Hey everyone, Im looking at a coin to purchase on ebay and in the 2007 red book the price on this coin at a ms 65 state is $12. In the 2008 blue book it is $6.50 In the latest issue of Coin Values it is listed at $20 for MS65 and $50 for MS66. The coin in particular is graded at ms66. Whats the deal with the price differences? I understand the spread from blue book to red book, but why is CoinValues magazine pricing it so high? Thanks Jim
anyone have any ideas, the auction is over in 12 minutes! I have a chance to pick it up at under 15 bucks. Is coinValues magazine usually correct in their prices? Thanks Jim
anyone? sorry, wouldnt be this aggressive, but Im pressed for time here, I think I can get a good deal, 5 minutes left!! Jim
It would have been nice to know what the coin was, then I could have looked it up on heritage. It only takes a couple of minutes.
jim: You have to remember that the red books are priced ahead of publication. The Coin Values (from Coin World) are more current, usually only two months ahead of coverdate. the grey sheets are most current, less than a few weeks old.
Common sources for pricing coins: 1. Red Book - forget it; printed once a year, so there's no way the prices can be realistic. Just look at the price of precious metals over the last year; no way that could have been factored in. Use it for IDing coins and relative value. 2. Coin Values - Now you're getting closer to the truth. At least you're getting a monthly update about the retail value of coins. 3. CDN - Closer yet. Now you're at the weekly updated level for the wholesale value of coins. (NOTE: As Treashunt mentioned there's still a publication delay. And values aren't changed unless there's enough transactions to show a change. IMO that's why Coin Values and CDN are often way out of wack, even considering wholesale vs. retail.) 4. eBay - You want to know what people are paying now, check eBay's complete auctions. Of course you have to account for in the "noobie" factor. 5. Other Auction Results - If you can access them, you probably can't get much better info than that. Problem is they are limited to mid- and high-priced coins. The 1964-D MS-66 coin just won't be there.
Okay - on heritage the last 2 PCGS graded coins went for between 45 and 57. Before that the 3 NGC graded coins went at between 16 to 25. So if you won the auction between 20-30 I would say you did okay. I am not sure what is up with the two PCGS graded coins - I did not look to see if they were some variety or other. They were nice looking coins.
Jim if you don't understand how prices in guides can be so different, as well as inaccurate, and at the same time are trying to buy coins because they seem like they might be good deals, you are almost certain to end up with bad deals, instead. Take your time, do some reading/studying/learning and AFTER you have the knowledge, buy coins because they appeal to you, not because they might be cheap. Otherwise you will almost certainly end up with not-so-nice coins that you paid too much for in your pursuit of bargains. I don't expect that you will like what I said, or me for saying it, but I hope you will listen anyway.
coin prices i used cdn newsletters, numismatic news monthly prices, and some big internet discount coin sites as a guide. furthermore. i check if i like the coin and afford to buy it too. that's simple. never use coin value or coin prices or standard catalog of world coins. coin value prices are too high. other two were simply too late or too old.
