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 Replies: 21 / Views: 5,005 |
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New Member
Canada
5 Posts |
Hello All,
I am relatively new to this great hobby. I was just wondering about those Charlton catalogs. I have copies from 2010-2013. I am just wondering do all you more experienced people think the valuations are correct. The prices listed seem very high compared to other references I have seen. Is Charlton the defacto standard for prices? Please advise what you think about their valuations.
Thank You
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1354 Posts |
I believe most people go by the Coin Trends in the Canadian Coin News. You can order by subscription and I think you can get them in the newspaper section at chapters. Lots of sales don't happen for the trend price though unless they are sought after. they can go 30-50% cheaper.
Charlton is good for seeing the difference between the coins, the rarer ones, the mintage, and they produce a different variety section every year. So people do hang onto them.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2366 Posts |
Think of coin prices kind of like the stock market. You can look up stock prices from last month or last year or last decade. But something today may have changed and the price is different. Price lists like Trends or http://www.coinsandcanada.com/coins-prices.php give you the prices from a month or 2 ago. Charlton 2013 will be giving you the prices from 15 months ago (around the time it went to publishing). ebay completed listings vary from earlier today to 2-3 months ago. None of them are going to reliably give you an exact price for a coin at the moment you are purchasing it. The price of a stock at any given moment is whatever the overlap is between the bid and the ask at that moment. If they don't overlap, no sale takes place. Personally, I will only pay something close to Trends/list/book price for a particularly scarce/rare coin (whether because of grade or variety or whatever). Otherwise 60-80% or bullion value as appropriate. Edited by kuh_85
09/19/2013 10:46 am
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3234 Posts |
I also rely on the recent trend prices. ..but I haven't bought in eons. ..and haven't sold anything (except bullion pieces) in eons.
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Moderator
 Canada
10460 Posts |
I would argue that the CCN Trends prices are not-so-recent.... some prices of entire sections or series of coins have not changed in almost 5 years....
"Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
849 Posts |
I mainly use Charlton and PieceOfCurrency.com for pricing. I try and get about coins for about 50-70% of average price, and I use PieceOfCurrency for the average if recent ebay sales to gauge what is a good price. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3234 Posts |
Do you also feel that 'Trends' is attempting to keep the hobby alive by holding many prices high,. even as we see many coins sell for a much reduced percentage of the listed Trends price?
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Valued Member
United States
306 Posts |
Quote:
Do you also feel that 'Trends' is attempting to keep the hobby alive by holding many prices high,. even as we see many coins sell for a much reduced percentage of the listed Trends price? I would argue that it is not a hobby if one is gauging strictly by price realized. Sure I like money as much as anyone. But I think the "hobby is kept alive" by educating and inspiring others through knowledge and the history of these fascinating pieces. Whether it be varieties, rarities, errors or just plain intriguing. History gets lost too often. Just my 2c.. (maybe worth 1/2 value or less).  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2366 Posts |
I think Trends (and Charlton etc) draws on a wide range of sources for pricing. Trying to compare it to the latest prices on ebay is comparing (I presume) a large data set averaged over a longer time period to a much smaller data set over a much smaller time period. There will be discrepencies. And it may take a year or more for Trends to catch up depending on the formulas they use. That's why I don't treat it as any sort of Bible of coin prices. It's at best a guide. Like a stock-market analyst trying to predict future behaviour of a stock price based on historical data. There is only so much accuracy you can expect from it as it will always be lagging behind. Those lags become much more noticeable in the modern, more volatile environment of electronic trading (of coins with ebay etc as well as stocks) than it was 10 years ago when information and price changes moved at a much slower pace. Can't say I'm a big believer of conspiracies when human ignorance (in this case inability to immediately process huge amounts of data and accurately predict the future) is a sufficient explanation.  |
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Valued Member
Canada
187 Posts |
In my opinion, it depends. Every year in Charlton (and CCN Trends) some coins are overpriced, some are underpriced, and some are properly valued. Unfortunately I can't simply wave my magic wand and tell you which coins fall under which category (I'd be a lot richer if I could). In my personal experience, if I do a thorough search, and can't find a particular coin for several months, the final sale price generally exceeds the listed price in Charlton/Trends when it does come to market.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
686 Posts |
I don't think trends are overstated to keep the hobby alive. In fact, as I understand price guides, I don't think trends is overstated at all. Trends, whether in CCN or Charlton, are generally designed to reflect the price that someone who wants to purchase a coin today should expect to pay from a dealer. They don't reflect the average sale price, or what you could get it for after shopping around. The question basically is, if I decide right now that I want to purchase a 1965 LBP5 penny in MS63, and head over to my nearest coin shop, without haggling, what should I expect to pay. It's really no different than the MSRP of many items. The MSRP of a certain 50" LCD tv may be $899. Best Buy and Future Shop may sell it for $899, meanwhile Wal-mart has it for $849. If you look around a little while, you may see that The Brick puts it on sale for $749 a week later. On Boxing Day, Future Shop has it for $599. So if you need to buy it today, and don't shop around, you'll probably pay $899. If you do a little shopping around, you'll get it for $749 - $849. And if you're prepared to wait for the right price, you'll get it for $599. Just hope your coin doesn't depreciate as much after purchase the tv. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1330 Posts |
if you are really new prices should be a factor,search my friend and search discover this great obsession your first big discovery will lead you to the next and next and next big one,,,,,welcome to our family, and yes jg86 is right very unstable market
,,,,,i miss my pennies,,,
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3234 Posts |
Ok eddio...What happened to your pennies?..  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1700 Posts |
For me, the Charlton prices are the highest acceptable buying prices when I purchase a certain coin. J&M online catalogue is also a good reference of the most resonable prices for both selling and buying.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1330 Posts |
devlec,,,  I cant find any anywhere I got someone who brought me some from the states about 10 dollars worth ... |
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Valued Member
Canada
372 Posts |
As a new collector myself, I felt I needed a guide so I bought a Charlton. I understand that prices can be volatile so once a book is printed it may already be inaccurate to current markets.
I am just wondering about other errors that I have found like coins missing from the list and obviously incorrect pricing. An example is 1980 Canadian dime with wide O. I would be a very lucky fellow to get what the book says these are worth. I have never seen a narrow 0 which the book lists as common.
Printing errors are common, I get that. Overall are these books, including Krause or Harper publications pretty reliable?
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Replies: 21 / Views: 5,005 |
Posted 09/19/2013 10:45 am
