How do you price graded coins flagged as 'Details'?

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by bernard55, Mar 20, 2023.

  1. Tall Paul

    Tall Paul Supporter! Supporter

    This my only detail coin. PCGS graded as "Genuine-G Details (95-Scratch)." A 1795 Half Dime that actually looks better in hand than the photo would indicate. As a rule I avoid detail coins, but I obviously made an exception in this case. The hard and fast rules I follow are to avoid coins with fingerprints and copper coins with verdigris.

    [​IMG]
     
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  3. samclemens3991

    samclemens3991 Well-Known Member

    I would have to have seen the coin to determine whether I would add or subtract, but to the best of my knowledge the CDN does not offer a price guide on such an esoteric item.
    Therefore, I don't think such a thinly traded item fits my approach(Which also relies on current auction results).
     
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  4. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    It's hard to say. It's hard to know how many potential buyers will turn away if they look at your asking price and say "nah, he'd never come down to what I want", without even making an offer.

    You can also periodically bump down your BIN price; I've done that in the past as well. You still potentially lose the people who saw it the first time and dismissed it, but I usually got some people watching the initial listing, and anybody who's watching a listing gets email from eBay when the price drops.

    In addition to the "how long are you willing to wait" question, there's one other: how much regret will you have if you list the coin and it sells at asking price right away? In that situation, you can be pretty sure you could've gotten more for the coin. If that doesn't bother you... well, that's a healthy attitude that will earn you a longer and happier life. :)
     
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  5. charley

    charley Well-Known Member


    When will it be recognized that the "X" graffiti was made for the purpose of testing to confirm the metal, and is as historical as the coin? It was not made by Thaddeus or Theodore in the children's' quiet time parlor while left unattended by the nanny in the Master's Mansion.
     
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  6. bernard55

    bernard55 Active Member

    I decided to list it 2 grades lower than PCGS and see how things play out... Will update if / when it sells and for what price.
     
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  7. bernard55

    bernard55 Active Member

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  8. charley

    charley Well-Known Member

    I don't cookie consent. However, I know about the article.
    The point is missed. One of the most historic coins is graded as a 65, with a prominent metal test X.
     
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  9. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    For me, "today". Thanks for the shed light!
     
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  10. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    Live a little, and open it in a private window. They can stuff all the cookies they want into your browser, and they'll be dumped as soon as you close the window.
     
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  11. charley

    charley Well-Known Member

    I get it sent..
     
  12. Jaelus

    Jaelus The Hungarian Antiquarian Supporter

    I don't have many details coins, but in certain situations I do buy them:
    1. It's an expensive type that I don't think is worth the money, but a details coin with good eye appeal is available within my budget (VF/XF details for early US type for example)
    2. It's a unique or virtually unique error or pattern coin that is not otherwise available (problem free examples do not exist)
    3. It's an extremely rare issue and problem free examples are never on the market (better to have a details example than no example)
    4. It's more common emergency/revolutionary coinage but some form of corrosion and/or delamination is par for the course (plentiful but virtually no problem free examples exist)
    Outside of those situations I don't find details coins have any interest to me.

    Also, all problems do not affect the price equally. A light cleaning for the above scenarios I don't mind, so long as the coin has good eye appeal. I find also that "details damaged" can also be a great looking coin, depending on what the damage is. Harsh cleaning or holed coins I generally don't have interest in, except for situation 2 above.

    I suspect a lot of collectors purchase details coins in a similar way to what I'm describing. There is absolutely no hard and fast rule regarding pricing for a details coin. For example, if it's a common issue or one where problem free examples are inexpensive, a details coin likely has no numismatic value whatsoever.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2023
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  13. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    By which I assume you mean "above face value or melt value".

    I bought a lot of metal-detected and wire-brushed Mercs a few years back. Most were common dates, but one was a 1926-S that had probably been XF before it was scrubbed. I sold that one for more than the cost of the lot, but IIRC I got full melt for the rest of them.

    One exception: holed silver coins generally sell for less than melt. Buyers know they don't have the full weight of silver, and they err on the side of underestimating what's left.
     
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  14. bernard55

    bernard55 Active Member

    this is for a 1909-s vdb from PCGS data (many things not considered such as Red/Brown/RB and nuance of MS grade). Did it to start thinking about how to price some of these...

    upload_2023-3-23_14-34-38.png
     
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  15. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    It's a shame spreadsheet programs don't understand how to sort by letter grade.
     
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  16. bernard55

    bernard55 Active Member

    I have not worked up a great deal of data yet (working on it) but I'm starting to come to a conclusion that the right way to go about pricing all my 'detailed' coins for sale is to take the normalized minimum price from the auction history of full grades (for example: find the normalized minimum prices for all VF20's that sold over the last 2 years if I'm trying to value a VF Details coin) and if the coin we are trying to value is 'cleaned' subtract 20%... and if it's 'damaged' subtract 30%. That's for a coin that does not have excessive cleaning/damage (none of mine do...).

    There is probably a market for 'details' pricing data. Too bad PCGS/CPG/NGC don't offer it... it's probably why 'detailed' coins are so hard to sell. If they offered this pricing it might help keep bad actors from breaking these coins out of holders and selling them raw on proxibid/liveauctioneers/hibid etc..
     
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