How to Value a Proof Coin?

[modofantasma]

Evening folks. 

Has anyone any advice on valuing proof coins? (sovereigns for example)  

Is it a case of looking around a few dealers and auction sites for eg seeing the completed items and recent sold prices? 

Any recommended resources for further learning? 

Cheers 👌🏽

[sovereignsteve]

They are collectables therefore the value is purely the market price, supply and demand.

[Happypanda88]

11 minutes ago, sovereignsteve said:

They are collectables therefore the value is purely the market price, supply and demand.

I concur. Proof coins are mostly limited editions with low mintages.

So the market price is often dictated by the price of bullion multiply by the X factor - that is how sought-after they are and the supply & demand.

[modofantasma]

Thanks for the input folks. Makes sense. I feel more comfortable buying bullion. I can take the weight and purity and work out the intrinsic value with spot. 

Like buying a property I guess. You can find the area and plot size of houses in the area and their rental figures or sold prices along with condition but if one has the "x factor' of a unique view or something that will add an amount that the market decides at the time 

👍🏽

[westminstrel]

1 hour ago, modofantasma said:

Thanks for the input folks. Makes sense. I feel more comfortable buying bullion. I can take the weight and purity and work out the intrinsic value with spot. 

Like buying a property I guess. You can find the area and plot size of houses in the area and their rental figures or sold prices along with condition but if one has the "x factor' of a unique view or something that will add an amount that the market decides at the time 

👍🏽

Except that if you are discerning enough, and willing to take a bit of a risk, some proof coins can give you a good return on investment compared to Bullion which would take years, if not decades, to. 

I guess the best strategy is to have a bit of both Proof and Bullion. 

[modofantasma]

1 hour ago, westminstrel said:

Except that if you are discerning enough, and willing to take a bit of a risk, some proof coins can give you a good return on investment compared to Bullion which would take years, if not decades, to. 

I guess the best strategy is to have a bit of both Proof and Bullion. 

I see yep. Some will appreciate faster than spot alone

[TeaTime]

A proof coin showing a long-term appreciation is a rare thing indeed. Once the novelty value has faded away a lot of PM proof coins end up being valued at little more than the bullion versions.

Mintage is the number one determining factor followed by design. The other factor being the media 😁

I have purchased a lot of silver proof coins at less than the cost of the non-precious metal versions. Bizarre but true.

It's a minefield - apart from a tiny number of PM coins - most end up being valued intrinsically.

[Simmoleon]

Agree with what has been said in previous posts; the market drives the value of proofs and most modern proofs are unlikely to hold a large premium. 

The proofs that seem to hold their own are the special year sovereigns or the earlier proof sets pre-1953 despite I have started to see more graded 1953 coins recently. I have recently invested in the 1911 and 1937 silver specimen sets which are starting to be a bit more difficult to find especially in good condition. One thing I do know is nobody in 1911, 1937 or even 1953 worried about getting coins graded  as they usual have a few problems. 

Anyway I’m off to look for 1902 and 1927 sets now 

 

[Pete]

Sadly there is NO COMPARISON between a dealer price and what you can expect to get when selling for modern sets excluding a few special years.
Dealers list proof sovereigns and sets at a high price because they can and that might attract a buyer who doesn't know any better.

I have personal experience when I sold most of my proof sovereigns and Britannias, many with very limited mintages.
I ended up selling at bullion prices and below spot to a well known London dealer.
I tried to sell proof sets to all the known dealers who sell similar sets with 50% to 100% markups hoping to get something above spot price - BUT NO CHANCE !!
I even had one of these dealers offer me sovereigns proof sets at 5% above spot because they weren't selling.
Times change and there will always be an exception but I have a several containers of empty proof boxes and certificates as a reminder.

[sovereignsteve]

3 hours ago, Pete said:

even had one of these dealers offer me sovereigns proof sets at 5% above spot because they weren't selling.

I remember you selling. Unfortunately I think you chose a quiet time for this genre.

Weren't most of them Brits? I don't think there's ever been a keen market for these. You would have done better with all sovereigns.