Hey everyone, I've always been interested in coin collecting, and have finally decided to dive in head first I'm doing my research, and I'm confused about coin prices. I picked up the red book and the prices I see in there for, say, a ms 65 or a proof are not even close to the prices I see that online dealers want for these coins. For example, thinking I'd start out relatively simply, I was looking at modern Licoln pennies. Red book value is 20 cents for most of these in MS 65, and about 3 - 4 bucks for proof. I've seen a lot of online dealers listing prices 4 to 5 times these amounts! Why the difference? Is the Red Book just not an accurate assessment or is there something more to these coins that the dealers are offering? Thanks, A newbie coin collector
Welcome to the forum. There is a thread here on the this forum about the Red Book. While it is a great starting referrence guide, the values listed are not accurate. They should only be used as a starting point. Coin Values change very often. The Red Book is only published once per year. There really is no set price values listed anywhere for retail pricing. The best alternatives are auction prices realized, and searching numerous dealer listings. You must remember that any price guide is just that. A guide.
Welcome! There are also periodicals that have pricing guides listed in them. As ND said, these guides are mearly the opinions and the market results observed by the publisher, and should be taken as a general measurement - not a scientific precise value that is followed throughout the hobby. There is one source that is most widely used, and that is the CDN "Greysheet". It is expensive for a newbie, but once you're too deep to live without weekly updates to the market, you may want to give it a shot. Even the CDN values have to be taken with a grain of salt. Dealers use these prices as a starting point and then branch off into their specific business practices. One other little problem. Two coins, same grade, year, mint and type can be worth different values based on their eye appeal, condition, etc.
BDT13, welcome! In addition to the good advice provided above, you should consider the simple fact that most dealers are running a business. An modern coin may be worth 20 cents, but the dealer has to place it in a 2 x 2 holder for sale - which costs the dealer time and money. There option is too offer it at higher than the supposed retail, or not to offer it at all. I many cases they choose to take the time to make these coins available, and I believe most collectors are glad for this fact.
Welcome to the hobby! I'd recommend a few things before you start buying coins. First, I'd learn how to grade and learn where to find some of the best sources for price data. As others have said, there's a certain amount of overhead built into the cost of each coin that a dealer has to recover -- the legwork in buying it, putting it in a holder, making space for it in their inventory (which can sometimes take away from a space that a more valuable coin with more profit potential would occupy), and all that. Thus it wouldn't be unusual to pay 50 cents to a dollar for a coin you might be able to find in change or in a roll somewhere. For that reason, you might want to check with the bank where you do business and start going through rolls. Unless you happen to get a roll of new coins, you will have to wade through many of them to find an occasional gem in there. But that's part of the fun of collecting for many of us -- the "thrill of the hunt." And if you can find a few really nice ones for your collection, your cost for that coin is...one cent. If you find duplicates of really nice ones, see if you can network with other like-minded collectors and arrange a swap. This is especially important when you live in an area where you usually only receive P-mint change or only D-mint change; collectors can really help each other out that way. The most important thing is to learn a little about grading and about the market before diving in "head first" and buying from dealers, from eBay or anywhere else. For the modern stuff with little numismatic value, it's not cost-effective for dealers to carry these coins at or near the printed prices -- but when you can't find that one elusive piece anywhere in change, through swap networks or anywhere else -- it's nice to have the option to pay a bit more and get that hole filled. And most importantly -- have fun! If you educate yourself, your chances of having fun are greatly increased, especially since you'll reduce your chances of getting ripped off.
Some other options for the new collector; Look for some local coin shows in your area. This will allow you to see many coins at one time. If you look through the FAQ section here on the forum, you will find links to the shows. Buy yourself some books on the hobby. Knowledge is the cheapest part of this hobby. Learning the in's and out's takes time, but will only benefit you in the long run. Learn which grading companies to use, and where to buy your coins. Learn the basics in grading, and prices. All of these things take time. While it takes a lot of effort to become familiar with the many aspects of numismatics, the rewards are worth it. This is the greatest hobby in the world, and filled with the greatest people.
There is also something much more to the moderns than the price guides or even the dealers sell lists can show you. Slabbed coins generally start at at least a few dollars because of the high cost of having them slabbed. The Red Book has never made any attempt to accurately reflect the value of moderns. Dealers selling raw coins as gems are quite often overgrading even with the moderns. Many of the later date Lincolns are actually pretty tough to locate in MS-65. Once they are found it will cost $10 to slab them and the market value tends to be even lower so it's not cost effective. This causes dealers to seek the coins raw and to often sell choice coins as gems. Even with these lower grades it is sometimes cheaper for the collector to just go ahead and buy the slabbed coins. The best way is to get out and look for the coins yourself. You can find nice gems with a little effort and they'll often be quite cheap. A few years ago there were huge numbers of moderns that could be sold wholesale as MS-60's for less than the Red Book value in gem!!! In a few cases these were coins which were scarce in gem!!! Use a different price guide for moderns.
Welcome to the forum, and to the hobby BDT13. You've gotten some very good advice, but please allow me to put in a plug for world coin collecting. Almost 49,000 different coins are illustrated in the current edition of the Krause & Mishler Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-Present, on 2,280 pages. Of those, only a little over 200, on 35 pages, are U.S. issues. There are hundreds of fantastically beautiful world coins and literally thousands with historical significance. The best part (unless you are a multi-state lottery winner) is that there are many high grade world coins available at a small fraction of the cost of comparable U.S. issues. Check your local library - it probably has a Krause, and maybe some of the volumes covering the 17th-19th Centuries as well. I consider the two most important maxims of coin collecting to be: Buy what you enjoy collecting , and Buy the book before the coin. Also remember, it's fine to consider the potential resale value of what you collect, but if you make that the linchpin of your collecting, you're an investor, with all the risks and benefits that implies, not a collector.
