An opinion and some free advice

I agree with all of this and it was more or less my point. When a new collector opens up their "book" it is going to give them hugely inflated ideas of what their coins are worth for various reasons, many of which you listed. Which is then demoralizing to find out it is worth just a percentage of what they thought.

And as I believe Amanda said earlier, the presence of a popular book (Redbook) which newbs follow and no one else does, and the fact that book inflates prices significantly more, it is just not good for anyone.

 

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By the way, welcome to Coin Talk Barfly. It was a little tense at moments but I think you are a survivor.

 

Trial by fire, bring an extinguisher

 

Discovery of disillusionment can be a difficult feeling to overcome.

 

My impression, given what we have read, is that Barfly was mostly fair with his purchase price to the original seller. However, and this appears to be the major sticking point in this thread, my impression, given what we have read and what has been edited out, is that Barfly has seriously over estimated the value of the collection in his attempts to sell the collection. This, in combination with a little bit too much self-assuredness from someone who might not know nearly as much as they think, can cause for significant angst or dealer-hate.

It takes time to learn some things and takes even more time to understand them.

 

I also wonder if he miss-stated his source when he said they used ANACS standards for grading. Perhaps he meant ANA standards for grading; just drop the CS. That should make his grading more acceptable since they are used more by the collector community.

 

This one. This book. The 2012 edition. These were the standards we used to grade my coins. Hope that clears up any confusion.

 

Barfly
Good edition, completely updated section on Buffalos.

I got mine signed by Ken Bressett at the ANA

 

That gives you a leg up on the method used to grade them. That's the ANA standard grading book, not the ANACS grading mentioned in the second paragraph of your opening/first post. (Exclude the "rant" warning.) I began to get confused when the ANA standards were referenced. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

Never let it be said that Doug has strong opinions.

Nah, never happen.

 

Considering the Redbook - the coin store I bought it from told me to ignore the price guide. I like the Redbook for the info it has: dates minted, mintage numbers, designer, weight, composition, brief histories, nice pictures, etc.

 

Never, Doug.

Never.

 

TONS of info that you cannot get anywhere else, at least not without a ton of personal research

 

And the reality is all the books are is a guide they don't take into account die states and varieties on early coins rarity of same color toning eye appeal quality of strike and many other things I will often pay many times book value for a coin with exceptional appeal or rarity books can't put a price on those coins nor can they put an accurate price on total duds either which nobody wants