Your Guide To Pricing Your Coin Collection

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

As with anything in the world, your coin collection will be subject to supply and demand.  If there is no demand for coins the price you can get for them is going to be little to nothing.  However, as the demand goes up so too is the price.  Here is a quick coin collecting guide to determining the value of your set.

What you will find is that any coin is worth what people are willing to pay for it.  You cannot force anyone to purchase your coins for a particular amount.  In order to establish a fair and acceptable price from the buyer’s perspective, there are some things you will need to take into consideration.

The first thing to pay attention to is the coin’s identification.  Take into account the country of origin, the face value, date, and design of the coin.  All of these details can raise or lower the price you will get for your set.

The next part to your coin collecting guide is the authenticity of the coin.  The more authentic and rare the coin is the more you are going to get for it.  In order to determine that actual authenticity of your set, it must be established by an expert.  This is mandatory for rare coins.

Moving right along, you will next want to look at the grade of your coins.  This refers to the condition of the coin, which obviously has a huge effect on how well the coin will present itself.  Buyers are going to look at whether the coin is in mintstate, which is brand new, or if it is circulated, which is used. 

If you want to be taken seriously by buyers and investors, it is important you have taken extreme care of your coins.  You will find in any coin collecting guide that coins should not be messed with or cleaned whatsoever.  If a coin has been tampered by cleaning or polishing, is corroded, scratched or altered, it is guaranteed to drop significantly in price.

The last thing you will want to look at in order to determine the value of your coin collection is the bullion value.  The bullion value refers to the metals the coin is made of.  If the metals are of higher value, chances are your coins will be worth more.

There are several factors you will want to consider when trying to determine the price and value of your coins.  Everything from the authenticity to the condition of your coins can help you identify the worth of your coins.  Use this coin collecting guide to help you accurately price your coin set.

Tom Lindstrom is a coin collecting expert. For more great information on coin collecting be sure to visit http://www.coincollectingpennies.com.

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Why You Need To Consider Your Coin Collection Value

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

The coin collection value is the most important aspect of coin collecting for most collectors. Many people regard coin collecting as an investment, so they need to be updated with market demands. In general, the valuation of a particular coin depends on its condition, mint rarity and denomination which is why collectors must build up their knowledge in these areas.

There are many price guides which are used for referencing by coin collectors. "The Standard Catalog of World Coins" by Chester L. Krause and Clifford Mishler manage to cover coins starting from 1601, all the way down to the present time in five volumes. In the book, coins are identified and their prices are listed.  When trying to determine my coin collection value I have often referred to this publication and can personally recommend it as a good source of information.

A guide book for United States coins called the "Red Book" is published annually and is also a respected authority as a retail price guide. The "Blue Book" and the "Black Book" are also well established price guides to determine the value of a coin and thus the coin collection value. The "Coin Dealer Newsletter", more popularly known as "the Greysheet", is a price guide for coin dealers. The Numismatic News publishes prices for dealers, bidders and retailers. There are even online resources which maintain prices of coins like the "NumisMedia" website and a price guide for U.K. coins maintained by Tony Clayton can be found on his personal website.

As a rule rare coins are more expensive but rarity does not necessarily have to do with the age of the coin. Some Chinese coins which might be a thousand years old do not sell at high rates because they are common. The price of the coin also depends on the demand for the coin. If a lot of collectors want a particular coin, its price will get higher.

Collectors must also think about grade when establishing their coin collection value. Coin grading is a method of assessing the condition of the coin - the grade of the coin has a high determination of the eventual valuation of the coin. If a coin has been damaged its price will be reduced. Similarly, bullion also plays a role in determining value - the presence of precious metals like Gold and Silver increase the price of the coins as well. The aesthetical appeal of the coin has an effect on its price as well; it makes the coin more attractive for the collector. The American Numismatic Association has a 1-70 range for assessing coins, where 70 represents a faultless coin. The Numismatic Guarantee Corporation (NGC) and the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) are two organizations that go through the meticulous task of grading coins. Coins that have been certified by these reputable organizations have a higher value as their authenticity is more valid and reliable. ICG, Independent Coin Grading, and ANACS, handled by the American Numismatic Association are two other reliable grading services available.

Many people have accumulated tables of coin values which show coin collectors the values of particular coins – these tables can be built up over the course of a lifetime and can prove invaluable when establishing the coin collecting value; they give the collector the knowledge regarding which coins are worthy to be collected. There are also lists of coins worth collecting available with coins that are scarce ranked considerably higher. For example the 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent would be one of these coins. Items such as the legendary 1913 "V" nickel can be worth over $100,000. These hefty prices show why so many investors are willing to invest in coin collecting and expect high rates of return to their investments.

Jamie Singer has been collecting coins for a little over 20 years now. He has built up a large collection containing some of the most rare coins to be found. During this time he has built up a wealth of knowledge which he is now sharing on his website http://www.coincollectingrevealed.com/

For more information on the coin collecting value make sure you visit his website.

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