Price Guides

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Originally posted by OldDan


Where does the Blue sheet come in, and is it any more dependable than the Gray sheet?

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I believe the blue sheet is for slabbed coins and grey has always been for raw. Which is kind of interesting The Blue & the Grey.

I still maintain that one of the best places to get a "market" value is ebay and Heritage. I lean heavier on the ebay side but the numbers have always worked.

I think that is part of it. The other factor is that you can see how the market changes from week to week. The Greysheet is the closest actual price guide that I've seen to that, but even that doesn't show you the fluctuating trends as clearly.

The Greysheet also has an online version that is updated daily. The greysheet is used for raw and slabbed coins in sightseen transactions between two informed parties. The Bluesheet is supposed to be sight-unseen purchases of slabbed coins. 99% of dealers use the greysheet because most transactions are done in person. Dealers who use the Bluesheet when purchasing sight-seen are hedging their profits a bit.
The Bluesheet has specific bids for each of the major services and all are priced differently. It allows the dealers a specific way to "buy" the holder.

Here is an earlier post I wrote about the greysheet:

Here is a simple guide:

Collector's often ask how dealers decide on prices to buy and sell. Here is a little insight into the process.

A customer enters the dealers store, (storefront, show, online), the dealer will pull out his most current copy of the Coin Dealer Newsletter, commonly referred to as the Greysheet. He will look at the bid/ask price of the coin(s). Now depending on his need (inventory-ability to sell) of the coin a price will be quoted.

As an example if a dealer is offered a strict MS-63 1922 Peace dollar the bid is currently $21.00 / ask $23.00 Now most dealers have plenty of this issue in stock, so the offer will probably be $17 or $18 with a resale offer of $25.00

Now if the same customer offered a strict MS-63 1921 Peace dollar (key in the series) the current bid is $267.00 / ask $295.00 An offer of $275 to $285 will be made. A resale price of $320.00

It is always easier for a dealer to sell a key date. Most transactions of a dealer are to other dealers. We use bid/ask prices (greysheet) for this purpose. It is used as a reference for retail prices also. Most dealers try to work on a 20% rule. This will cover our expenses of processing the coins for sale.

Now I suggest that every collector obtain a copy of the greysheet on a semi annual basis. (every 4-6 months). This will allow you to better judge your coins value to a perspective dealer.