Red Book & Blue Book

CharlesDarwin

I've been using Redbook as my pricing catalog ever since I started seriously collecting, but now I'm starting to do some dealing and need a price basis for buying up coins.

Is the Bluebook a good guide to prices to pay for peoples coins? What do other dealers pay in relation to Redbook and Bluebook prices?

Any background info and experiences others have had with these guides would be helpful.

Thanks!

DaveG

I don't think anyone uses the Blue Book.

When I sell coins, most dealers use the Grey Sheet (Coin Dealer's Newsletter) as a price reference. I've also seen some dealers use the Blue Sheet (Certified Coin Dealer's Newsletter) for a series they may not have customers for.

The Grey Sheet is intended for "sight-seen" transactions, while the Blue Sheet is for "sight-unseen" transactions (i.e., the ugliest coin in that grade). So, if a dealer has ready customers for a particular coin, he'll use the Grey Sheet, while if he doesn't (and would therefore have to sell the coin at wholesale to another dealer), he might use the Blue Sheet to see what his absolute lowest price could be (or "how badly can he get hurt") and then look at the Grey Sheet.

You can get the Grey Sheet either from eBay or from their own website (www.greysheet.com). They sell single issue samples as well as a sample pack.

alergar

Redbook and Bluebook prices are typically out of date at time of printing.
Your best bet is check the PCGS daily price guide, greysheet and Heritage
coin archives.

Price guide
Greysheet
Heritage

kieferscoins

<< <i>Your best bet is check the PCGS daily price guide >>



Forget that. Some of the prices haven't been updated for years. Daily? Yeah right.

Cameron Kiefer

cladking

Some of the stronger buys will be in the Coin World or Numis News classified. This
is a good start for getting a handle on actual prices. For higher value prices you may
need to write for a list in many cases.