The other day I was at my doctor’s office, and he had a sign on his desk that said, ”Dr. Google doesn’t work here.” It seemed a little strange to me, so I asked him what he has against Google. Google is fantastic. It’s changed the world in having information at our fingertips. He looked at me sternly and said, “Since becoming a Doctor I’ve seen thousands of people with hundreds of conditions. When someone goes on Google and looks at a few pictures and reads an article or two often they think they know what they are talking about when in fact they don’t. It can be dangerous.”
That got me thinking about the coin business and how some of our customers use Google to value their coins. It can be particularly tricky to evaluate for non-collector/dealers just trying to see what their coin is worth. Every day we have people come into Pegasus Coin with common coins that they think are worth a king’s ransom. Recently we had a customer come in with a 1975 Roosevelt Dime thinking it was worth $350,000 because they saw one on Google at that price. The problem is that the coin they brought in was found in change and only worth its face value. The coin that is worth $350,000 is a 1975 Proof Roosevelt Dime produced at the San Francisco Mint that is missing the “S” mint mark. A “proof” is a specially struck coin sold directly to collectors by the U.S. Mint, and not available in general circulation. There are only two of these “missing S proof” coins known to exist. It makes sense for someone to see that the designs are the same and not understand the coins are very different.
Another problem is the multitude of scam artists that tell a good story for a worthless coin and ask a crazy price. Almost daily, we hear of coins listed for sale at many thousands of dollars that are worth less than $5. Anybody can get on the internet, tell an enticing (but fake or manipulated story), and then ask the moon for something. An asking price often has nothing at all to do with the resale value of a coin. This is extremely important to understand.
With a little knowledge there is hope. It is critical to understand what makes a coin valuable. The key indicators of a coin’s value are the year, denomination, mintage and most important is the condition. It’s not uncommon for a circulated coin to be worth $12 and the same coin, but in uncirculated (coin that has never been used in circulation) condition, to be worth $500.
When a non-collector/dealer sees an uncirculated coin with the same design as their circulated coin it’s easy to understand why they would think their coin is worth so much. Just be careful and remember that professional collectors and dealers have gained knowledge over decades, and it can’t be fully acquired any other way. There is a lot of misinformation out there. If something seems too good to be true, it is probably just that.