PCGS Coinfacts vs. greysheet and other pricing sources

jmcu12

If you subscribe to coinfacts and also the other pricing sources, are they comparable?

Do you think one source is better than the other?

I am thinking if signing up for coinfacts but I am not sure I cannot find the info elsewhere on my own...

CoinRaritiesOnline

PCGS Coinfacts is invaluable IMO.

LindeDad

Retail vs. Wholesale.

BillJones

I use both Coin Facts and the Gray Sheet. Both have their place.

The thing about Coin Facts is that you access to the recent auction results as well.

s4ny

My benchmark is 82% PCGS Price Guide for PCGS and NGC slabbed coins.

I use the price guide for raw gold coins also, but with an eye on melt.

I sold all my slabbed "details, genuine, cleaned" coins on Saturday 9/7. I just
decided to take advantage of the move up in gold and there seemed to be
exceptional demand for physical gold.

LindeDad

Using a set percent of the PCGS price might work for certain things but I have never seen a NGC coin do that good myself. Plus I have seen many coins in the Seated series sell for 150% or better than guide. Of course I have also sold some stuff for about 10¢ on the dollar of the guide too.

Will add that I have only handled a small number of the NGC coins as I do not collect them.

BustHalfBrian

<< <i>Retail vs. Wholesale. >>



Generally, this, but in some cases, CoinFacts becomes wholesale (early half dollars) and Greysheet becomes retail (there are probably better examples, but I've noticed Peace Dollars).

lcoopie

coinfacts, vastly superior in my opinion

RYK

It's been several years since I have looked at the Greysheet. I look at CoinFacts before I make any purchase decision or sale.

TomB

CoinFacts reports the reality of auction sales whereas Greysheet has increasingly reported I don't know what.

sparky64

I use PCGS/NCG price guide, past auction results, Greysheet and even Red Book.

I put them all together and along with other extraneous factors decide on a bid price.

RB1026

<< <i>PCGS Coinfacts is invaluable IMO. >>



Completely agree.

DrPete

Although it depends on what coins you are collecting, buying or selling, the PCGS CoinFacts site is invaluable for recent auction values.

For extremely common coins like MS 64 1880-S dollars, proof sets from 1936 and up, and a good number of other coins, the greysheet is fine. However, once you get to coins that are truly rarer or don't trade often, the Coin Facts is far superior, especially as it shows real auction prices. The CDN also does not list as many mint state grades as does Coin Facts. Although one can extrapolate that a difficult coin like the 1901 Morgan dollar in MS 62 is between MS 60 and MS 63 price, the spread is huge and having the additional grades and pricing information for a coin like this is very helpful. Also, CDN does not show grades above MS 65 for very many series. Yes, it does for Morgan dollars and Classic Commems, and maybe others, but once you get into rarer coins above MS 65/PR65, the greysheet is not helpful. In my favorite series, Barber halves, many coins I am interested in are MS 66 or better. The CDN lists MS 65 as its top grade. If I did not use Heritage Auction archives and Coin Facts, I would have a hard time knowing enough to make intelligent buying decisions on such coins, from a price perspective. Even with pricing information, buying such material can be tricky.

weresteve

By and large Coinfacts is utterly useless when it comes to the darkside ... little to no information when it comes to the areas I collect.

bestday

<< <i>CoinFacts reports the reality of auction sales whereas Greysheet has increasingly reported I don't know what. >>



Greysheet a buying tool for dealers .....especially for those uninformed sellers...

Steve27

The guides are all lacking IMO; you need to look at completed sales on ebay, Heritage, etc.

njcoincrank

I use a combination of the Certifed Coin Exchange (owned by PCGS parent company CU), CoinPlex, as well as CoinFacts.

As time goes on I find the Grey Sheet, as well as the Blue Sheet, less useful.

nj cc

rays

<< <i>As time goes on I find the Grey Sheet, as well as the Blue Sheet, less useful.

nj cc >>



I agree.
Even coinfacts can be inaccurate on some rarer, thinly-traded issues. In my own collecting interest of large cents, the more uncommon redbook varieties sometimes sell for multiples of coinfacts values when they finally come to public auction. The grey sheet is valuable to compare the relative value of different varities, less so for absolute values.

