Coin Values

The Basics of Coin Valuation and Using price Guides

What Are Your Coins Worth?

CoinWeek gets upwards to 150 emails a week from people asking; “What are my Coins Worth?“, and it is impossible to answer all of them in a timely manner, so we are going to be building and expanding this New PRICES section of CoinWeek to assist people in finding their own answers, and to address some of the perennial questions surrounding, Price Guides, Identification and Valuation.We invite you to submit your questions. comments and feedback here.

The Three Basics: RARITY, CONDITION and DEMAND

Rarity is the easy part. Using the Date and Mint mark of the coin, the marketplace fixes a coins rarity based on the original mintage and the estimated number of surviving specimens. Population reports also identify “Condition Rarities“; coins that may be common in lower grades but very rare in higher grades.

Coin Identification – Knowing What you Have.

In order to value any coin one has to know what the coin is. Basic Coin Identification includes the Coin Type, Year and Mint Mark. However within almost every coin series there are varieties, differences between the different dates and/or within the date. Some of these varieties exhibit subtle differences in the design, Some are the result of different dies being used during the production of the coins during a particulate date. Same are error coins, Double dies, Overdates…. the list goes on. The point is knowing what you have is essential to establishing a coins true market value.
[Coming Soon]

How to Use and Interpret The Price Guides

Price guides are just that….. Guides. Some, such as the “Red Book”, are published annually and generally reflect a Retail price, however in active markets the values shown are often “out of date”. Other guides like the “GreySheet” are subscription based and updated continuously. They attempt to track the dealer Bid and Ask prices for coins, yet there are shortcoming here as well. Every Price Guide in the market has both strengths and weaknesses, and we will attempt to point these out to you as we build this section of CoinWeek.

Wholesale Vs. Retail Prices – Plus Thoughts on “Premiums”

Wholesale prices (dealer to dealer sales) and retail prices are two different beasts, although the lines between the two have become blurred as of late. Due to the volume of price information currently available, often much of it either inaccurate, out dated or just plain wrong, all of the current price guides need to be evaluated with a measure of caution. This is especially true for major rarities and coins with exceptional eye appeal which usually carry significant premiums over their less attractive peers. Again we will be posting a series of articles discussing all of the above in the coming weeks and months.

VALUE RANGE Pricing

One of the goals with this section of CoinWeek will be to introduce the concept and practice of “Value Range Pricing” for pre 1964 coins. Coins of the same date, the same variety and the same grade trade within a range of values based on the astetics of the coins, the acuracy of the grading, the market conditions and the motivation of both the seller and the buyer. Trying to say that an 1866 Seated Liberty Half dollar in VF-20 is valued at $50 is inaccurate when in reality the coin may actually trade in a value range between $25 to $150.

Over the coming months we will be building a “Value Range Pricing Index” for the most popular US collector coins. We will be soliciting both your input and the expertise of many of our CoinWeek Content Partners to present a different and more accurate way of establishing Coin Values and Pricing.

Below are links to several Price Guides that will give you a general idea of what your coins are worth in today’s market:

PCGS Price Guide
The PCGS Price Guide prices apply only to PCGS-graded coins. Coins that do not meet the PCGS grading standards may be less, and in some cases substantially less, than the prices listed here.

NGC Coin Price Guide
Enjoy free access to the most comprehensive and accurate US coin price guide. The rare coin values shown in the NGC Coin Price Guide are independently compiled and edited by NumisMedia based on real, documented market transactions.

NGC World Gold Coin Price Guide
The World Gold Coins Value Guide reflects average asking prices for common date, NGC-certified examples in the grades shown.

Coinflation – Melt Values of Coins
Find out who much a coin is worth based on its melt value. Available for Copper , Silver and Gold coins. Fantastic site to determine bullion value in every coin denomination.

Coin Dealer Newsletter
The Only Source for Accurate, Timely & Unbiased Rare Coin Pricing Information! [Subscription] Since 1963, the Coin Dealer Newsletter has been in the information business, selling current, accurate wholesale information on the Bid and Ask levels of U.S. coins and currency.

Coin World’s Coin Values [Subscription]
Coin Values Online provides retail values for more than 45,000 U.S. coins. It is updated weekly to provide you with the most comprehensive and current retail pricing information available in the marketplace.

Heritage Price Guide for Numismatists
The Heritage Value Index™ is based on recent wholesale and auction transactions for NGC and PCGS certified coins.

Numismaster
Based on 50-plus years of Krause Publications data and updated daily, NumisMaster price guides provide current coin prices/ [Subscription] Separate Guides for US Coins, World Coins, Banknotes

NumisMedia FMV Price Guide
The prices listed within the NumisMedia FMV Price Guide represent our Fair Market Value determination for a properly graded coin within each category. The pricing information we report comes from all over the numismatic market including many reliable dealers known for their unbiased market knowledge and information.

US Coin Values Advisor
US Coin Values Advisor researches historical price trends for United States collectible coins. Value trend data is presented in a series of concise Coin Value Tables™. These tables empower the coin collecting public to study the up-and-down price movements of individual US coins over the last half century plus.

Coin Archives
CoinArchives.com is a repository of Ancient and World coins previously featured in major numismatic auctions. It brings together the text, images, and prices realized from catalogs issued by some of the world’s most prestigious coin firms.

Teletrade USA Coin Price Guide
Search for prices realized for US coins sold on Teletrade

Error Coins Price Guide
This Error Coin Price Guide is brought to you by minterrornews.com . It has been compiled by many of the top mint error dealers and published by Error Coin expert, Mike Byers.

Ecoinprices
ecoinprices.com is a guide to assist the coin buying public in determining values for all significant United States rare coins

Swiss Coin Price Guide
All prices are in Swiss Francs. They reflect the average level at which coins were sold by dealers in Switzerland in the first half of 2004.

Values of Coins of England and Great Britain
This is the Index to a series of pages listing the current retail values of Milled Coins used in the United Kingdom. The hammered series is far too complex to give detailed listings of values (the milled series is bad enough!). It is stressed that the prices quoted are a guide only, and in UK pounds

British Coin Price Guide
Another price guide for UK coins from 1658 to the present.

Books on Coin Prices from Wizard Coin Supply
The most common US coin value book is called “A Guide Book of United States Coins” (The Official Red Book) authored by R. S. Yeoman and Kenneth Bressett and published yearly by Whitman. However, there are a number of other books on coin values. Here is a comprehensive list all available for purchase.

Quick Reference Guide to U.S. Paper Money Values
Heritage provides a basic guide to US paper Money which is a good online resource to start.

U.S. Currency Price Guide
Current Market Values for U.S. Paper Money based on recent auction prices. Values are based on average prices from recent and past auction results. The information provided here should be used only as a guide.