How much of a premium should you give for AU58s?

hookedoncoins

Hi,

I always had a hard time judging AU coins. For one thing, I am never sure what PCGS price guide "AU" means. Is that AU50 or AU55 or what? I am about to buy a seated quarter that is AU58 and looks really nice. How do I determine how much of a premium to pay? Its just hard to judge a price on AU58s though because you could have a MS65 coin with a rub or a really PQ AU55 that just made the 58 holder. The below coin is NGC btw.



Any opinions or feedback are appreciated!

-Jarrett Roberts

mr1931S

awhile back i bought a technically AU 58 Barber dime (i don't see wear on the reverse but the obverse has a tiny bit of "rub") for which i paid a premium of 33% over CU price for AU...

this coin doubles from au to unc (MS60) according to CU established values...

i think CU "AU" means "average AU" which is an AU something under "AU 55"...i consider true "AU 55" an above average AU coin...

so using that standard,i consider my AU 58 Barber dime for which i paid a 33% premium a good value...it's true that there is excellent value to be found in some AU coins...without the tiny bit of rub on the obverse my Barber dime "would be" oh,...MS 65 or so?...a 50% premium wouldn't have been too much to me for this coin but i didn't have to pay it...

Placid

The picture is a little dark but the coin looks to be pretty mark free (few hits) and well struck.
If it has good luster then the slight wear is why its not a ms63+. I usually look at price gides that list the prices for the different au grades. $234 retail is what numismedia shows for that coin.

BAJJERFAN

I believe in the CU price guide AU means AU50 so you have to extrapolate to from AU to MS60 to find the others assuming that there is a linear relationship between grade and price.
Numismedia breaks down the categories better than CU.

BillJones

I've paid pretty close to MS-60 "bid" for early coins. I purchased a 1795 half dime in PCGS AU-58 $50 under MS-60 bid at the time. I thought it was very fair price at the time. Now it looks like a steal given today's grading standards (now lower thant they were a few years ago) and prices.

A true AU-58 is better than most any MS-60 so far I am concerned, at least when it comes to 19th century material.

zenny

The heritage site, which also breaks down the AU grades for comparison shows the following:

AU 50 - $75-100

AU 53 - $90=115

AU 55 - $100-130

AU 58 - $125-160

The Numismedia numbers show about a 75% premium for AU 58 over AU 50 (132/234) while the Heritage numbers show a premium of anywhere from 25% (100/125) to about 115% (75/160).

I've learned to be willing to pay better than "MS60 price" if the coin has the necessary eye appeal.

(Of course, we all know that something that may have appeared to be rub to a grading service in the past could very easily pass for no rub in the future.)

z

dorkkarl

i'd guess any price guide that just says "au" means au-50.

au-58 ought to have a significant prem. over au-50 for most issues, & au-58 should have a prem. over ms-60 for many issues.

K S

michael

if for example in general an au 58 is a real 62/63 coin just with a slight almost invisable rub and has the look and lustre of a choice coin

then to me it is worth 60 to 62 money and because it is in an au 58 holder i bet you can get it for 60 money or less

seems like a bargain to me and also if broken out of its holder some at worst case scenerio come back 58 and maybe 62/63!!

also some older slabbed green tag 58 coins might be no brainer upgrade choice unc coins today!

sincerely michael

greghansen

Well, I'll tell you the first thing I'd want to know on this issue is, what is the price spread between AU50 and MS60. In your coins case, were talking about the difference between $110 and $180. Thats a pretty 'tight' spread. Many, MANY coins are more than double between those two price points and its harder to figure what an AU55 and AU58 should go for. On a coin with a tight spread like yours, I'd take the midway point of $140-$150 and say, if you can get it in that range, your doing darn good. If the coin is a 58 with MS62/63 fields and only high point rub, and original luster, I'd pay over MS60 prices quite frankly. An MS60 coin by definition is going to be technically uncirculated but is going to have big eye appeal issues. I'd rather have the trouble free '58.

By contrast take a look at the '92-S Morgan. Its a $1,250 coin in AU50 and an $11,000 coin in MS60. Coins with that 'wide' spread between published price points are much harder to figure 'inbetween' values.

I like au53 to au58 coins. And I like trying to figure out what a fair price is to pay for them.

Gilbert

As a "general" rule, closer to MS60 money than AU50; you should allow for it to be compared to 60-62, as mentioned above. If there is a HUGE spread from AU to MS, I wouldn't ordinarily want to pay more than 60 money - if there is a huge spread I would buy a true MS coin rather than pay 62 money for an AU (circ) coin, most times. Notice, I have left room for every coin to be considered on its individual merits.

hookedoncoins

Thanks for all the help.

-Jarrett Roberts

MastaHanky

Here's a few examples of AU58 coins I've bought (all are PCGS Buffalos):

1916-S
AU50 bid/ask is 70/80
MS60 bid/ask is 125/135
I paid $128 for it.

1917-S
AU50 bid/ask is 190/210
MS60 bid/ask is 250/280
I paid $235 and feel like I stole it. I've been offered double that for it.

1923-S
AU50 bid/ask is 230/255
MS60 bid/ask is 300/335
I paid $300 for it.

becker

I doubt we will ever see the day when beautiful AU-58 coins are often worth more than ugly 60's. Certainly there are exceptions.
I think the price guide writers would have a very difficult time giving an AU-58 of something a higher value than a MS-60. Like it or not, we all are at least somewhat influenced by what the pricing guides suggest coins are worth. As a dealer, I'm most concerned about what the other folks, those being my customers, will think of the coin and the price and all of them seem to pay attention to the price guides.

Several people who have responded to your post have made the excellent observation that today's AU-58 may be tomorrow's MS-63. This must be true because I often see AU-58 coins in MS-63 grading service holders.

Thanks for creating this interesting thread.

Best regards,

Tom Becker