Numismedia Error- anyone care to help?

daOnlyBG · February 10, 2013 3:03AM

A few days ago, there was a thread about an NGC MS62 1840 Seated Liberty quarter, with drapes and no motto, which was listed on eBay- and then sold for $750. If I'm not mistaken, it annoyed quite a few Forum members because they were set on bidding on the coin at the last minute- it's suspected that the winner of the auction made a deal with the seller to end the auction early. Anyway, the thread can be viewed here.
In the thread, I had mistakenly thought that the seller made big bucks because the coin was only worth $468. Forum members were quick to show me that no, the coin was actually worth quite a bit more- $1500. I was confused because Numismedia had said otherwise: check out their list here.

As I said I would in the original thread, I wrote to Numismedia and informed them of the confusion:

Hello,
I have enjoyed using the Numismedia price guide for a while now, even though I'm still a novice collector. Anyway, I just wanted to point out to you that your listings for the 1840 Seated Liberty quarter are *slightly* confusing. If I had to look up the price of an MS62 1840 no motto, with a drape, I might guess that it's $468, like you have stated, and not the $1300-1500 coin that it is (which you also state somewhere else).
Just pointing it out- it came up on the PCGS forums.

Best regards,

Bassil Alcheikh

To which a representative replied with,

I am not quite sure why you are having a problem with this coin. The price for the Type is $468 and it is stated in the left column that it is W/Drapery N/M Type and the coin below is the referenced coin. If I am missing something please enlighten me. I have checked our files and the online prices that you can see and I do not see that there is a problem.
Please advise if I have missed something.

Thanks, Dennis at www.numismedia.com

I don't know how to explain it further to them- I'm not sure where they're getting their $468 number from. Any inputs here? Am I missing something myself?

lordmarcovan · February 10, 2013 4:43AM

The $468 appears to be a "type" value. In other words, for the most common date possible in the type.

Their price for an MS62 1840 No Drapery is $1,500.

The $468 comes from common dates like 1857 or 1858.

Sounds to me like you were merely looking at the wrong row, i.e. the "type" coin value rather than the value of that specific date.

Numismedia did not make an error, as far as I can see.

coindeuce · February 10, 2013 4:59AM

You're confusing Numismedia's listing of the value for the general Type (Drapery at Elbow, No Motto) as it pertains to the most common dates of the Type, with Date specific values for the Type. Look at the values listed in MS-62 for 1856 / 1857 /1858. These are examples of what fall into the general value for common dates of the type. This does not preclude certain dates of the Type from having much higher value in grade. Would you ever expect an 1855-S (Drapery at Elbow / No Motto type) to be valued at $468 in MS-62?

daOnlyBG · February 10, 2013 5:01AM

You know what? My Google Chrome browser had been acting up- the grey line that says "W/ Drapery No Motto" was the same size as all the other rows, and thus, didn't look like a "subtitle" to classify the different types. Considering the fact that the "$468" figure was nestled in between some 1840's, I made the error that you pointed out. Anyway, under a different browser, I can now see it properly, and yes, the $468 is for the common dates, and not 1840. Thanks Lordmarcovan and coindeuce for clarifying!

lordmarcovan · February 10, 2013 5:07AM

I noticed that, using Chrome myself. I can see how it would be easy to mistake. So even though the error appears to have been your own rather than Numismedia's, don't feel bad. "User error" creeps into every human endeavor.

Wish I had a buck for every time I've had a head-scratching moment like that.

Numismedia Error- anyone care to help?

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