ColonelJessup

I once walked into a Stacks sale and asked "the numismatist now know as DaveatHLRC" "What's bid an a 71-CC 25c in VF".

His quizzical response "How would CDN help you?" And mine.. "Well, I have to have SOME number to multiply by 3.

tydye

I just sold a bunch of low end semi-key barbers to a dealer today. I was more than happy with 50% of bid. I think greysheet is off on a lot of low end 20th century items.

roadrunner

<< <i>I once walked into a Stacks sale and asked "the numismatist now know as DaveatHLRC" "What's bid an a 71-CC 25c in VF".

His quizzical response "How would CDN help you?" And mine.. "Well, I have to have SOME number to multiply by 3. >>




Perfect rule of thumb for better date seated. I've used that same rule a couple times in the last few years.

Assemble all the price guides and the price tends to be the one that shows up the most often. Toss out the very high and the very low.
My own personal rule for PCGS price guide on routine/more available coins is 60-65%.

Nickcap

<< <i>By and large Coinfacts is utterly useless when it comes to the darkside ... little to no information when it comes to the areas I collect. >>



I don't agree.

Coinfacts list the recent NGC auction prices for coins too.

Cougar1978

The Greysheet is a reliable source of wholesale pricing and has been around a long time. What a coin went for at auction is not always a relevant number for me as far as bid (wholesale) value or a valid retail number like the pricelist put out by L&C coins which is free. There can be a wild swing in the coin facts auction results which will be skewed by some toner they all got in a bid war over. One has to really look at the coin to analyze why it went so high or low.

I subscribe to both Greysheet and CF which is a valuable tool as it has pricing for all grades. For my retail pricing I compare CW Trends, CU, and NGC (NGC coins). Usually the market value in the Sell column of my ss is the higher of CW and one of the latter two depending on TPG. Sometimes CU has the only exact match for a coins value for that grade. A lot of the CF data can be used as a marketing aid in describing coins which one would retail in their ebay store.

Greysheet is a wholesale price guide and not for retail transactions. I do believe certain dealers markup their coins at 40% above CDN Bid (which is par for the industry) and have seen this in a certain coinworld advertiser rather consistent throughout his offerings. Many times my selling price for a coin is based more on its cost than anything else and my business goal of a minimal 30% gross margin (pct of sales).

In making an offer for a coin offered to my table at the show the greysheet will be the basis (a percentage of CDN Bid) of the offer.

I have no plans to junk one for the other. The video by Don Willis convinced more than anything else why I should subscribe to coin facts. I urge you to view it if you have not already. It is a technological breakthrough when all you have to do is input the PCGS number and everything you need to know about the coin is right there in front of you in a well organized format. Certain series are always going to be tough to buy even at bid.

amwldcoin

<< <i>I just sold a bunch of low end semi-key barbers to a dealer today. I was more than happy with 50% of bid. I think greysheet is off on a lot of low end 20th century items. >>



Please PM me the next time you are willing to sell at those levels! Read my next post!

amwldcoin

<< <i>My benchmark is 82% PCGS Price Guide for PCGS and NGC slabbed coins.

I use the price guide for raw gold coins also, but with an eye on melt.

I sold all my slabbed "details, genuine, cleaned" coins on Saturday 9/7. I just
decided to take advantage of the move up in gold and there seemed to be
exceptional demand for physical gold. >>



For PCGS Graded Barber Halves in the F-AU range there are very few I am not willing to pay Price Guide or well over! This is of course if they are what they are as there are a few dogs out there!

CoinZip

I think it depends greatly on what your are trying to value........

EagleEye

If you can readily buy a coin at Greysheet price, than greysheet is the guide to use. Expect to pay 5% to 20% over in most cases.

Common Morgan dollars, proof sets, modern commems, generic gold are good examples. Raw type coins with minor problems trade at greysheet.

If you find that you are never getting a coin using the greysheet price for the coins you want at auction, then maybe you should use the auction records at Coinfacts.