Regarding red book prices on gold/silver

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Op, what I always did was if I was looking at a coin series, calculate, (from the back of the book, coinflation, math, IDC how), today's melt value. That is your base price.

If the coin were looking at was not at least 20% greater than the previous melt price, then today its basically worth melt + 15%.

That's how I do it, and puts me in the ballpark. Any coin previously greater than 20% higher than melt probably still has a numismatic premium unless pm markets have moved very strongly, (read doubled), in the mean time.

 

It's the prices, which are.

There is no chart, graph, or anything else in Red Book, or any other Annual Price Guide, that can be taken as accurate as the market on bullion changes daily.

 

Red book prices are wildly optimistic. They are generally inflated, and should NOT be used for buying and selling.

 

But are fairly accurate as to what is junk and what has some numismatic premium. Anything the red book says is worth less than 20% over junk is basically junk. That is how I would use it.

At times I do look at the Red book for this piece of information. In that, its fairly valuable, since only mintages will never tell you this information.

All other prices I would agree with you.

 

The chart's prices doesn't change, even with a fluctuating market. It shows the bullion price when silver is at $28 or at $35 or any reasonable number. THIS DOES NOT CHANGE. Even in 20 years, 30 years, or even 50 years, this chart will still be accurate. Will it be reflective of the market? Who knows! That is the point of pm-- nobody knows. STOP ARGUING ABOUT IT!


As for the OP, you've pretty much got your answer in the previous posts. The Redbook should be used for identifying key dates, or if a certain date carries a premium. It shouldn't be used for an accurate price guide.

 

Sorry, when someone is asking for prices on silver/gold, I automatically assume (which I know I probably shouldn't) it is for bullion purposes which the redbook can tell you or help you figure out what their value is.

 

Check pg 422 in the 2013 version of the RedBook if you want bullion value of US gold coins. Pg 421 for the bullion melt value of US silver coins.

Both pages use a sliding scale table that will allow you to calculate the given bullion price for US coins so long as the spot price for1 oz falls betw
$20-47 for silver and $1200-2300 for gold. So for current bullion melt values, you've got the perinent information in the RedBook. There are on line resources that make it even easier. Some have posted links to these in this thread.

People on this forum love to poo-poo the RedBook. Yet in my opinion it's still a useful guide to get you in the ball-park for retail prices of most US coins. The problem is, most US coins actually sell for less than retail.

The author of the RedBook is a CoinTalk member who posts quite frequently.

 

I think there's a reason why they call it a Red book and not Green. It makes you stop and think about how much these coins are really worth. Since the advent of online retailing, the printed price guides are pretty much irrelevant.

 

Oh I didn't know that, care to share who that might be?