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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;omahaorange, post: 1473331, member: 28199&quot;]Coin prices are generally market-driven, supply and demand. My first thought would be that the coins you are currently collecting are not in high demand, so book value verses market value is irrelevant. It&#039;s what people are willing to pay that sets the price. If nobody really wants a particular coin, then it will probably be cheap. If everyone wants it, the price goes up.</p><p><br /></p><p>Like others have said, research is the key to buying smart. I recommend the <b><i>Red Book </i></b>but only for information, not for the pricing. Guides are just that, guides. Nothing is set in stone. There is no &quot;manufacturer&#039;s suggested retail price&quot; for coins. Again, it&#039;s market-driven.</p><p><br /></p><p>But I also sense you&#039;re not merely questioning the prices in the guides as they pertain to you, or me, or other collectors. I have seen a surge in coin buying over the past couple years due to the recent upswing in silver pricing. These types of collectors who simply jump on the bandwagon look for the fastest and easiest guide to pricing, becoming instant experts. Venues like eBay make it very convenient for these new buyers and sellers. These new &quot;collectors&quot; are the ones using the &quot;price guides&quot; as gospel truth when buying and selling certain coins. I have been to auctions where prices have been bid to ridiculous levels by people holding one of those guides, be it the <b><i>Red Book</i></b> or one of the monthly magazines. As a knowledgeable collector, all you can do is know what it&#039;s worth to you. There is nothing you can do to prevent others from using those guides to set the prices. You&#039;re not usually going to beat them, nor are you going to educate them (after all, they have THE BOOK). The same is true of sellers, who set the asking prices based on these guides, without doing any research on what the items actually sell for. As far as the publishers, they are out to make a dollar, just like any good business. They&#039;re really doing nothing wrong, and they do provide a starting point (gotta start somewhere). They provide the disclaimer, but again, how many people actually read those.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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