Coin pricing

[Guest DAS]

Does anyone know how coin prices by grades in the various Coins Year Books (Sphinx Annual Catalogue etc) are arrived at?

What do we make of discrepancies between guides?

DAS

[Chris Perkins 228]

DAS,

Sorry, I think I may have acidentally removed your membership during a period of housekeeping a while ago If you re register as DAS I'll bump your no. of posts up.

There are some quite big differences between price guides aren't there. They all claim to get their results from dealers lists, auction results, market feel, independant experts etc.

For my coins I rarely charge the full Spink prices (except for very rare of choice sought after coins). From what I have heard, many regard the 'British Coin Market Values 2004' as showing more or less the most accurate prices in most instances, but of course others say differently.

[Sylvester 15]

For my coins I rarely charge the full Spink prices (except for very rare of choice sought after coins). From what I have heard, many regard the 'British Coin Market Values 2004' as showing more or less the most accurate prices in most instances, but of course others say differently.

The British Coin Market that rings a bell, don't they do prices for George III - Present in Silver and Copper only?

Not much good to me i fear, as i have now completely quit collecting British Coins with a date after 1800.

And the only George III ones i'll be interested in now will be gold ones. As i have both the sixpences i wanted.

[Chris Perkins 228]

No, the book covers everything, Celtic to Now. You're probably thinking of the equally well put together 'Collectors Coins Great Britain 2004;

I've got a fine 1791 Guinea, is that up your street?

[Sylvester 15]

No, the book covers everything, Celtic to Now. You're probably thinking of the equally well put together 'Collectors Coins Great Britain 2004;

I've got a fine 1791 Guinea, is that up your street?

hmm spade guinea hey...

i'll have a look for nothing, but i've got my eye either on another Quarter Noble or on that Eadwig penny. The Eadwig is the one i really want, but it's a bit over my budget, i could get it sure, but you never know what's around the corner, and i might leave myself short of cash.

Then there was that 1677 sixpence i needed. I will actually buy that one day.

[Master Jmd 83]

From what I have heard, many regard the 'British Coin Market Values 2004' as showing more or less the most accurate prices in most instances, but of course others say differently.

the British coin market values 2004 is not the best of books, i have got it, but i would say it is more of a book for total beginers, or people who want to get an average price to sell a coin at...

i now have the spink coin catalouge 2004 and it is much more detailed and easer to understand...

[Sylvester 15]

i like Spink's prices, rather than Coincraft's.

But when you compare the two on factual information Spink's is blown out of the water.

I also like the way Coincraft have arranged theirs by demonination rather than by monarch, it means i can easily look through all the sixpences without having to get jealous from having to pass through 5 guinea land, or getting tin fever from passing through farthing land.

And they have more pictures of type varities. Spinks tend to list next to the date something like this...

1928... many varities..... (and then the prices)

Coincraft would do this.

1928 small lettering....

1928 large lettering...

1928 redefined borders....

1928 8/7

etc. (that was a total made up example)

I prefer Coincraft over Spinks info wise, price wise t'other way around.

Another reason why i prefer Coincraft is with the hammered stuff i can now actually identify the coins cos they have pictures of every class, Spinks just list them and put only a few pics up. I couldn't attribute my Edward I penny to any class in Spinks (class 10A wasn't illustrated), Coincraft i did it in about 10 minutes. All those years of wondering what it was too...

[Master Jmd 83]

the British coin market values 2004 also lists the coins by coin type not monarch...i like that...but still prefer spinks

[Emperor Oli 0]

I hope Coincraft release another edition of their book because I would buy it to go hand-in-hand with Spink's. Coin Yearbook lists its (oft-wrong) prices by denomination too.

[Guest DAS]

But how are average prices calculated?

Take a category like British Copper, in any one year anyone like to guess how the market divides up? I have no idea but I bet a measurable slug is traded on Ebay and I bet that's not averaged into the year book prices.

So how would you go about calculating the market price for a particular coins in the current year? I know some auction house ( for a fee) offer a access to a database of transactions , so is this the only ( automated) way it could be done?

[Master Jmd 83]

for spink: there are different departments at spink, so each department looks at a paricular type eg: bronze department looks at bronze etc...but i do not know if that is correct...

[Chris Perkins 228]

I think online auctions, especially ebay are major players with large volumes of lower priced (and some higher) coins offered, and I also don't believe they are taken into account when many of the catalogues are compiled.

I shouldn't think there would be an automated accurate way of doing it. Any market prices can only be arrived at be educated research. In the end, it's just down to who's educated research you take as gospel. Like most people I think it's best to make your own comparisons and use your own experience to arrive at accurate values.

[Guest DAS]

Thanks chaps, I think this needs some work, watch this space.

I will re-register Chris ( since I've been spring cleaned) but I have a dilemma.... I have to choose my avatar now ...... you all look so proffessional.... a chap with long hair , a cat with glasses , some young man sitting on a blanket ....hmm