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Understanding Coin Price Guides
By Robert L Taylor, JD
There are many coin price guides
published; weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and
annually. They come in the form of magazines,
newsprint, “hot sheets”, and books. All of us
have referred to one of these from time to time
to ascertain what a particular coin might be
worth. Yet, few of us stop to think about what
we are getting from any one of these Price
Guides, beyond the price or value of a coin.
After all, don’t price guides, just give you the
price? What else is there?
Basic to an understanding of price guides are
two things: 1) the Grade of the Coin; and 2) the
Foundation of the price guide. Knowing the Grade
of the Coin is required before one can begin.
Saying so seems to be obvious, but what more
does it mean?
Unless the coin is Graded by an appropriate
Professional Grading Company, which has
designated what Grade and Identity has been
assigned to the coin, most of us are making an
assumption about the actual Grade. This
assumption we make can be very dangerous because
of: a) the difficulty in grading a coin; and, b)
the different possible outcomes or results that
occur. One Grade “point” or level can make the
difference in hundreds or thousands of dollars
in the Value of a Coin.
Price Guides assume that YOU already Know the
Grade of the Coin. This is why we have the First
Rule of Coin Collecting: Know the Grade of Your
Coin.
Secondly, ALL Price Guides are founded on the
same Principle, which is that the Coin, whose
price you are looking up, has been Graded using
one Grading Standard. That Grading Standard is
set by the ANA – American Numismatic Association
– and is entitled the Official Grading Standards
For US Coins.
Therefore, ALL Price Guides have a “silent
assumption” built in to their guide; which is
that the Grade that YOU decide upon, is True or
Accurate, and that such Grade is based on the
ANA Standards.
The first difficulty that arises is that most
people never know if the Grade that they have
decided upon is Accurate. Of course, this
difficulty never comes into question, if the
coin is Professionally Graded by an appropriate
company. There are only four (4) reputable
Professional Grading companies that strictly
follow the Guidelines set by the ANA, and they
are: PCGS, NCG, ICG, and ANACS.
The second difficulty arises because of this
“silent assumption” or Foundation of all price
guides is whether or not the Grade has been
decided upon using the Guidelines or Standards
established by the ANA. If you don’t have the
skills and training of a professional coin
grader, the decision is probably questionable.
Even if you do have the skills and training of a
professional coin grader, the decision is still
probably questionable. Why? Because even
professional coin graders have differing
opinions. This is why the reputable professional
coin grading companies require the opinions of
three (3) professional coin graders to arrive at
the “Grade” designation to be placed on every
coin.
The obvious conclusion is that a Serious Coin
Collector is going to invest in rare and modern
coins that are graded by one of the Top Four
reputable Grading companies. It is the only
certain way to eliminate the disagreements and
arguments about the Grade of Any coin being
Bought or Sold! It is the only certain way one
can Value their coin collection. It also
eliminates “getting taken” or cheated buying raw
coins.
Have fun collecting your Perfect Coins!
Robert L Taylor, JD
Copyright © 2006
Robert Taylor is a 59 year old retired Lawyer,
from Denver, CO, who spent most of his career
representing people who has had a passion for
collecting US coins. Wanting to share his
Passion, he created http://www.ThePerfect-Coin.Com
which features US Rare and Modern Dollars (from
1878) and Coins (from 1960), all Certified and
Graded by NGC or PCGS. |