclusivity). In order to build market hype, their price guide is often optimistic, in my experience. The NGC price guide is better. But remember that these are both still retail price guides. Most of us try to get somewhere in between dealer/wholesale prices and retail.
For me,I would have to say for the most part PCGS commands the highest resale,with NGC slightly lower. Depending on pop reports and supply & demand. Example; If PCGS grades "50" 70's of a certain coin & NGC grades only "10" 70's then of course the NGC coin would cost more $$. Also, I have a silver eagle collection from 1986 to 2016 all NGC, I wouldn't even consider a PCGS graded one for the next issue, even if i have to pay up for it. Because i want the set to match.This is where the "buy the coin not the holder" loses it's meaning.If you can deal with a mismatched set,then buy the cheapest.
Now that it's free, I find myself using PCGS CoinFacts more and more. It shows their retail pricing alongside auction prices. If I'm looking at Heritage lots, I use their records. If you see wide fluctuations in prices, look at the actual coins when possible to see if you can figure out why the big swings -- great luster, nice toning, ugly toning, weak strike, spots, etc.
I use Numismatic News. It's updated monthly. Seems to be in the general area. Anyone else seen it, use it? Thanks!
I primarily use Heritage Auctions for price guidance. Within the last 6 months or so, they added a Heritage Value Index to their pricing tables. I rely on that as my guide most of the time.
The one downfall to CoinFacts is that I find that I have a hard time doing anything but drooling over all the pictures of the amazing coins on there
