General question on purchasing guidelines.

[gbsten]

I'm looking to pick up my Christmas present and was curious as to which price guides everyone feels are most accurate. I find the greysheet prices to be ballpark (IMO) and when I can purchase for less than bid I feel the price was fair, all things being equal. I see there are exceptions, such as GSA dollars, in which the semi-key dates seem to demand higher prices. I understand all the variables that must be considered when trying to determine a coins value; however, generally speaking what do you use as a pricing guideline for your purchases?

[MunkyMan95]

I think greysheet is great.

 

I also use Heritage's archives quite often to view auction prices realized for coins similar to the one I'm considering purchasing.

[okbustchaser]

In general I don't look at any price guides. I ask for the best that the seller can do, look at the balance in my checking account, and compare that total to his price.

 

Heritage's (or any other large auction house) completed sales archives seem as legitimate as any published guides, though.

[WinstonWare]

What kind of coins are we talking about? Price guides can be helpful for generic coins but are little help in rare coins that sell with less frequency.

[MarkFeld]

As far as generally available price guides go, I think that the CDN and CCDN are the best. In many cases, better than them, however, is the Heritage auction archives.

[Houston Investor]

IMO Coin World Value Trends is the best price guide in Numismatics. They have been publishing it for at least 50 years. The CDN is a wholesale publication.

 

However, I think the most important factor is whether the coin meets the buyers grading standards and collection goals. Coin Collecting is a hobby and IMO a retail business like any other. One needs to budget coin money very carefully as this is a long term investment.

 

At the recent Pasadena show, I was discussing CW Trends with a dealer set up at the table next to me. We both agreed CWT was superior to NN in both quality and detail. He went on to say "I will put the CWT price on the front of the coin holder and a code for cost and Replacement Cost (CDN Ask) on the back. I have no problem most of the time fudging down the price a little bit to close the deal. I also like the price list that L&C coins puts out and will consult this also to get a consensus." Returning to my table after a brief break I noticed a guy who had purchased commems from me at numerous shows. He asked to see an NGC 65 Connecticut which I had a price of $585 (CWT I think). After looking at it he wanted to know how much I wanted. As I had a lot of room in the coin, I quoted him $520 and he purchased the coin. This was not my largest sale at the show - A world currency collector bought nearly $1000 in world paper money from me (at least 50 notes). Because this show is TG weekend it can be slow but it is a wonderful buying show and I loaded up on quite a bit of Slabbed Dollars people offered me. The WPM deal was a really pleasant surprise.

[gbsten]

Thank you everyone for your input! I agree that one of the most useful tools are the realized prices from auctions. These give you the opportunity to veiw a specific coin and compare price realized vs. appearance. I think the "wholesale" pricing of CDN is actually most reflective of retail pricing now. I mean really...don't we all want to buy wholesale.... I agree also that a highly-collectible piece will set its own price, often near catalog prices, but I feel that is not the norm for most pieces. It seems a coin needs high attributes to come close to "book-value" pricing!

[James_OldeTowne]

I have always tried to avoid price guides as much as possible. But, I find myself referring to the greysheet most often, with the caveat that it has some severe errors. Trends (CoinPrices) used to be my favorite, but time has proven it to be too carelessly maintained for my needs.

 

Online price guides seem to me to be notoriously and exceptionally inaccurate, especially the PCGS values.

[michael]

how i determine prices of coins that i want to know the value of

 

auction records, coins similar that i have seen sold privately and/or by dealers and based on my 35+ years of experience with a dash of by the seat of my pants pricing guidance

[World Colonial]

I do not collect US coins and though I believe that US coin price guides are reasonably accurate in many instances because of turnover frequency, I would still rely on ACTUAL market prices where available.