Krause Prices - Do I have to understand that?

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Low mintage - low price
High mintage - high price

My coin world is wiggeling...
I must admit that Krause made a lot of mistakes but I'm not sure that this is the case. Mintage doesn't necessarily mean more expensive.
If only it was that simple. In 1883, the US issued the first Liberty Nickel, which had a big "V" on the reverse but no other indication of its value. Unscrupulous types started gold plating them and passing them off as $5 coins. Soon after, the mint added the words "5 Cents" to the reverse. Thus, they ended up producing roughly 5 million of the first type and 16 million of the second type. So which is worth more today? It turns out to be the higher mintage coin, because people thought the first type would become scarce. Thus, while intuitively your argument makes sense, it doesn't necessarily have to be true.
I have seen so many mistakes in Krause that I use its descriptions and ignore the values most of the time. Mostly because I have a case with coins totalling thousands of £'s according to Krause, when in reality it is just a few hundred £'s. It mainly tends to be world coins with no precious metals. 1870 Spain is a good example, values look very appealing but the actual cost is no where near the valuation.
Restoration addict : Verdigris Removal : Zinc White spot removal : Iron Rust Removal : Silver brooch/necklace mount Removal
There are plenty of examples where the mintage figures seem to be in opposition to the value. With modern commemorative junk I always assume that it's due to some cynical attempt to attach rarity to a "coin" nobody wants in the first place. For older issues it's a bit more complicated. Entire production runs have been melted down, mintages frequently combined over a two year span or even I suspect dishonest mint masters claimed payment for coins which were never even made. Corruption didn't start with the Clintons.

Where there is a discrepancy I would always lean towards the value being correct as it's a reflection of how many coins survive today rather than an imperfect reflection of how many coins were made long ago.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
This example is also worth to notice. I am looking to it and thinking where is the logic?

And this must be just a mistake. But still fits if someone wants to insist that Krause prices are only acceptable way how to swap and you need to accept everything they writes in their book.
Quote: "martins.lv"​This example is also worth to notice. I am looking to it and thinking where is the logic?

​And this must be just a mistake. But still fits if someone wants to insist that Krause prices are only acceptable way how to swap and you need to accept everything they writes in their book.
​the latvia coin is cool. Take a pice of metal and say it is the coin in very worn. And you swap it for 15$ ☺
There's also a pricing error in the privy mark variants of the 1969 Dutch 2 1/2 Guilder.

Actually it's the fish mark which is rarer and more valuable than the cock mark, not the other way around.

https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/netherlands-2-12-gulden-km-191-1969-1980-cuid-27141-duid-80502
Hello,
There are plenty of nice examples like that. Some errors, some not.
I particularly like this one (Hungarian coin):

It is probably not an error. The first coin was presumably destroyed after a change in political regime and hence a change in legend on the coin. It has already been discussed on this forum and others, but KM still does not make a remark. Always a bit annoying for beginners.

Plus the fact that the real market value is ... variable depending on who you buy it from.
I got mine for 1 € :D

Just to say that even official destruction of coins is not always well documented and it creates large discrepancies between mintage and values.

Regards, André
Quand l'Histoire et la Géographie se croisent sur nos pièces de monnaie ...
Referee for Austria-Habsburg, Austrian Netherlands, Austrian States, Bohemia, Silesia.
Traducteur, demandez en cas de besoin ! Translator, ask if you need !
I find Krause prices to not be that accurate at all, it a good start to get an idea if it worth a good chunk of dough or not though.
Coins dated 1935 or its equivalent including No Dates.
I am currently looking for the following coins, you can view, them on my webpage:
https://coinwishlist.weebly.com/
From the point of view of San Marino coins collector, KM prices are a disgrace in almost all cases.
ROMAE AETERNAE
Quote: "druzhynets"​From the point of view of San Marino coins collector, KM prices are a disgrace in almost all cases.
​Too high or too low?

I collect Third Reich coins and I've learned that K&M should be largely ignored for the non silver issues. I don't know how they find all these EF zinc coins for 50c each but I'd love to discover their source.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
Non silver coins from San Marino are extremely underestimated. It's impossible to find any of them for 0.5 or 1 USD as KM states they cost. It's always painful when someone starts the swap by choosing 10 coins from San Marino and wants all of them for just 5 USD...

I don't know about silver or golden coins prices because I've stopped using the KM for San Marino long time ago. Italian websites provide more actual information.
ROMAE AETERNAE
I've got a couple of pre war vintage San Marino coins in my swap list with quite a decent value, maybe it's just a problem with newer issues? I do know that any and all San Marino coins are always in high demand.

I used to have all my 3rd Reich duplicates marked "swap for 3rd Reich only" to avoid the type of situation you describe. Then I simply changed my mind and altered the prices to a more realistic figure. Nobody has complained so far!

