online coin price guide

[savant365]

Does anyone know of an online price guide for coins (U S and Canada) that is good for use as a reference. I have been looking at the PCGS but I have heard that it might not be very realistic. I have 2 barber halves, 1893-S and 1897-O, PCGS lists them at $165 and $170 on the lowest end of the price. I also have several other coins but they seem to be pretty common except for an 1880-H Canadian dime that I can't find much information on. Unfortunately I don't have any way to post pictures right now. I would like to trade them for a nice used detector but I would like to know what would be fair to ask for. Thanks in advance for your help.

Charlie

 

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[Charlie P. (NY)]

PCGS is high (IMHO). Perhaps because they make a living slabbing coins, and few folks want to pay more or as much as a coin is worth just to have it slabbed. Overvalue it by 2X and you double your market.

I get copies of Coin Prices at the grocery store. The May 2007 issue has US & Canadian

 

[BioProfessor]

When I used to deal in a fair number of rare coins, the weekly "Grey Sheet" was the only reliable guide and it was only a guide. They listed coins with a bid and buy price but for some of the really good coins, the price was much higher than the guide.

A coin is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. There are quite a few auction houses out there selling coins. Try to find one that has recently sold coins that are close to the ones you have. That price should be close and a reasonable expectation of what it is worth.

It is almost impossible to determine the value of a coin. Even graded and slabbed coin prices aren't very steady from week to week or coin to coin. The best you can hope for is finding one that sold recently that is close to yours in grade AND appearance and figure the price today may be up or down from that. Sometimes significantly.

Hope this helps.

Daryl