Author Topic: Coin Collection  (Read 3362 times)

Heroes821

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Coin Collection
« on: October 04, 2017, 08:50:55 AM »
Good Morning Mustache friends!

I am currently in purge mode after a large move and I keep looking at my family's coin collection in three super heavy massive boxes and thinking why am I hauling this every time I move instead of converting it to some VTSAX.

Any suggestions or stories on others who have liquidated a coin collection? Routes to take or to avoid?

I think my town has 1 coin seller, there are probably a bunch in the city that is an hour away.  I've popped through the "Red Book" and http://cointrackers.com for estimated values.

While some of the collection is mint condition collectors things in the plastic containers from the mint, the vast majority is unsorted silver pieces ranging from 1900 to 1964... like 80% of the collection is just silver. Well one box is just over 6000 pennies, but I have been separating all the copper ones out from the newer ones.

Since dimes in the silver pile seem to be the most prevalent I have seen estimated value at $3 each for Roosevelt silver dimes, any opinions on that? I think it will be my starting point.

toganet

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Re: Coin Collection
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2017, 09:34:02 AM »
I don't have a lot of knowledge in this area, but I can share a story about my BIL who does.  He collected coins for many years, starting when he was a kid.  He learned a TON about it, to the point that the local coin brokers wouldn't sell anything to him -- he only bought things he knew they had mispriced.

At some point after many years, he lost interest in the hobby and the collection moved to several large boxes.  When he wanted to make a major purchase a few years ago, he liquidated the entire collection.  My understanding is the coins had appreciated significantly. Or well, at least he was very pleased with himself.

The one piece of advice he gave me was that when it comes to silver coins, you're often better off thinking of them in terms of just the base metal value.  Unless they are in the very best condition (or your time is worthless) the difference in price isn't worth the effort in having them graded and consigned, etc.

Heroes821

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Re: Coin Collection
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2017, 12:11:03 PM »
Thanks for the replies. I definitely knew the cleaning thing from my dad, but thinking in terms of base metal is probably a good way to go.  Today's rate on Roosevelt silver dimes base metal is $1.61 each so even if that is my starting point that's a 1510% increase from the year they were minted.

fattest_foot

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Re: Coin Collection
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2017, 04:08:28 PM »
I inherited my dad's coin collection a long time ago and a few months ago started looking into what it would take to sell it.

And unfortunately, it sounds like unless you've got the super rare stuff (that 50 years ago you would've known was a misprint) it's mostly worthless.

The only caveat is silver, which it sounds like you've got a decent amount of. I'm still trying to figure out how to offload that, but I figure I've got close to $1000 in "metal worth" of silver coins. Whenever I find someone to offload that to, I'm hoping to get rid of the rest of the coins at the same time.

Frankies Girl

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Re: Coin Collection
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2017, 04:16:05 PM »
Check out the local coin shows and coin collector clubs. You may be able to find someone that will make you a decent offer to just offload it in bulk.

I keep meaning to take my combined collection (mine from when I was a kid/teen and then inherited some from my dad) to sell off. I know the majority isn't worth all that much, but there are a few pieces (like less than 2 dozen) that are worth in the low three figures each supposedly. Just haven't had a huge push yet to get it taken care of.

JAYSLOL

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Re: Coin Collection
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2017, 08:01:19 PM »
I buy and sell old coins and bills, and what i would do and what works for you might be very different so i'll just go through some of the options and let you decide what works best in your shoes.  There are 2 ways to sell a collection, you need to decide if you want to sell it as a whole, or if you have the time and interest, to part it out for (potentially) more profit.  I say potentially because it could be the case that it goes for more as a collection, though that is very rare, and usually it parts out for much more when it comes to coins.  If you decide to sell as a whole, MAKE SURE YOU GET MULTIPLE OFFERS.  I can't stress that enough, if a shop or a buyer is going to make you an offer, make sure they know that you will only be selling after getting multiple offers as well, this may very well increase what they were about to offer you.  Even if an offer seems out-of-this-world-crazy-high get a second, third or more opinion before selling. 

You can sell as a whole to coin, antique or pawn shops, or to independent coin resellers like me, though we all pay somewhere between 50-90% of retail value for a collection (or less if they aren't very honest).  I try to pay around 80% of what i expect a collection to sell for because it leaves me more than enough room with the very low expenses i have, and is high enough value to beat pretty much every other offer someone would get in my area.  You could also sell a collection as a whole through an auction house, who would likely sell it in smaller lots for you.  Is your collection mostly loose coins or are they mostly sets and well organized?  I find a well organized collection (each coin in a coin holder and labeled, coins in mint sets etc) sells MUCH better at auction than bags or boxes of loose coins.  So i would advise you put some effort into the presentation if you went the auction route.  The auction house would likely take a large commission, however they may be willing to negotiate a lower commission on a sizeable/valuable collection.  I sell some coins and a lot of older bank notes through my local auction house, here are some things i've noticed.  What things sell for can vary wildly from week to week depending on who is there, so an auction house that would be willing to sell a collection over a series of auction nights may help average out what you get rather than risking everything selling on a "cheap night".  For coins or bills $1 or more, my auction house only charges me commission on the amount it sells for OVER face value.  i.e. If i sell an old $100 bill at auction, and it goes for $125, i only pay commission on the $25 above the bill value, this is especially important for selling larger denomination currency.  Ask you local auction house if they would do that for you if you sell through them.  It may also be worth going to an auction night when they have some coins up for auction and see what kind of interest the bidders have in them before going this route, or selling a small portion of the collection through them first to see what kind of money it brings in.  Ask multiple auction houses if possible what they can do for you as far as commission on the collection.   

