Are the price guides simply full of crap?

ChannelIslands

OK, as you all know, I'm a newbie. However, are price guides simply marketing tools for coin retailers? I have purchased approximately $10k worth of PCGS and NGC coins in the past three months on ebay and each one was 25% - 50% below the PCGS price guides. Now, a company called numismedia has added their price guide to my NGC registries and their "recommended" prices are even higher than PCGS! Has the coin market completely tanked in the last three months or are the price guide simply BS?

techeff

I go by the Heritage auction prices.

Russ

The problem is that in a dynamic market it's simply not possible to produce a static price guide that will be accurate. It's much better to research auction archives.

Russ, NCNE

INXS

I asked a similar question and this is the thread.

LI NK

anoldgoat

"Has the coin market completely tanked in the last three months or are the price guide simply BS?"

They are way off target. Even Coin Values which is a monthly rag is many months (a year or more) behind realized prices.

Julian

Price guides are just that
......Guides

They provide just one tool for evaluation.

Auction records provide another.

The most important part of a coin's value is its appeal, both visually, and importance to your collection.

There are generic values for average coins and then there are values for the coins that you want in your collection.

Use all the tools, especially the "appeal" when trying to price an item for purchase.

mercurydimeguy

In some instances the "static" published prices in various guides are too high, while in other instances they are way off on the low side. Particularly, they tend to be too low on the keys/semi-keys and too high on more common coins.

Also, more knowledgeable collectors buy the coin and not the holder so it is possible for a coin in a MS64 holder to sell for MS65 prices, and vice versa. Grading is subjective and not always (and recently seldom) accurate. So one can have a coin in an MS65 holder bought at 25% less than publilshed price and have overpaid, while conversely one could have bought a coin in an MS64 holder for 25% above the published price and might have gotten a steal.

pharmer

Never being sure where the price guides' data is from, I always have relied on actual sales information. Real transactions, occurring within a reasonably recent timeframe, provide the best info. Past sales info is available from Heritage, Teletrade, ebay, etc., all it takes is a bit of time to do the research and compile the info yourself.

xbob

All the guides out there are suposed to be an average sold price reported by participating dealers and auction houses.
The way they guide me is that I tend to use them as a maximum for what I'll pay for a coin.
Of course there are always exceptions.

ChannelIslands, For the heck of it you could try a short subscription to the Grey Sheet (Coin Dealer Newsletter) to see how you are buying vs. wholesale trading values.

AgMe

Hello,

I think you need to remember that many coins trade in a fairly wide rage, you could have a coin (an Ike for example) sell for $28 (USD) on Teletrade & go to a show and see the same grade priced at $150 (USD).

I think 20% back of retail is a good price for a volume buyer & 40% back of retail is a good price for a dealer (if the coin will takes a while to move).

-g