Pricing the "In Between" grades (e.g., F15 or VF30)

au58

Do you have or use a formula when buying or selling coins with grades that don't appear in the trends or bid sheets? I'm thinking of VG10, F15, VF30, EF45, AU55, and AU58.

DennisH

Don't forget VF25, VF35, and AU53. Those muddy up the pricing water too.

ziggy29

I don't have a hard and fast rule; I look at the coin, look at the two listed values and guesstimate. If a coin is $10 in VF-20, $20 in XF-40, $50 in AU-50 and $100 in MS-60, I might value a VF-30 at about $13, a VF-35 around $15, XF-45 around $30, AU-55 at $65 and AU-58 at $75-90. It really depends on the coin, though, and how much a coin's value rises from one condition to the next.

For a typical coin I tend to value a very nice AU-58 about the same as MS-60 -- and would probably think the AU-58 is the nicer coin -- but that wouldn't be true for a condition rarity such as an 1884-S or 1892-S Morgan.

Catch22

mid point between the value of a F-12 and VF-20...for example. 800 in F-12 and 1000 in VF-20 would net a 900 for a F-15.

rays

Each coin will ultimately seek its own value. Some AU58s are worth multiples of technically higher graded MS 60 to MS61s. Its all about eye appeal.

I once paid near AU 50 "bid" for this VF35 1796 quarter with no problems and great eye-appeal in a PCGS holder. It was worth it.

BillJones

It all depends upon the spread between the grades. If a VF-20 sells for $100 and an EF-40 sells for $110, the fact that a coin grades VF-30 doesn’t mean anything other than you might have an easier time selling the VF-30 for $90 to $100 than the VF-20. Quite often coins with no spread between the grades are hard to sell in the lower grade because the collector thinks, "If I spend a few more bucks, I'll get a better coin." And rightly so.

BUT if there is a BIG spread between the grades, the extra points really do matter.

I had a 1922 Plain cent in NGC VF-30. The coin was really solid with the strong reverse (die pair #2) really sharp and clear. At the time VF-20 bid was $850, and EF-40 bid was $1,950. I sold the coin to another dealer for $1,400. He obviously intended to sell it for more.

The bottom line is that the intermediate grade can add 25 to 50 + plus to the base price, if the coin is REALLY choice and spread is big. If there is no spread, who cares?

WACoinGuy

I usually look at Heritage's price Index since they list values for all the grades. That usually gives me an idea of where the in-between grade falls. Of course, it's really only an issue if there is a large difference in price between full grades. If XF-40 is only 10% over the price of VF-20, I'll just split the difference for a VF-30 coin.