I am in the process of culling out my collection in hopes of reducing it down to some select pieces. My question is this: what do I use as a guide to guage a fair price to pay for any given piece? I mean there are so many price guides, realized auction prices, etc., that I'm beginning to not know what's fair or what's priced too high. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.
ALF: First it would depend upon the conis that you are interested in buying. For truly rare or scarce coins, the market will determine the price. For example, at the last ANA, in Milwaukee, I saw a 1892 O micro O half dollar, PCGS G-4. I couldn't wait to examine it. In fact it was an AG-3 (at best) with obverse scratches. It trends for $2,000 in G-4 and they were asking $5,000. With about 12 known all grades, trends is useless. As for other dates, keys will always go for closer to trends, unless you develope a good relationship with a dealer. I try to pay bid, and no more than ask for most pieces. This weekend I was VERY lucky to get a 1913 Barber half in VF for $225 vs a bid of $305. That kind of deal doesn't come along very often. But, I buy a lot from this guy. So, to answer your question, any guide is good as long as you learn to use it properly, except don't use the Red Book, prices are too out of date for today's market.
