How much my coin collection is worth
- Home
- Forums
- Numismatic Questions
- How much my coin collection is worth
Hello, I wanted to talk about valuing coins. For some time now I collect coins, spend some money and naturally the question arise whether can I know how much my collection is worth (at least approximately). I have Excel file with my coins and grades, now I determined to take the time and write values of all coins, and I want to talk with you, fellow collectors, how to do this wisely.
I wanted to ask you if someone done that before and can share experience?
Or Krause catalog values are good for this problem, at least for rough estimation?
I thank you in advance for your answers, Arbor
Hi,
Valuing is bit difficult. Market is alive and the price is settled when the items is sold in actual price.
One thing that you can do is to write the value down at your collection of the price you have paid for the item. So you can compare 20 years later has the price risen or has the item lost it's value.
Aki
Hello, I've tried one time to do this using Krause catalog, it was very long and hard work. Krause catalog values are unlikely to reflect the true value of the coins, but it was really interesting to see the figures: how much my collection is worth by catalog values. I've stoped because I had to put a lot of work and the result was too approximate.
What Aki offers is rather different problem: How much my collection cost to me, but it's still interesting :)
Of cource best source of values is market, you can browse ebay and others for compleated auctions and find out real value, but since catalog values is hard work, market values are going to be backbreaking work. And you'll need to refresh those values regularly.
Regards, Tomas
Hello
this is a very interesting item.
At the beginning (50 years ago) I decided to collect only world coins by type circulating during XX Century so i have prepared a file in excel containing data of about 10.000 type necessary to complete my whole collection. All data taken before from Yeoman catalogs and after using Krause catalogs.
And i added year, gradation and catalog value for each coins found.
But to know value of each coin of your collection is not useful because nobody sell single coins while total value is useful only if you think to sell your collection. Otherwise it is only a virtual work for your personal satisfaction.
Some collectors report for each coin in collection price payd, some other the catalog price.
First method permit to compare price payd with actual catalog value that is not the price you will be able to sell the coin.
Second method, that I apply, permit to compare for each coin old vs new catalog values,
This method is useful to write a value also for coins obtained by swap or in a bulk (i.e. buyng a lot, a stock or a collection).
But mainly it is very usefull to know total catalog value to estimate its market value to sell your collection.
Infact this data was been very useful when i have decided to sell my collection.
Of course no dealer or collector will buy a world coins collection paying its total catalog value.
You are lucky if you sell all coins togheter at 1/3 of its catalog value, easier at 1/4.
Differently is to sell the collection of coins of your country to local collectors.
Regards Enrico
Hello, thanks for your answers. Enrico intersting post, it is just that I don't plan to sell my coins, I want to calculate values because it's interesting what value I managed to accumulate.
Enrico thank for sharing your 50 year experience. Now I'm looking at my collection value in different way.