Numismedia Fmv Price Guide On NGC Site

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Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 2,616
Rayhaldo Valued Member United States 74 Posts	Posted 06/12/2010 11:19 pm I would like to hear opinions on the use of this FMV price guide to purchasing coins. Does anyone use this regularly? Do you think it is a good tool to use? Do you think the values are on the high side or low side? Any information would be helpful. Report this Post to the Staff

fioti Pillar of the Community United States 4212 Posts	Posted 06/13/2010 09:55 am I find it gives you a "ballpark" figure. The values are not written in stone. They, along with others; combined with completed auctions lets you know what others are willing to pay. I guess that's true value. Report this Post to the Staff
nickelsearcher Moderator United States 15395 Posts	Posted 06/13/2010 10:23 am with fioti. There have been many threads here on the topic of 'pricing coins' and at the end of the day the general consensus is that all of the various guides are just that ...... guides. One significant caution that I'll add as a result of my year or so learning from the experts on this great forum ....... technical grade (VF, EF, MS this or that) is just one component of pricing and buying coins ........ and a focus on price guides and grade alone will result in sub-optimal purchases of poorer quality coins in the long run. The 'quality' of a coin is also dependent upon strike sharpness and eye appeal ..... characteristics that can not be determined by technical grade alone. Dealers make a good living off folks who 'buy the slab' which contains an inferior coin (for the grade) as this tends to keep the prices propped up. The key to smart use of these guides IMHO is to cherrypick superior coins for the grade and use the guides as a reference to keep from overpaying. Here is a specific example of how I approach it .... I'm currently looking for a 1935 Hudson Half-Dollar in the technical grade of MS64. Numismedia FMV is $1410. CDN (greysheet) has it at $1200/$1275. Sooooo ..... as I prowl through the various MS64 coins available ..... I immediately discard all those with (to me) ugly toning. I'm looking for original white surfaces with full luster. With a clean MS64 in hand ...... I know that the center of the reverse sail is the first place to observe strike weakness ...... so I discard all those with evidence of planchet marks. Now I have a clean, well struck coin ..... then it's price guide time! Dealer says $1800 ...... nope. Dealer says $1100 ..... bargain! Dealer says $1300 ...... will probably purchase it knowing I am getting a superior coin for a fair price. Geepers .... a long answer to a short question. David Take a look at my other hobby ... http://www.jk-dk.art Report this Post to the Staff
Rayhaldo Valued Member United States 74 Posts	Posted 06/13/2010 1:58 pm That was a great learning example that will help me going forward. Thanks for the mini on-line seminar Report this Post to the Staff
rastatodd Valued Member United States 487 Posts	Posted 06/13/2010 5:00 pm I started collecting coins with the help of this book "Coin Collecting for Dummies" by Ron Guth. I'm not embarrassed to say I used a "for Dummies" book to get started in this hobby. In the book he put the hobby in terms a "Newbie" like myself could understand. In the book he states that "all prices are negotiable" in acquiring a coin. And with the various guides out there it gives you a starting point. A person doesn't like to over pay for a coin, a person and the dealer would just like what is fair! Report this Post to the Staff
nickelsearcher Moderator United States 15395 Posts	Posted 06/13/2010 8:24 pm Quote: Thanks for the mini on-line seminar No worries ..... most of what I have learned has been from hanging around the experts on this forum and reading books. Hope you do the same. There is another valuable way your price guides can help you as a collector ...... follow this logic ... Here is another tid-bit of information for your consideration as you grow in your collecting and pricing knowledge .... a concept that Q. David Bowers calls "Optimal Collecting Grade" (call it OCG for purposes of less typing in this post). The OCG is the technical grade (mind my words above about cherrypicking within any given grade) whereby the price jump to the next higher grade is not worthy of the investment ..... I say a 33% price increase for 1 technical grade point is not worth it. You should learn the OCG of every coin in the series you are collecting ..... and this is another great place where price guides can help you. Lets go back to my example of the 1935 Hudson Half-Dollar ...... why did you suppose I choose to find a coin in MS64 state? Optimal Collectible Grade of course. Using CND 'greysheet ask' price guide for a 1935 Hudson ... XF .... $600 AU .... $650 MS60 .. $770 MS63 .. $950 MS64 .. $1275 MS65 .. $1800 MS66 .. $2550 An examination of the 'guide' price break points leads me to the conclusion that I am willing to pay an additional 25% to make the jump from MS63 to MS64 ..... but not willing to make the additional 30% jump to MS65 (unless I can find a true steal of a great coin .... it does happen) ..... for sure not willing to make the 100% price increase between MS64 and MS66. Others may say the OCG here is MS63 .... and I could not argue with that. My collecting goal for this series is tone-free well-struck MS64 and better coins ..... so that is where I draw the OCG line for this coin. Another long reply .... hope it helps. Go read some books by Q. David Bowers. David Take a look at my other hobby ... http://www.jk-dk.art Edited by nickelsearcher 06/13/2010 8:27 pm Report this Post to the Staff
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