Pricing on minor varieties ...1934 D/D RPM#2

[WheatsRATreat]

I went to the Baltimore show on Saturday, and it looked like things had been pretty well picked through variety/error wise, but I was able to score a very nice 1934 D/D RPM#2 in Gem BU Red for a very fair price... $15. Normally, these are not the type of errors I typically hunt for, as I usually try and search for varieties in the major registry and complete list registry. The data is much easier to quantify, and the coins are much easier to liquidate. The 1934 D/D was quite nice though, somewhere in the MS65RD range, and for that price I felt the risk was minimal. But now I'm curious how to value these types of varieties. I've heard from others that they use Coppercoins as a starting point, but obviously the color will effect the final value. Coppercoins says this variety has a rough value of $60, but I am assuming this is for brown copper, not a full red gem. Do you all apply a factor to this price guide for situations like this? 1.5x 2x? I'm very curious how to properly value this coin. Is there a market for these varieties?

I haven't had a chance to take pictures yet, but will post some asap. I appreciate everyone insight, and knowledge on the matter.

[jallengomez]

I always just try to find some history of sales on Heritage, Great Collections, and/or Ebay. There's not a lot of history on this one, but slabbed by ANACS as a 65RD maybe $60, so Coppercoins is about right on that. If you're selling it raw, probably not much more than regular 1934D 65RDs are selling for. Probably $20-$25.

[WheatsRATreat]

I always just try to find some history of sales on Heritage, Great Collections, and/or Ebay. There's not a lot of history on this one, but slabbed by ANACS as a 65RD maybe $60, so Coppercoins is about right on that. If you're selling it raw, probably not much more than regular 1934D 65RDs are selling for. Probably $20-$25.

I think that's the problem I've been running into. I normally search auction archives, but can't find any for this particular variety. Thanks for the input though!

[mustbebob]

Really tough to get auction data on 'obscure' or uncommon dies. It is very important to note that the guide on coppercoins is many years old. It can be a great place to get a ballpark figure though, but not always.
The new coppercoins (when we get it working) will try to address some of the issues with pricing. What we have found is that varieties seldom have a significant increase on a higher grade coin. Of course, more popular varieties may, but we can't see it being anything significant over a high grade normal coin. We would start with the price for that date/MM in that condition and maybe add a slight premium for the variety.

An example might be that a 1934D Red coin in MS65 is worth about $75. I don't know a lot of people who would be willing to exceed that price by too much because it has an RPM on it. Those are just the observations I have made on things like this over the years.