# NGC Price Guide Scraper - US Coin Values by Grade (`lulzasaur/ngc-price-guide-scraper`) Actor

Scrape NGC Price Guide RETAIL VALUES for US coins by series, type, year and grade (G, VG, F, VF, XF, AU, MS-60 to MS-70, PF). This is the NGC PRICE GUIDE (dollar values), NOT the population/census report. Search by series or browse all categories.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/ngc-price-guide-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [lulz bot](https://apify.com/lulzasaur) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## NGC Price Guide Scraper — US Coin Values by Grade

Scrape **retail coin values** from the [NGC Price Guide](https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/united-states/) for US coins, broken out **by grade**. For every coin (series → year/mint → variety) you get the NGC-published dollar value at each grade in the grading scale — from circulated grades (G, VG, F, VF, XF, AU) up through Mint State (MS-60 … MS-70) and Proof (PF) grades, including `+` and star (`*`) designations.

> **PRICE GUIDE, not population.** This actor returns NGC's estimated **dollar values** by grade. It is **not** the NGC Census / population report (how many coins exist at each grade). If you need populations, use an NGC population scraper instead.

### What you get

One record per coin, keyed to the coin's NGC coin id, with a `grades` object mapping each grade label to its value in USD.

```json
{
  "category": "Cents",
  "categorySlug": "cents",
  "series": "Flying Eagle Cents (1856-1858)",
  "seriesId": "16",
  "seriesUrl": "https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/united-states/cents/16/",
  "coinId": "12016",
  "coinName": "1857 EAGLE 1C MS",
  "year": "1857",
  "denomination": "1C",
  "designation": "MS",
  "numGrades": 28,
  "grades": {
    "PrAg": 25, "G": 35, "VG": 45, "F": 55, "VF": 105, "XF": 180, "XF+": 195,
    "50": 235, "53": 310, "55": 425, "58": 500, "60": 550, "62": 715,
    "63": 1125, "64": 1500, "65": 3250, "66": 11750
  },
  "coinUrl": "https://www.ngccoin.com/redirects/coin-explorer/12016/",
  "source": "NGC Price Guide",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-03T07:20:00.000Z"
}
```

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| `searchQueries` | string\[] | Series/category names to scrape (loose match), e.g. `flying eagle`, `morgan`, `lincoln`, `buffalo nickel`, `dimes`, `gold eagles`. Empty = scrape everything. |
| `series` | string\[] | Optional extra name filters, merged with `searchQueries`. |
| `scrapeDetails` | boolean | Reserved for per-coin detail enrichment. Default `false`. |
| `maxResults` | integer | Max coin records. `0` = unlimited. Default `500`. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | Proxy settings. RESIDENTIAL recommended (NGC uses Cloudflare). |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "searchQueries": ["flying eagle", "indian cents"],
  "maxResults": 500,
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] }
}
```

Browse everything:

```json
{ "searchQueries": [], "maxResults": 0 }
```

### How it works

1. Loads the US price-guide index and discovers all top-level categories (Cents, Nickels, Dimes, Dollars, Gold Eagles, Commemoratives, …).
2. For each category, loads its `/subcategories/` fragment to enumerate every series ("set type").
3. For each series that matches your query, parses the price-guide table — two aligned tables joined on the NGC coin id — extracting coin metadata plus every priced grade cell.

### Grade labels

Grades appear as NGC labels: circulated (`PrAg`/`AG`, `G`, `VG`, `F`, `VF`, `XF`), numeric Sheldon grades (`50`, `53`, `55`, `58`, `60`–`70`), with `+` (plus) and star variants where NGC publishes them, plus Proof (`PF…`) rows for proof coins.

### Notes

- Values are NGC's published estimates and change over time; each row includes `scrapedAt`.
- NGC sits behind Cloudflare — use the Apify RESIDENTIAL proxy for reliable runs.
- Output pricing is Pay Per Result.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Coin series or categories to scrape from the NGC Price Guide, matched by name (loose substring). Examples: 'flying eagle', 'indian cents', 'morgan', 'lincoln', 'buffalo nickel', 'dimes', 'gold eagles'. Leave empty to scrape ALL categories and series.

## `series` (type: `array`):

Optional additional series/category name filters. Merged with Search Queries. Same matching rules. Use whichever field you prefer.

## `scrapeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Reserved for future enrichment (per-coin detail pages). When OFF (default), uses the fast series price-guide table which already contains all grade values.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of coin records to scrape. Set to 0 for unlimited (all matching series). Default is 500.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings. NGC sits behind Cloudflare; RESIDENTIAL proxy is recommended for reliable large-scale runs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "flying eagle"
  ],
  "series": [],
  "scrapeDetails": false,
  "maxResults": 500,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "flying eagle"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/ngc-price-guide-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "searchQueries": ["flying eagle"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lulzasaur/ngc-price-guide-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQueries": [
    "flying eagle"
  ]
}' |
apify call lulzasaur/ngc-price-guide-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=lulzasaur/ngc-price-guide-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/lXgmWneJGvDpJcql9/builds/JFWGnvM5nP6OAY4TS/openapi.json