General Question on Coin Pricing

JoyofCollecting

I know this is a very general question....therefore any general opinions would be appreciated.....especially from dealers and collectors that are very active in the nice coin marketplace.

As a very general rule.....what % of Coin World Trends prices would you expect a dealer to offer on NGC slabbed Type I double eagles. All of them are in the $800 to $5,000 range.....with a total of about $25,000 at Coin World trends prices for the 10 to 20 pieces. Here was my thinking as a friend attempted to sell some.

Coin World Prices: 100% (No one should pay these prices for avg. slabbed coins)

Avg Retail: 85% (More likely price I would expect to pay as a customer buying from a
dealer for avg....heck call them bluesheet better date Type I's)

Dealer Profit: 20% (What I generally consider to be a fair profit for coins that
could be expected to move in six months appreciating the costs
and risk that the dealer is taking and expecting him to be able
to feed the family and send the kids to a good state college.)

Net Expected Offer as a percentage of Coin World Trends published prices per above
calculation: 68%

Offer from Dealer as a percentage of Coin World Trends published prices: 53%

I honestly don't know if my expectations were too high or if the dealers offer was about 15% too low. I tend to buy raw seated coins from dealers at shows and shops and seldom sell....just the occasional upgrade.

I would appreciate any opinions on the dealer's offer and the reasonableness of my expectations. I'm thick-skinned...so don't try to be too polite!!!!

JoyofCollecting

By the way, he sold coins to the local dealer at the prices I mentioned.....I just wanted to get a feel for the money he accepted.

Thanks.

Mark

coinguy1

JoyofCollecting,

I tend to look more at CDN Quarterly prices than I do at Trends, though I know a lot of dealers who prefer Trends. Either publication will have some inaccuracies, based on current market conditions/levels.

If you care to provide me with a list (through PM or on the forum) of the coins involved, I will be happy to contact some dealers who deal in that type of material and try to get you prices.

Edited to add - I see you just posted that they have already been sold, but my offer stands.

Catch22

Seems reasonable to me if you consider the price of these coins as a liquid, immediate sell. As with many assets, when time is not on your side, neither is price.

DaveG

Aside from the obvious generalities, such as offering the coins to the dealer who sold them, or at least to a dealer who specializes in what you're selling and getting two or more offers before you sell. . .

Generally, the dealers I know all use the Grey Sheet (or else Trends for 'mid-grade' coins) as a price guide.

As a general rule, I would estimate that a dealer who specializes in the kind of coin you're selling would offer about 90% of Grey Sheet bid for a "decent" coin of a particular grade.

For example, for an AU-50 1852 double eagle that Bids for $650, I would expect an offer of $600 (plus or minus $25 or so).

Any price offer would, of course, be affected by whether the dealer you're selling to has a ready market for the coins (or does he have to wholesale them to a larger dealer), whether the coins are 'mid-grade' (AU-53, 55, etc.) which are frequently harder to price (and sell) and whether the coins are attractive for the grade: carbon spots, bag marks, etc. Of course, better-date Type I double eagles might be harder for a dealer to sell than a common-date.

In general, at a decent-sized show, I would expect to pay about Grey Sheet Bid (perhaps plus 5%) for a 'straight-grade' common-date Type I double eagle and about 75% of Trends for a mid-grade example.