Many collectors have come across a particular coin
from time to time and wondered whether they had something of great value in
their possession. This feature describes the main factors influencing a coin's
value and provides some guidance in obtaining an estimate of such value.
Remember, however, that the mere fact that a coin does not have significant
monetary value does not mean that it is not interesting or that it should not
form part of your collection.
Factors Influencing Value
The value of a particular coin is influenced or determined primarily by the
following four factors:
- Scarcity or rarity is a
major determinant of value. As a general matter, the rarer a coin the more
it is worth. Note that rarity has little to do with the age of a coin. Many
one thousand year old Chinese coins often sell for no more than a few
dollars because there are a lot of them around, whereas a 1913 Liberty Head
Nickel may sell for over $1,000,000 because there are only five known
specimens in existence.
- The condition or grade of
the coin will influence its value. The better the condition a coin is in,
the higher will be its assigned grade and the more it will be worth. An
uncirculated coin that is in flawless mint state might be worth hundreds
times more than the same coin in good condition but which has been
circulated.
- Many coins have a bullion
value determined by the value of the precious metals it contains. A
gold, silver or platinum coin does not generally sell for much less than its
melt value.
- The demand for the
particular coin, or how many collectors want it, will also greatly influence
coin values. Some coins that are relatively plentiful may command higher
prices than scarcer coins because the former are more popular with
collectors. For example, there are over 400,000 1916 D dimes in existence as
compared to only about 30,000 1798 dimes. However, even though the 1798 dime
is much rarer than its 1916D counterpart, the 1916D coin sells for
significantly more. This is because many more people collect early 20th
century mercury dimes than dimes from the 1700's.
Determining a Coin's Approximate Value
- Accurately and properly
identify the coin. You can obtain guidance on how to do this by using this
site's How
to Identify a Coin page
- Grade the coin based on your
careful observation of its condition. This can be done by referring to this
site's Determining
the Grade of a Coin page.
- Look the coin up in a coin
catalog to find listed retail selling prices or estimated retail values for
your coin. For United States coins, use A Guide Book
of United States Coins by R.S. Yeoman, commonly called "The Red
Book" by collectors and dealers. It provides retail prices for United
States coins. It is available in many public libraries and in major
bookstores and coin shops. For World coins, the most widely used
guide is a series of volumes called The Standard Catalog of World Coins
by Krause and Mishler. These volumes are also available in many public
libraries.
- For more current prices, based
on what dealers are actually selling the particular coin for, you should
check coin newspapers and magazines or auction sites such as Coin
World, Coin
Prices or Teletrade.
These sites provide price guides for many United States coins and some World
coins.
