Question About PCGS Price Guide

The PCGS price guide is not a very good indicator as to the value of our coins. Many of the coins on that guide are over priced and should not be used to purchase or sell coins. Many dealers use the grey sheet to price coins and is a much better indicator than the PCGS guide. Using the grey sheet in conjunction with the Heritage site and even ebay would give you a much better picture on what your coin "could" be worth. I say could because a coin, like anything, is only worth what someone else will pay for it. As for the long term value of your coin it depends on many variables. Things such as the supply, demand and the strength of the coin market all factor into what your coin "could" be worth in the future. Buy the coin because you like it and want it for your collection not because of some theoretical future value.

It seems that people are worried about the milk spots on the silver eagles and that there is no way to predict whether a coin will develop them or not. Just guessing, but that could be one reason for the decline lately.

Jaobler hit it straight on the head, PCGS is just for PCGS. If you are buying a coin from someone and they are quoting from the PCGS guide then it better be slabbed by them. A lot of people on line try to sell their coins by this guide because they think they can get a higher price than what it is worth. Like others, I have fallen for this and luckily I did not pay an arm and a leg for it.

See what your local dealers use to price their coins and see if you can do the same. There are grey-sheets and other magazines that a fair amount of dealers go with and most likely going to be a closer value to the actual coin. If the coin you bought was slabbed and priced by PCGS then there could be a number or reasons, but the main one is that a larger amount of that grade of coin has come in for grading and made the price dip a bit. If your coin is not slabbed by PCGS then do not use their guide at all because you will never get that price for your coin.

Another thing to look at is the part of the country you are in and what seems to be the more popular coins there. I personally collect pennies and large cents and have seen that I can purchase large cents cheaper from the east cost than the west and that they vary from store to store. Each dealer seems to specialise a little bit more in certain coins and not everything and sometimes this also will make the prices raise or drop.