November marks one year since inception of the Blue Sheet. While the Blue Sheet actually started several years ago as a personal reference, it was on this day one year ago that it was first made available to you, the collector. It has come a long way from what started out as a simple price listing per grade like so:
The original Blue Sheet (for half pennies)
Today, the Blue Sheet adds encyclopaedic pages for every listed coin, sales history, grading photos, a glossary and reference to become so much more than a simple price guide.
The current Blue Sheet (for half pennies)
Today's Blue Sheet has:
- Information on over 1500 coin types, each with their own descriptive page and photographs.
- Pages for over 37,000 certified coins with coin details of which over 2,500 have detailed photographs.
- Records of almost 5,000 past sales
- Supported by a community of over 1,300 collectors.
...and averages over 1,500 unique visitors per day to become the 5th most popular solely numismatic website to Aussies (averaged over the past 3 months, source: Alexa) and the fastest growing Australian numismatic website over the past year, both in content and popularity.
Part of what makes the Blue Sheet so popular is its accuracy. Collectors want to know what their collection is worth, the combination of the transparency of valuations and the reliability of third party grading allow collectors to see exactly what their coin is worth, and more often than not, how much similar coins have sold or been offered for.
In the future you can expect more of the same, some developments currently in the pipeline is historical information and charts of coin valuations. While this is expected to take at least a year before sufficient information is available for many coins, it's something worth looking forward to. We've planned provenance searches, simply by entering the certificate number of your coin, you'll be able to see past sales and offers of your actual coin, see whose hands it's been through, which auction houses and more.
You can expect more content, especially targeted and new collectors, I envision a page where the collector can simply enter the date of the coin, then select from a few photos and answer a few questions to estimate the value of an uncertified coin.
One more development in the pipeline is a numismatic collection software, a piece of software that can manage your collection, including full support for PCGS and NGC certified coins, just enter the certificate numbers and they'll be added automatically, including live valuations for certified coins, you can watch your collection value rise each day (or drop if you collect decimal coins - only joking). You can try out what we have completed so far by clicking the Numis Manage link in the top right of the Blue Sheet (you need to be logged in).
It's been a great year for the Blue Sheet and our business as a whole and we have you, the collector to thank for it.
Walter Eigner Numismatics will be closing for business from November 13th and reopening February 1st. You can still expect the Blue Sheet to be updated daily and 24 hr support via e-mail, just click the Contact Us link on the right.
All the best for 2010.
We currently have a large selection of certified coins awaiting photography and listing including some top grade pieces, many being the finest graded. These will be listed over the next few weeks, highlights include:
- 1919 Half Penny - PCGS MS64RD
- 1921 Half Penny - PCGS MS64RB
- 1935 Half Penny - PCGS MS65BN (prooflike early strike - finest graded)
- 1919 Penny, both types- PCGS MS64RB
- 1935 Penny - PCGS MS64RB (very prooflike early strike)
- 1911 Threepence - NGC MS66
- 1936 Threepence - PCGS MS66 (finest graded)
- 1964 Threepence - PCGS MS67 - (single finest graded)
- 1934 Shilling - PCGS MS64
- 1952 Florin - PCGS MS64
and much more including a run of copper proofs, and top condition easier dates. Keep an eye out for these coins over the next few weeks.
