Interesting price differences between Red Book and the market price lists for Lincolns

BigBen

Very interesting how an MS-65 1954 P Lincoln wheat lists for $2.00 but Numismedia lists it at $24.15 and PCGS price guide at $55. Is there any other popular coins out there right now with this kind of Redbook price disparity?

tradedollarnut

All of them?


Seriously - the Red Book has never been a very good price guide. Must take about 2 years to compile that data and go to print.

BigBen

Yeah, the entire "P" mint series from 1946 to 1958 is only .25 cents to a buck a piece in MS-63 according to the RedBook! The highest price is $4 for an MS-65 1949??? I mean .50 cents for a RedBookMS-63 1952-D Wheat but $4.60 in Numismedia Guide? Is it just that there's just a gazillion of these around and most people aren't hip to the registries and auction prices yet? Anybody think once enough people get hip to the certifed prices there will be a glut?

AgMe

<< <i>Yeah, the entire "P" mint series from 1946 to 1958 is only .25 cents to a buck a piece in MS-63 according to the RedBook! The highest price is $4 for an MS-65 1949??? I mean .50 cents for a RedBookMS-63 1952-D Wheat but $4.60 in Numismedia Guide? Is it just that there's just a gazillion of these around and most people aren't hip to the registries and auction prices yet? Anybody think once enough people get hip to the certifed prices there will be a glut? >>



Actually, they're "both right". You can search and search and find a 1947D MS67 RD for $.20 USD in a 2x2 or go 1 table over and see the same coin for sale (also in a 2x2) for $800 (it was really selling for $900 retail) USD. It kind of gets back to that whole "conditional rarity" argument... to some it's a wonder coin, to others it's a cent.

(This situation happened a couple of shows ago)

PS Some dealers will get rather miffed when they see you doing this (cherry picking).

~g

Steve

Red Book prices are NOT based on slabbed coins. They are based on a general subjective interpretation of a MS65 graded coin. If you see such a coin raw at a show table you probably could pick it up for a couple of bucks, just like Red Book says. Now the $20 to $50 price you see in Numismedia or the PCGS price guide is for a slabbed MS65 in a PCGS or maybe NGC slab. Big difference in price. Maybe the coin is just as nice raw. If you know your grading you can cherrypick that $2 raw cent and turn it into a $25 or more PCGS slabbed cent. It is all about the M O N E Y. Steve

BigBen

Hmm, well that confirms my suspicions that cherypicking raw ms-6667 "P" wheats from 1946 to 58 could be rather lucrative for the well-informed I thought I was in left field or something.

AgMe, did you say that some dealer was selling a raw modern Lincoln for $800 in a 2x2??? Details!

BigBen

What also strikes me is why more people aren't sending in their Gem $2 1954 "P" Wheats for certifications if they're so valuable in a holder that costs $20?

carl

I agree that every one of the lists out there are completely nutty right now. Every coin show I go to the prices on Lincolns is rediculous and the leaway in purchasing is nuts also. One dealer at a recent show reduced the price of a Lincoln Cent by 50% when I started to walk away.

AgMe

<< <i>Hmm, well that confirms my suspicions that cherypicking raw ms-6667 "P" wheats from 1946 to 58 could be rather lucrative for the well-informed I thought I was in left field or something.

AgMe, did you say that some dealer was selling a raw modern Lincoln for $800 in a 2x2??? Details! >>



Yep (actually, he was trying to sell it for $900, but the price guide has $800), he actually had a very nice selection of Lincolns raw... but you were going to pay for it!

Don't forget full RD.

~g

AgMe

<< <i>What also strikes me is why more people aren't sending in their Gem $2 1954 "P" Wheats for certifications if they're so valuable in a holder that costs $20? >>



You have to remember, many of the old timer collectors don't recognize TPG.

I'm really expecting the series to get heated-up in 2008-'09, plp laughed when I started my matched set of business strikes... they're not laughing anymore.

~g

BigBen

What year was that raw Lincoln in a 2x2 for $800?