Starck Reality: Pricing is an Art, not a Science
Sales platforms, grading, and auction venues all influence a coin’s price—but how much? A closer look at the key-date 1934 Irish florin reveals the challenges of accurate valuation.
The last and only time I shared my market analyst musings , I suggested that the sale price can reflect the sales venue and the presentation of the coin, and that can be factored in or excluded in our pricing on the NumisMaster website.
In the first column, I highlighted the silver florin (2 shillings) of Ireland, issued from 1928 to 1937. Using this same coin type, let’s look at the 1934 Irish florin, the key date to the series since it is the most challenging to price.
Lower-grade examples of this coin are often abundantly available through online sales platforms such as eBay, whereas higher-grade examples and those in third-party grading service encapsulations (aka “slabs”) generally are sold through major numismatic auction houses.
A low-grade example (probably Fine-12 to F-15) realized $6.73, several dollars below melt value, in a January 15, 2025, auction (the shipping costs propelled the total price higher, but when do auction prices realized reflect the shipping and other administrative costs?) Two examples with similar wear and condition were sold on December 25, 2024, realizing $10 and $19, respectively. Nominal shipping charges brought the totals to about $11 and just shy of $22.
Why did one coin realize twice as much as the other? Both items were listed as “Buy It Now” offerings. But the market didn’t set the prices – the sellers did.
Sellers listing raw and some certified coins on eBay are not supposed to be able to identify a grade in conjunction with their listing, letting the images speak for themselves. But one such seller slipped through the censors, their XF coin selling for about $20 on December 6, 2024 ($25 after shipping). It looks about the same condition as the two aforementioned pieces a few sentences back.
That $20 price point seems where the market is, so the NumisMaster valuation of $20 is in line with other online sales and price guides.
And yet the price jumps to $225 in the next grade listed, Extremely Fine-40. That price is based on two specific sale results at major auctions within a few weeks of each other in 2023.
On October 24, 2023, Sincona sold a raw example identified as in EF for the equivalent of $224, while St. James’s Auctions in London on November 8, 2023, sold a Nearly EF example for about $347. One must understand that, in the British system of grading, EF is equivalent to About Uncirculated, so Nearly EF is about About Uncirculated.
We welcome more recent and widespread data points to support or rebuke that pricing, but it seems other price guides similarly reflect a much higher value for EF examples than VF.
Online marketplace auctions aren’t always the most accurate representation of what a coin is worth, and major numismatic auctions (given their marketing of the events, the usual practice of having the coin certified, and the longer lead time for buyers to find the coins) can often generate stronger results than raw coins sold in more limited spaces online.
So, is our pricing for that key date accurate? Are those the right numbers? Send your thoughts here: jstarck@aimmedia.com.
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Jeff Starck is the Market Analyst for Numismaster.com and is a lifelong collector and writer. His appreciation for and interest in world coins and writing allows him to share the hobby with others.
