My interest area is collecting US cents and half cents by variety. My problem is valuing different varieties, particularly when bidding in auctions. To identify half cent varieties I use Ed Fuhrman's three volume set plus Ronald Manley's book on half cent die states. To identify one cent varieties I use William Noyes' six volume set, John Wright's book, John Grellman's book, and Thomas Walker's two volume set. Once I identify a coin by Variety (if I can), then I can attach the Rarity factor to the coin as stated in the resources mentioned above. Next I do my best to grade the coin (coins slabbed by the top TPGs helps a LOT there). Now comes the valuing step. Fuhrman indicates that coins with R1 and R2 rarities are pretty much the same in value. Rarity R3 might nudge the value up a bit, and after that the rarity becomes more significant. NOW COMES THE TOUGH PART How to actually price a coin. Right now I use the GREYSHEET. The have a nice spread of prices in steps from grades of AG-3 through MS-65. Based on my current experiences that seems to work out reasonably well. If I'm looking at a coin graded XF-45, and the Greysheet has values for grades XF-40 and AU-50, I'll go with the average of those two prices and then add 10 percent (or so) for S&H. Unfortunately the Greysheet generally doesn't include prices for each specific variety. EXAMPLE: 1804 half cents have 13 different varieties but only shows 5 values. They group some that broadly the same but give only one value. One group is the "Spiked Chin" for which there are 4 distinct varieties. And the Rarity values for that group range from R1 to R4. It's up to the buyer to come up with their own price. MY QUESTION: Is there a source that gives a more complete breakdown of pricing relative to grade and particularly variety?
My head is spinning. Luckily I only collect ancients, we don't have price guides. It's worth what someone purchases it for at that time.
I think people like EAC use Copper Quotes by Robinson, but I seem to recall something else and newer. I am not sure what else EAC might use, but it might be worth reaching out to them.
I collect Bust Halves, which I realize is a slightly different beast, but similar problem. Honestly, the best way is to compare past auction sales. I use Heritage because it is one of the biggest, and they list rare varieties so they are searchable. For Bust coinage, there is a compilation of past auction sales compiled by Steve Hermann (you have to buy it, and I haven't bought one because I am not that serious into the varieties). I wonder if there is a similar compilation for the series you collect?