"Anita" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 8 May 2005 18:55:06 -0500, "James Higby"
heezerbumfrool[at]hotmail[dot]com wrote:
...
I hate to appear impudent, but how do you know the seller's cost?

James

If one is familiar with a coin, it's pretty easy to tell. It is easier
if the coin is recent. For example, you know if someone sells a
quarter for a dime (not considering postage), then the seller takes a
loss. This happens quite often with bullion and recent coins when the
seller opens with a low bid. It is a gamble to reduce listing costs,
but often doesn't work out well.

Anita

I don't know if it still happens, but at one time modern proofs and commems
could regularly be bought for less than issue price from a dealer who had
bought it from an estate or from an owner who just needed to raise funds
quickly. The value that we read in a price guide doesn't necessarily
dictate the price that the seller paid or should have paid for an item. Nor
is it necessarily true that the seller paid 2005 prices for the items he
sells. I recently heard a story of an elderly man who sold a 1901-S quarter
that he had plucked from circulation long ago. Talk about profit!

James