I'm working on a worldwide set of my birthyear coins. Not high grade, just reasonable. There are some coins that are SO low compared to asking prices on eBay. I'm not interested in paying $5 (plus S&H) for a coin valued at $1.50. And I don't know of any other resource to look at. There are no auction results (except eBay) to look into for such inexpensive coins. How reliable are the prices in KP's catalogs? In this case the 1901-2000 volume.
1901-1960 prices then to be overstated 80 to 100%. After 1960 they are all over the map and often have no bearing on reality at all. They tend to reflect about 75% of wholesale value but they are anywhere from 5% to 1500%. Grading is also problematical since some are graded to our standards and some to European standards.
Kanga, you might find it worthwhile to pay for access to the info found at this website - https://www.acsearch.info/ They used to be free but they have now switched to a pay model to access realized prices. The fee is 85 euros a year, and that may seem like a lot for what you want to do, but given the number of coins you're going after, it's pretty cheap on a per coin basis and what it will save you from over-paying.
GDJMSP, thanks. But with 90% of the coins I'm looking for being under $10 I think 85 Euros is too much. And for the pricier coins I stand a reasonable chance for finding recent sold prices.
OK. But when you consider that there are roughly 200 countries you'll be looking for coins from, if you only saved $1 per coin, it would save you 2 1/2 times what you spent.
Don't you have any coin shows, coin dealers, flea markets in your area that you could search through? Those would be the likeliest places to find less expensive coins.
I've found world coin prices to be very location sensitive. The more "juice" there is for world coins in a venue, the higher the prices, by and large. Local coin show? Cheap, cheap. Major ANA show? Somewhat higher. NYINC? Higher still. Bulk lots at back-country auctions? Often below melt.
