Last time I was in the coin shop I usually go to I was just looking around and saw they had two really nice looking 1928 Peace Dollars. That was probably 3 months ago, and since then I've been thinking it'd be really nice to own one of them. So within the past day or two I have decided I am going to buy one the next chance I can get there. They have them labeled as BU and Choice BU. The BU one they had priced at $485 and the Choice BU they had priced at $520. I will probably buy the one they have labeled as Choice BU, but I don't know anything about grading Peace Dollars on my own and when I go in to buy it I would really like to grade it myself and then determine whether or not $520 is a fair price for it or if I should try to get it for less, and if so, how much less would be reasonable. So... Does anyone know of any good online resources I can look at to get a feel for how to grade them myself? Or if anyone has any tips to give me that would be awesome too.
I don't know if it will help much but it's better than nothing - http://www.pcgs.com/photograde/ However, if those coins were there 3 months ago it's not too likely they are still there. And if by some chance they are still there then the odds are you don't want them. For if they have been sitting for 3 months then they are either over-priced for the grades they actually are, and/or they are over-graded. Otherwise somebody would have scooped them up by now. Key dates don't sit around.
I too have had a difficult time grading peace dollars myself. What I like to do is study already slabbed peace dollars to get an idea of what to look for. The link about helps me too. I would be hesitant at those prices (a lot for me) to buy those based on what the guy trying to sell them for (and make the most money he can) unless I was absolutely sure that they would grade around what they are being sold for. GDJMSP, that is a good point about key dates not sitting around long.
