Monday, April 6, 2009

Why Finding the Right Coin Price Guide is Important

If you're new at coin collecting, you might find yourself overly excited at the prospect of finding or holding a coin that's priceless. Some coins are worth more than others, while other coins are not worth anything at all. To help you figure out if what you have is treasure or trash, you should seek a reliable coin price guide. These days, you can find several coin price guides in the Internet. Like coins, some of these coin price guides are genuine and reliable, while others are inaccurate and misleading. It's best if you ask the help of a coin expert in determining the value of the coin or coins in your possession.

In the meantime, you'll do well with settling on a credible source that provides an accurate chart of coin prices of values. You can find several websites that contain coin price guides. The value of a coin depends upon several factors, including the demand for it, its scarcity or rarity, its quality, and its bullion value. One other important coin characteristic or trait that can help influence or determine its value is its grade, which is basically where coin price guides base their prices.

First of all, you should learn the common coins that coin collectors seek for. These coins are the Mercury dimes, Buffalo nickels, Liberty Head v-nickels, Indian Head pennies, Draped Bust dollar, Flowing Hair dollar, Peace dollar, Ike dollar, Barber dime, and Wheat pennies, among many others. A coin price guide will no doubt include the prices for these coins. What is great about certified coin price guides is that they tell you how much your coins are really worth or at least average dealer asking prices, as opposed to the lower retail prices that most coin dealers are willing to give you for them.

The coin market, unlike other commercial markets out there, is comparatively volatile and not heavily capitalized. Moreover, important short-term price swings are always just around the corner waiting to pounce at the most opportune moment. This is why most online businesses in the coin pricing industry do not guarantee profit and security against loss for any coin that you buy or sell (or buy and sell) according to the information you gather from such sites. Moreover, you can find several additional output or information regarding coin prices from time to time which should help you arrive at a wise decision.

The prices in some coin price guides are compiled from a variety of sources, such as dealer advertisements found in trade papers, dealer fixed price lists, vital auctions, and trading activity and coin impression that takes place in major coin shows. Based on all these things, prices for coins are updated on a regular basis, especially those of the most actively traded coins.

In general, a coin price guide should serve as a guide and assist the buying public in identifying the values of coins. It is most useful to coin collectors of all ages from all places.

Coin collecting is the collecting of coins and/or some other form of legally minted currency whether still in circulation or has been in circulation for some time.
Source: articlesbase.com