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Ehat do you use as a guide when buying KEY DATE coins?
piecesofme
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With so many choices, what do you feel reflects the most current and accurate guide to value KEY DATE coins?
Not really interested in common date or even semi keys. This is specifically for key date coins. Thanks
Not really interested in common date or even semi keys. This is specifically for key date coins. Thanks
To forgive is to free a prisoner, and to discover that prisoner was you.
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I use a combination of recent (6 months max) Heritage auctions and the latest Greysheet, then factor in how nice the coin is I'm looking at, how much I want it, my checking account balance, and what my willpower level is at the time.
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
so that when I'm in the field (i.e. at a coin show) I know about how much I would need to pay for each coin.
I find it best to keep the fewest pieces of pricing data on you when looking for coins at shows. And this often means I need to
be very knowledgeable in the specific coin types and dates/mintmarks I am searching for!
<< <i>No single source. Use several sources and then negotiate to my price.... or walk. Cheers, RickO >>
Same here. Why limit yourself to just one source? "All the above" should be one of the choices but almost everyone would pick it so it would make your poll less than useful. I picked the Gray Sheet since many dealers use it to buy key dates for their inventory but I also use auction results.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
But I don't really do anything different for key date versus, semi or common. I'm more likely to let a common date that is too expensive go because I know another one is coming around soon.
-Keith
PCGS Registries
Box of 20
SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
Hoard the keys.
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
So I don't know.
why, Coin Eorld of course!
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Cheers!
Kirk
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What i can't stand is when they use the bluesheet for a coin that I am showing them. Bluesheet is typically lower, sometimes considerably, on the bid/ask and is mainly used for sight unseen deals.
I once asked a dealer if he could not see the coin in front of him that I was wanting to trade in when he whipped out the Bluesheet. He said something like I dont have the time to photgraph the coin and that he sells them sight unseen. I again said, but you can see it, right?
I have been working on a key-date type set for the past 15 years and last 20 coins on my list will not be found for "book" prices
Numismedia recently opened up free access to their whole priceguide, it looks like- not just G4 to MS60 anymore. I can see the grades all the way up to MS70 now. What's nice is that they also price grades like AU53-55-58, not just AU50. Is it a perfect reference? No, but I for one shall contend that there is no such thing as the perfect single reference. And Numismedia is free and easy to access.
Both have their shortcomings, but I never liked Greysheet, finding it to be overpriced and poorly organized (not very user-friendly). That's just my humble opinion, of course- I suppose if I'd been a longtime Greysheet user I could've gotten used to it. But as I was never anything but the smallest of dealers, I found the collector-oriented priceguides more useful to me. More of my customers likely used the Redbook than the Greysheet.
Edit to add: I guess I should've read the CAPITAL LETTERS in your title. That whole response I just typed is in regard to what I use as a general reference. In answer to what I would use as a reference for KEY DATE material, I guess I'd consult as many different references as I could, but would focus more on recent auction prices than anything else. (And that little dash of intuition and gut-feeling I mentioned above would still be in play here).
Not that I buy key dates that often.
Likewise.
I am amused that because the question is restricted to key dates only that 2 people, so far, say they use the red book as a guide.
I wonder if they are buyers, or sellers of key date coins at the absolute top of the range out there?
I guess if I were to sell what I have, I'd use the absolute top price as a guide too.
values for specific key date pieces I am actively looking for always helps, too.