Price Criteria Of Coins– Miscellaneous Factors
There are a host of factors that determine the market value of a collectible coin. There are the obvious ones of mint year (when it was produced), grade (the general condition and degree of wear). But there are several others that dealers and collectors take into account when determining the coin's price.
Country
Country of origin will play a role in determining the worth of a coin. Non-U.S. coins are prized slightly higher by some U.S. collectors since, from the collector's perspective, the coin is more rare.
Mint
Another element is the mint mark. There are several mints around the U.S. and each stamps the coin with a letter designating the origin. They are as follows:
P (or, just as often, no mint mark) - Philadelphia Mint
D - Denver Mint
S - San Francisco Mint
O - New Orleans Mint
CC - Carson City Mint
The mark plays a part in determining the value since different mints produce different amounts of a specific design and came into being in a different year. Also, whether the mint mark is visible is one element in determining wear and therefore the grade.
Counterfeit
Whether the coin is authentic clearly plays a major role in value. Being counterfeit doesn't automatically make a coin worthless however, since some - such as the 1913 Liberty Head V nickel that was produced illegally by a legal mint - are in a borderline area. The coin was only authorized up to 1912, but the mint manager produced several anyway.
Also, a counterfeit coin may itself be rare and sought after by collectors. The market determines the value and sometimes being unusual is enough to bring a high price. In the majority of cases, however, a counterfeit coin is worthless since it - by definition - is a false example of the genuine article.
Cleaning
Cleaning can considerably alter the value of any coin and most collectors should avoid it. Cleaning often produces an unnatural appearance to the coin that is discounted by collectors and dealers. And, carried out without expert skill, cleaning can introduce scratches, produce wear and obscure important highlights on the coin.
Damage
Damage beyond that introduced by cleaning - corrosion, dents, artificial coloring, holes drilled, etc - will often make an otherwise valuable coin near worthless. In rare cases the coin may fetch some money, but usually at a deeply discounted price. More often they are viewed as just a tiny amount of scrap metal.
Price Guides
In past decades price guides were a good beginning for the amateur collector to determine the approximate value of a coin. Such books as The Standard Catalog of World Coins by Chester L. Krause and Clifford Mishler and 'The Red Book' (officially titled 'A Guide Book of United States Coins') were commonly used by collectors and dealers.
More up to date information was often found in magazines such as Coin World and Coin Age, which were useful supplements. But since the ubiquity of the Internet and websites devoted to coin collecting, the situation has changed somewhat. Online versions of the Greysheet (used by dealers buying from other dealers), the 'Blue Book' (A Handbook of United States Coins) and dozens of other sources are now widespread.
Books are still valuable, but in order to be up to date should be supplemented by online sources. In any case, the ultimate price guide is a collector or dealer. It's the individual that ultimately determines the price of any coin.