Hello collectors, Very quick question here. Is the PCGS price guide unreliable? While searching for early washington quarters (mainly PCGS) I realized that a large majority of the coins were going for below the value listed on the price guide. I have been using it until now, and all the prices matched around the buying price. Does this only happen to Washington quarters? Thanks.
In general, the newer the coin the less accurate the price guide. PCGS estimates prices based on retail transactions with dealers (think on the floor of a big show) -- not necessarily at auctions like TT or eBay. I am not a collector of Washington quarters, but a type collector, so take the above as IMO and FWIW...Mike
The PCGS Price Guide , like NGC's Price Guide are unreliable . The best pricing reference widely used, is of course The CDN Grey , Green and Blue Sheets , which can be had by subscription and downloaded online, or by mail . Second to that , while a bit time consuming is searching Auction Archives of the major Auction Houses such as Heritage, Stack's , Teletrade etc. If you only collecting " Raw " coins, than you can rely on the Grey sheets .
I've seen coins at a Heritage Auction where the PCGS prices are even above the " Retail " Value listed. AS Lyds suggested , the PCGS Prices are more appropriately used as a value for insurance purposes.
On the positive side, PCGS stands by their price guide numbers. I submitted a 1928 MS64 that I had purchased on the cheap because it was showing PVC poisoning on the obverse. I sent it to PCGS for review/PVC removal but once the PVC was removed (dipped) the coin graded MS63. I was offered the coin back with a cash settlement for the difference or a check for the PCGS price guide value for a '28 in MS64. Needless to say, I took the latter offer and was quite happy with the outcome.
Always take into account the source of a price guide, and how and why its created. This cannot help, if even subconsciously, to affect the values listed. PCGS has a vested interest in keeping people excited about the "investment" aspect of collecting, therefor I believe they would be slower to down price a coin, quicker to up price, and generally published the HIGHEST realizable value. Books like Krause and Redbook usually overprice common items and underprice rarities, since the dealers who compile them need to sell their common pieces and can wish to buy the rarities. This may not be consciously like I say, but usually is the net effect. Just like in life, knowing who says something and how they are related to the topic makes all the difference in the world.
All price guides are just that!! guides, the best way to determine value on any given item is Do your research on sites like heritage and even the bay!
