Uncirculated High

Question about a RARE coin?

I have been collecting coins for a long time. I have one in particular to ask about: an 1845 USA Silver Dollar. Most coin books just list RARE under the condition I have mine in – Almost Uncirculated- AU 55-58, and whenever I take it to a show or dealer, they don’t want to pay the value I see in older guides, despite the much higher recent price of silver but they won’t say why. What can I do ?

You first need to understand the difference between coin value and price guides. Many price guides are nothing more than opinions of what some dealers feel their inventory is worth. Price guides have inflated prices. The second thing about price guides is that the prices listed are retail prices which are the prices that a dealer would charge you when selling their coin.

The second thing is that you need to get your coin certified and graded. Your grade of AU 55-58 is your opinion and may or may not be accurate. Third party grading is absolutely necessary for high grade /high value dollars. There are published price guides that list coins by grade and a buy/sell price. The price list also lidts the different prices for different grading services. Most dealers will buy at 10-15% less that that published price. Most sales volume is dealer to dealer transactions. The bulk of the market is not in retail sales.

Your coin has no connection to the gold/silver bullion market. Your coin has true collector value. The bullion value is much less than the collector value.

Yoy should check out the American Numismatic Association web site at www.coins.org for a list of dealers that could submit your coin for grading. NGS and PCGS are the best. The service is costly (depends on the coin) but well worth it. With certification, you sell the certificate and don’t need to play with things loke photos for the mail order market.

One final note – you coin has high value but there are not of collectors for that series. Value is high but demand is low.

Cuba 1950′s Series Banknotes ART Collectibles www.CubaNotables.com