Beware the ides of 'Funny Manipulated Value'. Use TMV instead.

Fair Market Value is a farce! I get a kick out of hearing about FMV from collectors. What is FMV? Fair Market Value is the price someone is welling to pay for a given coin at that moment. I don't have any idea where NGC and PCGS come up with their numbers, but if you really want to find out what a coin is worth, go to the auction archives and see what collectors are actually paying for the coin you want to buy. Heritage Auctions, Stack's Bowers, and other auction houses keep meticulous records of the sales of their coins. I believe many of us would be amazed at the True Market Value TMV) of the coins we buy. The really cool part of the archives is being able to actually see the coins that sold and compare them to the coin you're buying. Your prospective purchase may or may not demand a premium.

One of my main objections to the NGC registry is how they assign points for coins. They seem to be in cahoots with the mint. New mint products in MS/PR 70 are awarded more points than Gem older coins. Now let me ask you, "what coin is really more valuable, a 2013 70 (which is quite common with todays technology) or a 100 year old coin in GEM condition?" I remember the days when a perfect coin was hard to find and now, not quite 'a dime a dozen' but getting close with todays tolerances and machines doing all the work. Every coin of any denomination that the mint produces is identical to every other coin of the same denomination, except in the case of 'error coins'.

Let me reiterate that these posts are just 'one mans opinion' and take them for what their worth. If you want truly individual coins, start collecting coins dated prior to 1834. No two coins are identical because they made coins the 'old fashioned way' they stuck them by hand, that's right they were hammered or pressed with unequal pressure applied. If any of you have bothered to look at my sets on the Registry, you would notice I have a number of coins for my grandchildren starting in 2001. Sorry there aren't many pictures (they're on the PCGS Registry) but they all look the same, i.e. a 2006 Lincoln cent in MS67 pretty much looks like all the other 2006 MS67 Lincoln's out there. Very few newer coins have developed the patina that sets them apart from their peers.

Shown: 1876 20C 64 DCAM (if I did it right).

Happy Collecting, All and Merry Christmas.

Dan

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