COIN PRICES

As with everything, there is the price you would like to buy something for, and then there is the price you would like to pay for that same item.  In coin prices, as with all commodities, these are known as 'bid' and 'ask'.  The difference between the two is known as the spread.

ITEMS AFFECTING COIN PRICES

Condition

Coins in exceptional condition, even modern ones, command a high price premium.  Major elements that contribute to a coins condition include strike, marks and eye appeal.  Marks included scratches or dings or other imperfections that detract from the appeal and value of the coin. Bag marks are made during loading or transport of the bag where coins clashed against each other causing these marks.  Other marks occur during exchange over the counter as currency, or in some cases through intentional altering of the coin's surface.

Coins that have been cleaned generally lose half their value right off the top.  Unfortunately, it was quite common in the earl days of coins collecting to clean coins. Many of these have since, thankfully, begun to re-tone. However there are still many coins out there that have had their luster, or patina, scrubbed off the surface. This destroys eye-appeal and lowers the value of the coins, since there are fewer people who want a cleaned coins as an example of the type.  Why have a cleaned washed out looking coin when there are others to be had and display better in the collection?

Rarity

A very old coin that was made by the millions will generally not be worth as much as a very rare newer coin.

Eye Appeal

Metal Content (intrinsic worth)

An old silver coin may have numismatic value. That is, the coin may hold a premium above the metal content because of condition or rarity, etc. However an old silver coin with numismatic value may still be worth less than a newer one made of gold because of the differential in intrinsic worth.

QUESTIONS WE'VE RECEIVED ABOUT COINS:

Question:  My name is XXXX and I found a very interesting coin collection in a verry interesting place! And I wonder, how do I sell/know the value of the coins? One of them is from 1796. Can you give me a clue? 

Answer:  The first thing to do is read what is on our webpage to get a basic understanding of the market and what makes a coin valuable. First,

"What is My Coin Worth" page:

http://www.coinmine.com/What%20You%20Should%20Know%20About%20Coins/What%20is%20My%20Coin%20Worth/What%20is%20My%20Coin%20Worth.htm

Then read:  "How to Sell Coins"

http://www.coinmine.com/How%20to%20sell%20coins/how_to_sell_coins.htm

After that, you will find the coin is only worth what somebody is willing to pay.  That means you need to find a buyer.  The easiest way is to go to a local coin shop. You could look up values yourself in reference pages, but you must know 1) Is the coin real and 2) What condition the coin is in. 

Most folks take pictures of their more valuable coins and then ask people for an opinion on the picture. Of course pictures have their own limitations.  

If you found a 1796 coin in an ‘interesting place’ rather than from a trusted source, the coin may be counterfeit. 

Question:  I found a token in my mother's collection similar to some on your page .  On the front it has a picture of the aries ram and says on the edge "connect with an aries" but on the back it has the exact same fearless stamped as your aware/fearless coin.  can you tell me the possible timeframe this would have been made? Where this may have come from? I checked around and no one else knows about it

Answer:  Erotic Tokens or Brass Checks (or cheques) were typically used by entertainment emporiums as ‘good for’ some service, typically an entry to a show. The erotic tokens I have listed are likely from the early 1970s and would have been used in peep show arcades.

Good for tokens, even ones for erotic service, have been around for many centuries. The Romans called them Spintriae.

See some examples here:

http://www.antiquanova.com/erotictokens.htm

Erotic tokens are just a subset of “good for” token. These chits substituted for currency. In many boom towns on the frontier actual coinage was in short supply. Hence, merchants would use issue tokens good for trade in their store. These also served as coupons and advertising.  Also, use of privately issued coinage would enable the merchant to minimize or even evade paying taxes. Brothels have always been a good place to launder money for services and avoid the taxman. The IRS actually operated a brothel that it took from Joe Conforte for tax evasion, once in the 1980s and once in the 1990s.

Tokens tell a fascinating tale of mercantilism.

Say, why not buy a set of erotic tokens from Coinmine and expand your mother’s collection, making it your own, a generational collection that should be good for a few jokes around the Thanksgiving table. 

http://www.coinmine.com/Inventory/inventory_tokens.htm

The tokens actually aren’t all that common and a large and interesting collection can still be put together without to much effort or money, unlike most coins.