"Hybrid" Pricing

coinaesthetics

Following some useful replies to a posting I made recently on the valuation of PCGS-slabbed coins, I did more research on the relative accuracy of the PCGS Price Guide. Acknowledging the standard caveat that any such guide averages many coins and can't factor in eye appeal, certain rarities, etc., I think I found a more realistic way of valuing PCGS slabs than their Guide, which is almost always -- except sometimes for the toughest coins -- high. If you take the P. Guide price for a given coin/grade, and the "Numismedia PCGS (nmp)" price, then average the two, the "hybrid price" usually comes out pretty close to a typical hammer price for that coin. Of course, this still allows using ongoing changes in these guides to track market trends. I'm preparing to reprice my 113 PCGS slabs . . . and acknowledge probably at least a fifteen percent decrease in their real market value. Any ideas about this valuation method? Is it at least more realistic than just using the P. Guide?

messydesk

Are you trying to price them for retail sale or arrive at a value? As far as I know, the PCGS guide is a retail price guide for PCGS graded coins.

The most realistic way of valuing them is to sell them at auction. The price the buyer pays is what they're worth. Of course, you won't have your coins anymore, so maybe it's not the best way if you'd like to keep them. The next best thing is to search auction archives for recent comparable sales. If you find that your formula produces results that are consistently close auction sales, then it would appear that your approach is less work than going through auction listings. If you find that your formula is also closer than using the PCGS guide alone for determining values, then it is more realistic.