Where Does One Find True Value Of Coins

Woolco? So you've had that for a while. I remember my local Woolworths having Whitman folders, but I don't remember them having coins.

I agree w/ several of the comments made... especially w/ "True value can be found in the "eye of the beholder". I recently purchased an 1887 IHC that I asked for opinions about here in the forum. Pretty much everybody said that it had been cleaned and that I should not have spent as much as I did on it. But I saw true beauty in the coin and am happy w/ my purchase. That ultimately is all that matters. I believe that is the same for everybody. One man's trash is another's treasure.

There is a problem with what your asking. And that is that there is no manufacturers suggested list price to start with. There is only numerous price GUIDES and those are just what they say, GUIDES. There really is no set price on a Nickel of any kind except what is stated on the Nickel, FIVE CENTS. If someone asks $0.10 for that Nickel and you pay that, then it is worth $0.10. If someone asks $10,000.00 for that Nickel and you pay that, then that is what it is worth. If you have a copy of the Red Book, by Whitman Publishing, look at pages 423 and up. They list the top 250 coin prices realized at auctions. Some over 7 million dollars. Although on the coin it states $20.
A coin is worth what you can sell it for or buy it for.
Sort of like buying a used car. There was an original price for that car but that was when new. Now it is worth what you'll pay for it.
If you look there are many such price guides on the internet. And remember, they are Guides.

I think the poor OP was just looking for a simple answer. Like others have stated, there is none. Use any source as a guide and judge how much you want the coin or money vs how far it is from the guideline price. Unless you are into high ticket items or precious metal content, values will only increase on par with inflation (maybe).

Mike.

As you can see, there is a lot more to true value than you likely expected. The sources listed are good ones. I would also suggest getting a subscription to Coin World or the like. Along with great articles they have coin values listed as well.

Looking at coins that have sold on ebay also gives you a good idea how close to those catalog values coins tend to go.

But oih8 DID put it the best with

I agree with the previous posts.

If you are looking to sell coins that you have, the important considerations are condition (how close to perfect the coin is) and demand.

Buffalo nickels have this problem where the date is one of the highest points on the design - and near the edge. So it wears down massively.
It could be a partial date that you just can't read yet because you don't have enough experience. But even if it's indeed dateless, it's still worth 7-10 cents, not 5 as you said (also, people could try acid-dating these, which is considered damage but doesn't really bring the price down because there's nothing to bring it down to).
And yes, even in case it's really hecked up you could always try and use it as money (for 5 cents). So there's that as a minimum value

(Funny how nobody said any of these simple things before )