Current coin pricing

[rollmeupabe]

Wow. I have not been spending a lot of time coin collecting in the last year for a bunch of reasons. Coppercoins has always been a great website but the number of coins now listed is jus fantastic. I have piles of those coins I set aside to identify later that are now probably listed.

I am currently unemployed and was thinking about starting to sell off some of my coins but I am not up to date on the coin market.

I have a bunch of DDO's and DDR's (1936 thru 1960's), bags and rolls of wheaties, a few 1944D/S OMM's, mint set and proof sets from the 60's thru 90's and to a lesser degree some silver (mostly 40's and 50's).

I was looking for insights into what is hot today and if the slower economy has had the impact of causing prices to decline. I don't want to put up a bunch of Ebay auctions and have stuff sell for half the price I thought it was worth. For example, the prices on CC for some of the 1936 DDO's http://coppercoins.com/lincoln/dietype.php?date=1936&die_mint=p&die_type=do&page=0 and 1941 DDOs http://coppercoins.com/lincoln/dietype.php?date=1941&die_mint=p&die_type=do&page=0 and the 1944D/S look great. Are these prices pretty solid in today's Ebay auction world?

Also, would it be safe to assume mixed lots of wheaties with teens thru 50's and some S mints should get 6-10 cents per penny? I was planning on selling in lots of 500 to 1500 coins apiece.

Any input is appreciated.

[rollmeupabe]

One of the things I can quickly see is that Ebay has not changed. This coin http://www.coppercoins.com/lincoln/diestate.php?date=1956&die_id=1956d1mm020&die_state=lds is listed on Ebay as this http://cgi.ebay.com/1956-D-BU-LINCOLN-WHEAT-CENT-RPM-18-VERY-RARE-DOUBLED-D_W0QQitemZ230274764179QQihZ013QQcategoryZ524QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The buy it now price is describe as "the lowest ever offered on Ebay" but it is about 20 times what the coin is probably worth. Why didn't anyone ever bid that high on my coins !

As the current stock market is showing it takes all kinds of fools to make a market.

[Bob P]

We have a caveat on the site that states the prices listed are not buy/sell prices. This is what it says on every page:

Value Information
The values represented here are based on sales results, auction results, and information derived from overall percentage based values given for lower grade specimens in other guides and sales sheets. It is not intended to be interpreted as a buy or sell price nor intent to purchase on behalf of this site. It is only to be used as a guide .

I do not go in and change prices unless there is a glaring discrepancy between what is there and what auction data and other sales have shown. Some of these coins have been on the site for over 5 years, so I am sure their value has changed. As you mentioned, there are many coins shown. With almost 2450 coins listed, can you imagine the time and effort that will be required to update those?

As far as what's hot and what's not, and whether or not the slow-down in the economy has had an effect on prices, I would say it has not. Sales still seem to be average for varieties, and the increase in bullion prices has increased prices on those made of Gold, Silver, Platinum, etc. Spendable income may have decreased for some folks, but when collectors have their mind on a purchase, they seem to buy as long as it meets their financial limits.

[rollmeupabe]

Bob, thanks for the insights, and many many thanks for the wealth of information provided on the sight. Unbelievalbe that CC is over 12,000 varieties listed now.

I understood the pricing caveats for the info on the site but they provide some idea of relative values. The last stuff I sold was about a year ago so I just wanted to make sure my wheaties values had not dropped as much as my house.

[eagames]

Just my opinion of prices listed vs what you can get....

The minor things only get good prices if someone realy wants it but the big high grade ones sell for more than listed prices.

A lot of things on ebay with big prices are there because the seller is proud to show it off but they don't often get the moon money they ask for. If they truly want to sell it they list it with a low start price and the bids set the real value.

I'm reading a book by David Hall (Mr PCGS) that he wrote in the late 80s. "A Mercenarys guide to the rare coin market" It's full of his opinions of prices and what was hot in the 80s. I notice that prices were high then, maybe higher or the same on most old wheats but the rarest key ones are the ones that truly increased in price. I see varieties are similar in price trends.

I guess it tells me coins are best as a hobby, when selling you still should atleast get your money back (so it's better than spending on most things) but don't expect big gains on anything but the best coins.

[coppercoins]

A couple of things...

1. The prices in the guide on this site have not been regularly maintained in over a year. For a number of the varieties, this isn't such a big deal, but for the major varieties and for the early year cents (1909-1934) I would suggest asking here or sending me an email and I will get you more up to date values on specific dies. Dies added in the last year will have more or less accurate pricing, but I still need to review all pricing at some point to ensure everything is in line with the current market.

2. I am working on the time and energy to redevelop coppercoins.com from the ground up. There is a LOT of work to do in this area, but one of the things I have a vision for is a price guide for Lincoln cent die varieties that is more or less an automated process. Once this is in place, I would feel much more comfortable sending someone to the price guide on the site for current variety pricing guidelines.

[carlb]

If your planning on getting rid of some or most of your collection and you have a decent amount, I would suggest a coin show. Of course that depends on if there are some in your area, you have the time to go and sit there all day. I don't mean to sell them to dealers there, I mean to go there and rent a space and sell them.
Price guides everywhere are just that, guides. They are in general not to be used for anything but a guide. As to the coin market around me, it is getting nuts. We have about 3 coins shows a month within about 14 miles or so of me. At the last 2 I just went to the prices are basically even higher than the Red Book. One dealer I normally deal with had some Mercury Dimes I wanted but his prices were just off the wall. So far over that even when he offered me a large discount, the prices were rediculous. And as to customers, the last two shows were so crowded I ended up leaving due to just to many people bumping me all the time in aisles that are just to small.
You may well want to try this. Remember that if you sell at a coin show, no postage, handling, mailing, insurances, lost in mails, etc.