Fixing Coin Value - 3 Useful Tips To Help You
1. How rare is the coin?We all believe that a coin gets more valuable when it gets rare to find. This is true in most cases, but there are a few exceptions to the rule like everything else. People also believe that the older the coin the more valuable it is, which is also not always true. At one instance a 1000 year old coin from China was finally sold only for a few American dollars, because there were many such coins that had been well preserved. Then we have the 1931 nickel that has been called the Liberty Head, and that one sold for over a million US dollars! This is because only 5 of these still remain.
2. The wear and tear that the coin has experienced
It is well known that the better that the conditions of the coins in your collection is, the more would they fetch you in terms of money, were you to sell them. Any coin that has been preserved in "mint" condition, that is, hasn"t ever been circulated is well worth a hundred times another of its time in average condition. However, remember not to try and overdo the cleaning on your circulated coins, in the hope of making them look "near-mint", you may end up scratching the surfaces even more..
3. Supply and Demand
When there is a greater demand for anything in this world, the price tends to go up. If a coin is high in demand its value would go up regardless of the fact that there may be many available around the world, that is - it is not a rare coin. For example let us consider the 1916 dimes to coins from 1798. The 1916 coins are far more valuable simply because more people tend to collect them as compared to 1798 coins. In fact there are only about thirty thousand dime coins available from 1798, and well over four hundred thousand 1916 ones. But that seems to have little effect on the values of these coins. That is supply and demand in a nutshell for you.
You may want to seek the help of a professional collector or dealer if you wish to put an accurate value to a certain coin or coins in your collection. Maybe you are planning to sell some of your rare coins if you have "doubles", or maybe you plan to have your own coin auction. I any case, it is wise to have an idea of how much each coin in your collection is worth. Remember if you are planning to sell a series it is valued more than the sum of the individual coins.