Registry Collector: Value of Genuine Coin

What is the value of a Certified Genuine Coin?

Registry Collector enables PCGS Set Registry™ coin collectors to automatically find the coins on eBay® they need to complete their registry collections. Powered by an eBay certified application, Registry Collector finds only those certified coins with valid certification numbers matching them with the coins collectors need.

RegistryCollector.com has been tracking all certified coins posted and selling on eBay. What follows is an analysis of what is happening in the coin hobby.

On December 1, 2008 PCGS introduced a new service where any coin submitted for grading would be returned in a PCGS Holder, rather than in a "body bag," unless the coin has active PVC corrosion, a plugged hole, or fails the authenticity check.

How have these Certified Genuine Coins performed and priced in the coin market? More than a year has passed since this service was introduced and yet we have not seen any price guides that have reported the results.

The bidding activity on PCGS graded coins on eBay is higher for circulated coins compared with Uncirculated or Proof coins. On average, each PCGS graded item on eBay is receiving 8.5 bids before auction close, across all grades. This bid count for Uncirculated coins is slightly lower with 8.1 bids. Circulated coins have a higher average bid count at 10.8. What is interesting is that coins certified as “Genuine” has a similar auction bid count as Circulated coins at 10.7 bids per item.
RegistryCollector.com has observed that Flying Eagle Cents (specifically 1857), labeled “Genuine (92 - Cleaned)” are pricing and selling as if they were certified as XF45, are selling for $100 more than Genuine coins with environmental damage or altered surfaces.

RegistryCollector.com has also seen that common date Eagle & Double Eagle coins that are “Genuine (94 - Altered Surface)” are pricing and selling as if they were certified as AU55 and are selling at 3 times the price of Gold Bullion as of 8/20/2009.

This seems to be consistent for all common date coin types where the average price point of PCGS certified “Genuine” coins is in the VF to XF range. RegistryCollector.com is concluding that the market and collectors in general are placing a premium value on certified coins verified as “Genuine” and seem to be placing a higher value on these coins than certified coins graded below VF condition.

Does this hold true for coins that are scarce or rare? Actually RegistryCollector.com is seeing inconsistent ranges. In looking at the performance of the 1932-D Washington Quarter we can observe coins certified as Genuine are pricing a little higher than AU in some instances where as the majority seem to be in the XF price range.

About RegistryCollector.com
RegistryCollector.com is the first service to be launched by Quantify Corporation.
Through its eBay integration, RegistryCollector.com collects detailed information about PCGS certified coins posted and sold on eBay. This information is presently sold as a subscription in the form of an Auction Price Report. Each monthly report contains the cumulative low, average and high auction prices realized for PCGS graded coins. The report also includes the number of auctions sold per coin and is provided as a PDF file electronically.