Recently started paper money collecting before buying the book!!!! Worried that I didn't do the homework... well now that the book has come; how realistic are the prices in A Guide Book to US Paper Money? It seems to me that the paper money certified is selling for significantly more than the book values. For instance the note in the link sold for 216.50 with shipping and the book lists this note at $125. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rt=nc&nma=true&item=260708626329&si=G3mQTqd0Rxd1eQFHqOCUdXTjcg0%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEDWX%3AIT#ht_11412wt_1141 What is the reasoning for this? I every sold note I have looked at has sold for more than the "Red Book" price.
Watch out most prices are out of date by the time the book comes out! try the greensheet or banknote reporter both guides come at once a month
On eBay it's hard to rationalize why things sell for what they do... recently it may have been holiday shoppers or people with Christmas money to burn on impulse purchases... or it could be bidding wars between bidders, informed or uninformed at market values for a given series. Best to watch Heritage Auctions for Currency and check out their auction archives for recently realized prices, completed eBay auctions are okay to check out but understand how skewed they may be and Monday Currency Auctions on Teletrade are another market price indicator to go by. There are a bevy of online currency dealers selling currency you can check out listings on their individual web sites for notes. Coin World's publication Paper Money Values is updated frequently and you could subscribe to the CDN Grey Sheet for dealer-to-dealer currency prices.
Book prices are generally what they are when the book is being released after that depending On what kind of notes or coins your talking about values can go up or down!
While melt does not have to do with paper money, it just shows that like continual changes silver coins go through, paper money does as well. Banknote reporter is the best resource, but a newer edition of a paper money guide is a great resource to start with. This will give price comparisons for most grades from F or VF up to CHCU and have large size, small size, mpc, and other types of notes in there that most collectors run across.