If you part out a collection yourself, you would need to research what you have and what to look for to value it.  Once you have a good idea whats what, you can post each coin or small lots of similar coins for sale online.  I'm not sure what your best choice is in your area for this, but i like the local Facebook buy and sell groups for this kind of thing in my area over craigslist type listings for low-medium value coins and sets.  I wouldn't post anything on craigslist/facebook worth $1k or more as this may attract attention from the wrong people, and instead would go with an online auction (eBay or a coin or collectable specific auction), or sell to a coin shop (get multiple offers!) for this kind of item.  Don't be afraid to call up coin shops in other cities and see if they would let you email them photos of coin/s and see what they would offer you if you suspect they may be worth a lot.  The only problem with going through and learning about each coin (other than how time consuming it is) is that you might start finding coins interesting and end up keeping the collection out of interest in them, haha. 


JAYSLOL

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Re: Coin Collection
« Reply #6 on: October 04, 2017, 08:08:32 PM »
Thanks for the replies. I definitely knew the cleaning thing from my dad, but thinking in terms of base metal is probably a good way to go.  Today's rate on Roosevelt silver dimes base metal is $1.61 each so even if that is my starting point that's a 1510% increase from the year they were minted.

True, but a lot closer to 0% if you were talking inflation-adjusted from 1946, the first year of that dime.  10 cents without any silver value had 1160% of the buying power of today in 1946.   

Car Jack

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Re: Coin Collection
« Reply #7 on: October 05, 2017, 07:31:39 AM »
I have a combination of coin collections inherited from my dad, some junk silver I bought before I better understood investing and random coins that I don't even know where they came from.

So I have done some work trying to figure out where/how to sell.  Here is some of my findings:

If you call Apmex, they will give you a quote over the phone.  You then have a bottom number to work with.  Apmex only accepts $1000 minimum cash value (so if coins were at 10X face, you'd need $100 face for them to even accept them).  I am very scared about mailing $1000 worth of untraceable silver coins in the mail.

Coin dealers:  Some will give you the Apmex price.  If they will, then you're done.  Just sell them to your local coin dealer.

Jewelry stores often are hooked up with a silver coin buyer.  Expect to get less from these guys.

Same as jewelry stores applies to some pawn shops.  They're not going to give you the spot buy price.

Coin shows:  If you find a well attended show and can somehow listen in on conversations and find someone looking to buy silver coins, sell to them privately (expect to be kicked out if show people figure out what you're doing).  I attended a show and offered my silver to a number of dealers to see it it was the place to sell.  Absolutely not.  They offered the lowest prices of anyone.  Where I could sell to Apmex for $13 for $1 face at the time, they were offering $7.50.  That's not much more than half, if I could get over my fear of mailing.

Note that I consider all my stuff junk silver.  Stuff that's uncirculated and key dates are going to be a whole different game and I expect prices will be even more all over the place.

Heroes821

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Re: Coin Collection
« Reply #8 on: October 05, 2017, 07:42:10 AM »
Thanks for the replies. I definitely knew the cleaning thing from my dad, but thinking in terms of base metal is probably a good way to go.  Today's rate on Roosevelt silver dimes base metal is $1.61 each so even if that is my starting point that's a 1510% increase from the year they were minted.

True, but a lot closer to 0% if you were talking inflation-adjusted from 1946, the first year of that dime.  10 cents without any silver value had 1160% of the buying power of today in 1946.   

Thanks for the long post Jay.  To the quoted above I was solely looking at it from my perspective of someone gave me say off the cuff $20 worth of silver dimes that for me required no waiting for them to be worth more.

You bring up some really good points and it comes down to me organizing and sorting and putting the coins in appropriate containers.  I'm currently working on sorting pennies because I have so so so many of them and any 1983 -2017 are just pennies to be rolled and turned into the bank to me. I got one of the kids interested in sorting and rolling, but somehow in 2nd grade she doesn't know what before 1982 and after 1982 to mean so I have to go back through her stacks... anyway off topic.

I spent last evening separating out all the foreign currency from loose change, 2-3 containers into a giant Ziploc.  Probably the worst way to keep those coins, but better than multiple piles in the box.  I think sorting out the rest of the US coins will speed up with those out of the way.  I definitely think this will be a longer process than I had anticipated earlier.  I figured silver Roosevelt dimes were mostly only worth the silver and then I found that a bunch in the 50s have sold for upwards of $3,000 each.


Car Jack: Thanks for the heads up on Apmex.

JAYSLOL

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Re: Coin Collection
« Reply #9 on: October 05, 2017, 10:30:21 AM »
No problem, one thing to note though is that for coins to get really high values, condition is extremely important.  Like the difference between looking almost perfect and actually being perfect can be the difference between a coin being worth $50 or $2500.  Also, for most coins worth over $200, having it professionally graded (NGC or PCGS) is a must to get anywhere close to full retail value.  And learning what's worth (and more importantly what isn't worth) the cost to send in to be graded can take a lot of time and experience. 

Rbuckyfuller

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Re: Coin Collection
« Reply #10 on: October 20, 2017, 10:27:48 PM »
Generally, you'll make more selling to individuals than dealers, but it takes more time and is more risk.  Dealers finish quickly, but pay less because they need a profit margin.

Depending on your location, I've got interest in buying coins.   Probably not interested in the whole collection, but I keep a reasonable amount in the safe.