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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,201 |
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
One of my golf buddies asked me to take a look at some "old coins in a box from his grandfather". My friend is 75 so that was my first elevation of interest. The next thing I saw when I opened the box was a quart bag with some Uncirculated Morgan dollars of various dates and MM. Next was a 1905S $5 gold piece. The rest of the box is pretty much full of 1¢ to 50¢ coins of the 1850s to mid 1920s in grades from poor to uncirculated. It has been a long while since I've been in coin collecting. I am an active member of the Stamp forum. My question is - do coins pretty much follow stamps in valuation principle? IE: If a coin is mint uncirculated and is listed in a catalog at $100 is it in reality worth $50 or is it really worth $100. I know there is a whole different MS grading system now but the only thing I can go on in this is what I knew from 40 years ago with G, F, VF BU etc. Pretty sure he is going to ask me if I want to purchase and want to be fair to us both. Pictured below is a 1906D Barber 50¢. I have estimated it at $450 from ebay asking prices in this condition. Am I close or way out of whack? Thanks for looking and commenting. Paul *** Edited by Staff to Add Year / Mintmark / Denomination to Title. Titles are Important! ***  |
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
Edited by John1
09/10/2022 4:03 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4233 Posts |
Don't use ebay asking prices, use sold prices there and from Heritage and Great Collections - but you'll need to have a grade decision first. Pictures need to be sharper to decide what grade and whether it has issues (cleaning etc). From what I see wear-wise it's at least AU. But on Numismedia AU50-MS63 spread is $300-900, so you have to zero in. |
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New Member
 United States
3 Posts |
Great links and comments - Thanks guys!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
I'd like to see sharper images of your Barber half. I fear it may have been cleaned.  to the CCF! |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
With lower valued silver coins, there as a value component related to the silver content and this is directly related to the current sliver spot price. Stamps, Notes and base metal coins have collector value only. All four collector categories have a very loose relationship to the fine arts market generally, but as individual groups, they all have their own macro market. As with all individual items in any category, value comes down to individual assessment. Catalog values can help with relative pricing of items within each group, depending on condition and rarity, and based on past individual market records. I agree, -don't use ebay as your authority for valuing your collectibles, unless you do lots of research to determine an average price from a huge amount of input info. For most novice collectors, this is just too much effort. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2333 Posts |
Hey Paul to CCF We all appreciate the fact that you want to fair and honest. But lets be fair and honest...the coin is not graded by a 3rd party grader...so without that...you're kinda being dishonest....to yourself. You don' want to cut youself short but you don't want to be overly generous either... I would "try" and explain that you feel the coin is "this" grade...but because it's not "offical"...you are taking on the risk. I have been successful proposing the idea of 50% of the non graded value...since I'm the one taking the risk (I know it sounds like Rick Harris from pawn stars)(coin could be deemed cleaned)(now it's woth 50% of the appraised value) I have absorbed the submission fee...insurance...shipping... I may actully be in a hole. Or "they" could take the time to submit it and then you pay them the fair mkt value of the graded coin they took the time to submit. I know on the surface it sounds silly...but it's the way I deal with coins in quart bags, jars or a boxes... Don't cut youself short! smat |
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
Fantastic feedback. I will take scans of the front and back of a few coins in the next couple of days with my guess at condition just to see if I've got a clue.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
If ebay pictures, they are not good enough to make a buy decision at that supposed grade level, or to be able to grade accurately enough from pictures alone. I think that its fair enough to be sure to be able to proceed with a purchase, but only with information that both know is reliable enough. or, 100% guarantee from the seller, and approval after examination from the buyer, and due diligence with price research, from all internet sites that are openly accessible. That sort of procedure should provide a good re education into how to go about current grading practices, and how to make use on pricing information to make fair and reasonable purchases. Photograde site useful in education on how to grade US coins. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
18645 Posts |
try using this to get decent photos using a phone. it helped me a lot 1. remove coin from holder if possible 2. turn off flash 3. place coin on flat surface with indirect natural light. maybe a window sill in a cloudy day 4. move phone about 3in from coin 5. zoom in using your fingers until the coin comes into focus 6. hold phone steady. if you cant then place something on either side of the coin at that distance and lay phone on top. this will hold it steady and allow you to zoom and take the photo without any blurring the photos, especially reverse, is too blurry. the coin may have been cleaned and this could effect value. i suggest pulling out those that you feel have a decent value. take photos using the above and post each one on separate threads here. CCF will help grade for you then you can use some of the comments about pricing here to help value them. you should use a combination of pricing http://www.numismedia.com/fmv/fmv.shtmlhttps://www.PCGS.com/prices ebay sold coins also Heritage and Great Collections as previously stated |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5394 Posts |
If you want to stay friends , let a legitimate
third party appraise the lot . In other words
pay for an appraisal .
Then you can offer to buy them for what
the appraised cash value is .
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
As long as the appraiser is knowledgeable in coins. John1  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5394 Posts |
And that is what I said LEGITIMATE 3RD PARTY ..
You wouldn't pay a non competent to do a proper coin appraisal!
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Moderator
United States
187862 Posts |
to the Community! |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,201 |
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Posted 09/10/2022 4:28 pm