I guess it's all about common sense and not trying to screw each other over. If someone checks ten of your San Marino coins for $5 I would really hope it was done innocently by someone unfamiliar with market realities. If I'm dealing with someone who is very familiar with a series I'm always happy to let them set their own prices if Krause is too far off. If not.... well, probably best avoided eh?

I hope life in Warsaw is still is pleasant as it was during my time there at the Hotel Grand. I came to regard Warsaw and Torun as my second home during the 80's and have many good memories. Enjoy your weekend fellow collector!
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
Quote: "Ecapoe"​Hello,
​There are plenty of nice examples like that. Some errors, some not.
​I particularly like this one (Hungarian coin):

​It is probably not an error. The first coin was presumably destroyed after a change in political regime and hence a change in legend on the coin. It has already been discussed on this forum and others, but KM still does not make a remark. Always a bit annoying for beginners.

​Plus the fact that the real market value is ... variable depending on who you buy it from.
​I got mine for 1 € :D

​Just to say that even official destruction of coins is not always well documented and it creates large discrepancies between mintage and values.

​Regards, André
​Insane pricing... If it's true that world collectors pay so high prices for that coin, it's time for me to buy them all here in Hungary, where VF costs $2-$3 and XF $20...
Mintage isn't the only factor, Supply and demand is the main contributor to price. A lot of the Pacific Islands coins are really low mintage due to really small populations, but since the coins are usually readily available and there aren't too many collectors of them, then the prices are almost always pretty low. On the other hand, you get the pre-world war 1 UK coins, a lot of them have high mintages, but since there are a lot of people that collect them and not always that many good examples up for sale, the value is pretty high.
Neil similar for New foundland coins while Canadian coins have always achieved nice amounts NFLD always fetches less I assume due too less demand. Strange since they're so nice !
Quote: "druzhynets"​Non silver coins from San Marino are extremely underestimated. It's impossible to find any of them for 0.5 or 1 USD as KM states they cost. ​

​It depends on where you live. I already bought a lot of San Marino coins for less than 1 €. I recently bought 11 different mint sets from San Marino for 9 € each, that's an average of 1 € per coin but with the silver one included!
Some types (like this one for instance: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces4185.html) I regular see for 0.10 €. I don't even buy them anymore for that price because I already have them too often and I'm afraid I can't get rid of them anymore. So I certainly have my concerns when I see prices like this on eBay (http://www.befr.ebay.be/itm/191461462121?clk_rvr_id=1115718928401&vectorid=229522&lgeo=1&item=191461462121&rmvSB=true) with a shipping cost of 10 USD!
So don't be too harsh on members who choose 10 San Marino coins for 5 $. Maybe they live in places where coins are much cheaper.

Or are you talking about euro coinage of San Marino, that's something else of course?
Quote: "pnightingale"​I've got a couple of pre war vintage San Marino coins in my swap list with quite a decent value, maybe it's just a problem with newer issues? I do know that any and all San Marino coins are always in high demand.

​I used to have all my 3rd Reich duplicates marked "swap for 3rd Reich only" to avoid the type of situation you describe. Then I simply changed my mind and altered the prices to a more realistic figure. Nobody has complained so far!

​I guess it's all about common sense and not trying to screw each other over. If someone checks ten of your San Marino coins for $5 I would really hope it was done innocently by someone unfamiliar with market realities. If I'm dealing with someone who is very familiar with a series I'm always happy to let them set their own prices if Krause is too far off. If not.... well, probably best avoided eh?

​I hope life in Warsaw is still is pleasant as it was during my time there at the Hotel Grand. I came to regard Warsaw and Torun as my second home during the 80's and have many good memories. Enjoy your weekend fellow collector!


A lot of things have changed in Warsaw since the 80's. You're welcome to visit it again! :)
ROMAE AETERNAE
Krausse values have little sense. We must realize that it is impossible to manage a catalogue with thousands coins.
I only use its values if I have no other reference.

Just one example among hundreds:
Mozambique KM90/1 Centavo/1975
KRAUSSE.............. MS60= $120.00/ MS63= $200,00
ebay..................... Several links with values, all UNC: 11.12€/13.72€/16:01€
Referee to Old Portuguese colonies
I Collect coins from Paraguay
the 4 CEntesimos Crude 1870 have 2 types.
KM #4.2 (no signature) and KM #4.3 (Saez) in the Catalogue the 4.2 worth 20% more than the 4.3 and in reality the 4.3 is much more scare than the #4.2 and the price is almost 50% more if you can find a 4.3
Sorry no Swaps. Paraguay Post Office is to risky and they don't allow to send coins nor notes

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