By Vic Bozarth – Bozarth Rare Coin Market Report

How are rare coin prices determined? Often the question dealers will ask is: “I know what Greysheet (Coin Dealer Newsletter bid) is, but what can I ‘really’ get for it?”

In this month’s Rare Coin Market Report, I will explain how I determine the value of an individual coin. Most often I will use a variety of different pricing sources to determine the value of a coin.

The most utilized source of rare coin pricing information among dealers are the variety of Coin Dealer Newsletter publications including Greysheet, Bluesheet, Monthly Summary, and the Quarterly Supplements. Dealers also use CCE, which is the Certified Coin Exchange. Coin World Trends, Collectors Universe prices, Redbook, and Coin Prices are also utilized.

In the last several years auction prices realized have become one of the most useful and often misunderstood sources of pricing information. Let me explain a little bit about all of these different sources before I explain how I use them.

CDN’s multiple publications include the Greysheet, Bluesheet, Monthly Summary, and Quarterly price sheets.

The Greysheet and Bluesheet are weekly publications and list many of the most frequently traded U.S. rare coins, BUT the values they list vary significantly.

Basically Greysheet lists sight seen bids for attractive coins. Bluesheet lists sight unseen bids for coins that might not be that attractive although they are graded correctly. Because I am looking for attractive coins, I often have to pay Greysheet bid or more for an attractive coin. If someone offers me a coin I don’t particularly like I am going to check the ‘bid’ on Bluesheet to see what the ‘basal’ value really is.

Depending on the particular coin the difference between the Greysheet and Bluesheet can vary as much as 70%. Yes, 70%!

CDN Monthly Summary is published each month and includes more of the frequently traded U.S. rare coins by date and grade including the early twentieth century gold series and most of the classic twentieth century collector series.

One of the three different CDN Quarterly issues come out every month and the three include all the other U.S. rare coin series by date. The Quarterly One issue contains half cents through quarters. The Quarterly Two contains halves through $3 gold coins. The Quarterly Three contains prices for $5 Liberty through $20 Liberty Gold Coins.

All prices for the Monthly Summary and Quarterly price sheets are for sight seen coins. There is also a supplement included with each month’s Quarterly Supplement that has prices for Proof coins not listed in the Quarterly Supplements. (more…)

By Doug Winter – RareGoldCoins.com

You can have unlimited funds but without adhering to a basic core group of numismatic fundamentals, I believe it is very difficult–if not impossible–to build a great collection of coins. Some of the best collections I have seen in the last few decades were built by collectors with average discretionary income levels. But these people were true collectors and they understood most of the points that I am going to raise and address in this article.

There are literally dozens of fundamental rules that a collector could follow. I am going to stick with ten and give you some insight as to how these rules help me when I make my own decisions on what to purchase and what to avoid.

1. Learn to Identify Value.

Some coins are good values while others are poor values. The smart collector is one who is able to identify the coins that are the best values and then takes advantage of this situation. There are numerous 18th and 19th century that are very undervalued. Some of these are likely to remain undervalued because they are in series that are likely to never become popular. Others, however, are part of series (such as Liberty Head half eagles or eagles) that are either just on the cusp of becoming popular or, in the case of eagles, are already coming into their own.

How do you identify coins that are really good values and not those that are being hyped by dealers who’d like you to believe that they are? In this day and age, it is easy to have access to a tremendous amount of numismatic information. The PCGS and NGC population reports, while not perfect, offer insights into rarity and availability that are unparalleled. The PCGS and Heritage auction result archives allow collectors to determine how frequently a coin appears at auction and in the case of the Heritage archives, has photos of each coin sold. Virtually all major dealers now list coins for sale on their websites and this is another good way to determine what is available and what isn’t.

A world-class collector is able to identify coins that are good values before they become widely known. The collector who, a decade ago, bought undervalued issues like the 1854-O and 1856-O double eagle, saw tremendous returns on their purchases. What will the next undervalued rarities be?

2. Carpe Diem.

Translated into English, this term means “seize the day.” In the case of building a great collection, fast and clear thinking is very important. Really nice coins are incredibly hard to find right now and the collectors who are able to buy them are the ones that make fast decisions. In the case of my company (Douglas Winter Numismatics), when I buy coins, I typically put them on my website on a first-come-first-served basis. I constantly hear from collectors who wish they had pulled the trigger faster. (more…)

By Doug Winter – RareGoldCoins.com

“Originality.” It’s one of the most overused terms in all of numismatics. And it’s one of the most misunderstood as well. Given the choice, I believe that most people would rather own an “original” coin instead of one that has clearly had its appearance changed in recent years. With the help of some good quality images, I’d like to show some of the characteristics that I equate with “originality” and offer some suggestions on how to judge if a coin is original or not.

The first coin that we are going to look at is an 1844-D quarter eagle graded AU55 by NGC. (Disclosure: this coin is currently in my inventory and it is currently for sale. I am not using this coin as an example in the hope that someone will buy it as I am certain someone will and I don’t need to go to this much trouble to sell it. I am using it to illustrate this report because I believe it represents what I believe is complete originality.)

One other quick topic before we review this 1844-D quarter eagle. My definition of an “original” coin is one that appears to have never been cleaned, lightened or in any way altered. I would be quick to point out that the flaw in this definition is that, of course, there is no way to make such a comment without having had access to this particular coin at all times since 1844.

There is always the possibility that, in the 1850’s or the 1860’s (or even the 1960’s), it may have been lightly cleaned. But there are some things to look for on a coin that I think gives a reasonably good assurance that it hasn’t been messed with. The most obvious is hairlines. If a coin has been improperly cleaned at one time, it is going to show hairlines. These may range from subtle to very obvious. If a coin has nice seemingly “original” color but it shows noticeable hairlines, this probably means that it was cleaned years ago and has subsequently retoned. Such a coin may have a natural appearance but, from the standpoint of semantics, it can’t truly be called “original.” You can also look for areas of cloudiness or haze. If a coin has these, the chances are good that something has been applied to the surfaces at one time.

In looking at this coin, there are a few points to note. The first is its depth of coloration. Take a look at the color on the obverse and the reverse and note how the hues in the fields are richer than in the protected areas. On coins with natural color this is generally going to be the case. On a coin that may have been dipped at one time, you are going to see the opposite; the color tends to be lighter at the centers and deeper at the peripheries. Also, note how on this 1844-D quarter eagle there is color present even on the high spots and relief detail. A coin that has been cleaned or dipped typically lacks color on these areas as they are the first places that the original color is lost. Finally, note the depth and intensity of the color. On natural coins, the color is “sharp” in hue and depth. On dipped or cleaned coins, the color tends to be “fuzzier” and less intense. (more…)