Adding coins
Finding a coin in the catalog by series, year or mint mark, grading it, how melt and collector value are compared, and entering a coin the catalog does not know.
Updated
By the end of this page a coin from the catalog sits in your workspace with both its melt value and its collector value worked out, and you can enter a coin the catalog does not have.
From the catalog
Press Add item in the workspace and choose Coin. The coin path has three steps after the type: identify, grading and review.
Find the coin
On the identify step, Pick from catalog is selected. Type into the search box: a series name (“Morgan”), a year and mint mark (“1893-S”), a country and metal (“Mexico gold”) or “key date”. Every word must match, so start broad and add words to narrow it down. Results come in two lists: Series and Dates & varieties. Or leave the box empty and browse: country, then series, then the dates in that series. Coins you picked before appear under Recent.
Screenshot coming soonThe Identify step with the catalog search box, the Pick from catalog and Manual entry buttons, and a selected coin summarywizard-coin-identify · desktopSearch, or browse country, series and date. Pick a date, or the series
Tap a date to use that exact issue: its year, mint mark and variety, and, where the catalog has one, the guide price by grade. Tap Use … without a specific date when the date does not matter or you have a mixed lot; you still get the weight and composition, but no collector value. The selection shows as a card with the name, the date, the country, the alloy and the fine metal content; Change reopens the search.
Check the name
The Item Name is filled in from the catalog (“1921-D Morgan Dollar”). Change it if you like and add a description for the report. The weight and composition come from the catalog and cannot be edited while a catalog coin is selected; switch to manual entry if the coin is worn or damaged enough to weigh noticeably less.
Grade it, or skip
Grading is optional. If the coin has been graded, choose the Grade on the Sheldon scale, from PO-1 (Poor) through VF-20 (Very Fine) and AU-58 (About Uncirculated) to MS-70 (Mint State), or PR-60 to PR-70 for proofs. Choose the Service that graded it (PCGS, NGC, ANACS, ICG) or leave it as Raw (ungraded holder); a service shows a Cert # field for the certificate number. Not sure? Leave the grade as Ungraded / Unknown and the coin is priced on its metal.
Screenshot coming soonThe Grading step with the grade, service and certificate number fieldswizard-coin-grading · desktopThe grade picks the catalog’s guide price. Review and add
The review step lists the coin (name, source, date, country, composition, gross weight, fine metal) and the grading. Edit returns to either step. Press Add to workspace.
Melt or collector value
A coin card works out two values and shows both in its breakdown.
- Melt value prices the precious metal in the coin. When the catalog publishes the fine metal content (the AGW or ASW, for example 24.057 g of silver in a Morgan dollar) that figure is used; otherwise it is the gross weight times the alloy’s purity. Base metals in the alloy are priced too when they have a quote.
- Numismatic value is the catalog’s guide price for that issue at the grade you chose. It needs a specific date and a grade; otherwise the row says no guide price.
- Total (higher of the two). A worn common-date silver dollar is worth its silver; a scarce date in high grade is worth its guide price. The card and the report use the higher one, and the breakdown says which it was.
A Pro price multiplier applies to both values. Purity hedging never applies to coins, because a coin’s composition is a known fact rather than a stamped claim. Understanding the result has the breakdown row by row.
Manual entry
For a coin the catalog does not list, press Manual entry on the identify step and fill in the fields yourself:
- Composition: search the coin alloys first (“Coin Silver 90%”, “Coin Gold 90%”, “Crown Gold 91.67%”, “War Nickel Silver 35%”, “Copper-Nickel Clad”) or any jewelry alloy such as Silver 999 for a bullion round.
- Gross Weight: the whole coin, in any unit.
- Fine Metal (g): the published AGW or ASW in grams, if you know it. Leave it blank and WITVT derives it from the gross weight and the purity.
- Year and Mint Mark: for the name and the report. A manually entered coin has no guide price, so its total is its melt value.
If the catalog cannot be reached, the identify step says “Coin catalog is unavailable” and switches to manual entry on its own.
The catalog pages
The same data is public at Coins: every series with its specifications, the dates with their mintages and key-date flags, and a live melt value. The alloy pages under Alloy prices list the coinage alloys with today’s value per gram. Spot something wrong? Every catalog page has a “Report it here” link that opens an email with the coin already named.
Editing a coin later
Tap the card to open the edit page. It has the same catalog and manual modes, a Browse the coin catalog button to pick a different issue, and the grading fields; the composition summary at the bottom shows what will be priced. Editing and organising items covers the rest.
Terms used here: spot price, melt value, troy ounce.
Related
- Understanding the result: What each line of an item’s calculation means, why a buyer pays less than melt, what “Not priced” means, and why values change during the day.
- Editing and organising items: The edit page, duplicating similar pieces, deleting, renaming, and what happens when a free workspace reaches its limit.
- Where the prices come from: Spot prices per troy ounce, how they become a price per gram of your alloy, how often they refresh, the history and alloy pages, and what “Unavailable” means.
Still stuck? Tell us what you were trying to do and we will help.
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