I'm looking to buy a 1878 MS6x Morgan CC. I've noticed that all other mints and sometimes other year CC are pretty much inline with the Numismedia, PCGS and NGC price guides but the '78 CC is $100 sometimes $200 more than the price guides. Why is that? If it's that desirable don't the pricing guides take that into account and price it accordingly?
Because the price guide is a guide. It's not the law of the land. And all coins are different. Without specifics, you won't get many other answers than this.
I get it's a guide but I've always read that price guides are too generous on their pricing and to expect to buy lower than the pricing. I can't tell you how many threads I've read where someone says I looked "X" coin up on PCGS / NGC and it says it's worth $100. First comments are don't expect to get that, they over price. If someone can shed some light on the 1878 CC Morgan...what makes it price so differently compared to other year CC Morgan's?
All price guides are basically approximations, at best. Depending on what sources they use, two different price guides can give wildly different prices for the same coin in the same grade. And, no matter what price guide you consult, you might have to pay more for a coin with superior eye appeal or one which nearly reaches the next grade up. Conversely, you might be able to pay less for a coin with negative eye appeal or which might be overgraded.
Over time grading companies seem to have gotten more lenient with grading which is probably why people say to not expect to get the price guide price. Maybe the coins that sold were just very nice ones. Maybe they were toned in such a way that someone wanted them especially much. There could be a bajillion reasons.
If you want to buy one, you'll be competing with other buyers who want one too. Your only "price guide" is what they're paying for them. For your coin, this information is pretty readily available at PCGS' Auction Prices site: http://www.pcgs.com/auctionprices/default.aspx Almost 10,000 1878-CC sales, in all grades, going back 25 years. Use that data to compare against Ebay auction results (should be an education about the relative intelligence of many Ebay buyers ), and as a guideline when you search non-auction dealer sites. If the dealer is asking significantly more or less than these sales averages (they know where to find this information too), you then need to find out why they're asking the price. Perhaps the coin is a "dog" at the grade, or perhaps a real winner which ought to be a grade higher. But either way, your peer buyers are the only ones who have a vested interest in paying low prices, and they are your competition. Everyone who publishes a "price guide" has the opposite vested interest, in high prices, so they either inflate the value of their slabs (TPG's) or get the advertising/support dollars from dealers.
I'm not sure where you're looking, but on eBay, MS63 graded 1878-CC Morgans with nothing special going on (GSA, toning, etc.) seem to be going for between $400 and $575. PCGS says $475-500, so I'd say it's accurate in this instance.
