|
Coin Price Guide -- Finding Prices Without Paying
There is always a place to find coin values without having to purchase a coin price guide. All you have to do is get a little creative. Below are several locations that are free and easily accessible by the average coin collector.
Coin Prices on Search Engines -- It is amazing how connected we are to each other. With a couple of clicks, the knowledge of the world is at your fingertips. When using a search engine to find pricing for a particular coin, be sure to put in just enough information. If you put in too much, you may not get any results. Not enough information will lead to a very broad result set, causing needless extra work. To get optimal results, it is recommended the following criteria are entered:
· Year of Coin
· Type of Coin
· Coin Mint Mark
· Grade
Entering the grade is optional. If you have a fairly common coin, it will be easy to find numerous recent prices. Examples would be U.S. coins issued after 1880. These numismatic items, generally, were produced in large enough quantities to allow a broad base of distribution. The exceptions to this are error coins, commemorative issues and some proof sets.
If, after performing a basic search using the above criteria, one finds little or no results, try removing the grade in the search query. Oftentimes, just removing the coin grade is enough to broaden the search criteria enough to find the pricing needed while not being overburdened by additional, useless results.
Coin Prices on EBay -- Another great resource for value-oriented coin collectors is EBay. EBay is home to thousands and thousands of coin auctions every week. The website, conveniently, breaks down coins into numerous categories and subcategories. EBay is, especially, useful in trying to find pricing on ancient coins, including roman coins and Greek coinage.
One of EBay’s greatest features is its "Completed Listings" option. It is only available for registered members. However, to numismatists, the tool is indispensible. Using the tool, it is possible to see which coins sold and for how much. Although the pricing may be depressed, versus selling at a high end coin auction, it does provide a pretty good guide to the value of a particular issue. In this writer's opinion, EBay’s prices tend to reflect the immediate, liquidity value of a collection or individual piece. Keep this in mind when determining coin valuation.
In summary, there are numerous coin price guide alternatives out there. If one is looking for coin values and does not want to spend the money on the next "Red Book", use the tools above. | 
