2005 Marine Corps Commemorative Coin PCGS has the price @ $500..No way!! Help!

500 for a MS70??? I have several of these coins graded MS 70 but there is no way they are worth that much on the market.

I am relatively new to coin collecting and was hoping someone could explain the large difference in their price and market value.

Also, since now I do not trust their grading, what would a MS68 or MS 69 Silver Eagle go for market value???

Is there a more accurate pricing guide that I am missing???

 

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Yes, e-Bay archives. PCGS guides on moderns are a joke.

 

I would put the market value of this coin at MS70 at around 50 bucks. At least that is what I have seen it going for. Would you agree with this???

 

I think the PCGS prices plays into a few things to consider. First, the name.... the PCGS name IMO drives that price up slightly. I always use the Tahoe vs. the Cadalac senerio.... I have taken both of these vehicles apart...The Tahoe has Cadalac parts and the Cadalac has Tahoe parts. Other than a few more bells and whistles on the Caddy, they are essentially the same.... but you pay a heck lot more for the caddy, because of the name - and with that name comes many things, feelings of confidence and richness and so on - all because of the tag.

Second, and I could be completely way off base here..... but the PCGS price guide is based on how many MS70s PCGS has graded vs the other grades. Population figures factor into price all the time. Now I have not seen the PCGS price guide, but I would imagine that the number of MS70s that PCGS has graded in comparison to lets say MS 69s is much less. Therefore, you should see a price gap between the 70 and 69. This same principle goes the same for ASEs. How many MS69 ASEs do you see? TONS. How many MS70s do you see.... much, much less and they are always going for several times more than their 69 counterparts.

Bottomline, it comes down to supply and demand. Collectors are always looking for that perfect coin. With a lower supply of them out there, it drives the price up on the value. Also, IMO, when it is concerning modern comms, a given price determines scarcity or at least coveys that. For example... (This is just made up since I don't have my books in front of me) Lets use the USMC comm as the example. In MS69 the coin may trend at $60, but in MS70 the coin may trend at $500. TO me, the one reason for this huge price gap is because there are less MS70s out there than MS69s. And when it comes to confidence of grade, I would always go with the PCGS coin vs the others.

Now is the question is a PCGS MS70 the same as NGC MS70 or ICG MS70 and so on. As Leadfoot mentioned, just look at the ebay archives.... It doesn't tell the whole story, but does support the idea that PCGS slabbed coins tend to command more than the others.

In the end, they always say that you should buy the coin and not the slab. When I purchase modern comms or other modern coins, I tend to buy MS69. If a MS70 presented for a reasonable price and I liked the coin I would buy it, but truthfully, it is very rare that I can see a difference between a 70 and 69. So why pay the money? This brings me to my last example. I don't drink wine hardly, but my friend got me to try a wine called Caymus. It was fantastic. So when I saw that my local grocery store carried it, I figured I would buy a bottle or two. The price was 60, but trends for 80-100 at most wine shops and restaurants. They also had a bottle of Caymus Select which prices for $150, but trends for $200 or higher at most wine shops and restaurants. That was more expensive so it must be better so I wanted to buy that. Her response was that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Caymus and Caymus select so don't waste my money. I have had both and she was right.

 

That coin tends to run between 40 and 55 ungraded and in mint packaging. It is very collectible with veterans and is given as a gift alot to veterans. I don't have access to PCGS population numbers so I can't tell for sure but there might be low numbers in MS70.

Unless you are building a MS70 modern commem collection that you are going to post on websites and be ranked with other collectors (sorry I'm not into this so I don't know what it's called) you don't need MS70.

Really you don't .

The noticeable difference between MS68 and MS70 is so small that unless you look at the coin under 10X magnification you won't see a difference. I collect all my modern commems (This is my major focus right now, I have more than half of them) in raw condition. I look for coins that have no haze or spotting and believe it or not i also look at the mint packaging and COA to make sure they are in good shape.

 

First, the pcgs price list is usually high (self promoting).
Second, are your coins graded by pcgs or even NGC? That may make a big difference in saleability.

 

Mine are graded by PCGS. I don't intend to sell them, I good friend of mine bought a lot of these and sent them off to be graded. I bought four of the MS70 from him for 150.00. I am going to give three of them to relatives who have been in the Marines and keep one for myself. Just for fun I looked up the price. I knew they were no where near that price and that is what prompted the question.

 

Just bought a really nice proof last month for $42 including tax. Sounds like alot even if it is a MS70.

 

I could only find 1 MS70 pcgs that has sold on ebay and it went for $202.50. Most were MS69.
I would say you did ok.

link click here

 

The NGC Price Guide has the MS70 at $125. Quite a difference.

http://www.numismedia.com/fmv/pricesms/moddlr/prices61.shtml