What catalogs are they using??

[cjmajor]

After several months of observation on several coin auction sites, I am left wondering where some of these sellers on this site get the values they assign to the prices they want for coins. I understand that in today's market most of the current catalogs available are sadly out of touch with market values, but the prices many sellers want are totally outrageous. As a former seller, I understand about overhead, fees, silver market, etc. But to ask $18-$20 for a coin that will probably never be worth more than $5-$6 is pretty ridiculous, especially when you can buy the same coin at eBay for a third of the price on here and we all know how high the fees are on Feebay.

I am posting this in the hope some seller can explain why this condition exists, not to start an argument. I have bought stamps for years on BidStart and have found most of the prices very reasonable, even downright cheap at times. I have just been wondering why prices on coins seem to be greatly inflated.

[larsdog]

I'm not a seller, but many common older U.S. coins prices are driven more by precious metal prices than anything else. The current ratio for 90% silver is over 20:1 (it fluctuates daily). In other words, all pre-65 dimes, quarters, halves and dollars are worth 20x face just for their melt value regardless of quality. If silver would drop back down below $20 per ounce you may see some more sanity in the market, but it's closer to $30 per ounce right now.