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Who are some trustworthy/ethical people who I could easily consign my coins to?

I am considering selling my collection. My collection consists of:

indian head 2.5 gold
liberty 10 gold
semi key barber coinage
early date walking liberty halves
a bunch of 1926 s nickels
early commemoratives

I am sure there are other coins in there that slipped my mind...thousands of dollars worth...but I was wondering who the forum most recommended as a trustworthy person to do this. It takes a lot to be able to send your coins to somebody or have them take them and trust that person to sell them and pay you back around 97% of what they got for it.

I live in northern va...I am also wondering if there is a reputable dealer who could take them in person and sell them on ebay for me. I got plenty of semi key barber/walker silvers...

Comments

  • AnkurJAnkurJ Posts: 11,366 ✭✭✭✭
    97% might be tough.
    All coins kept in bank vaults.
    PCGS Registries
    Box of 20
    SeaEagleCoins: 11/14/54-4/5/12. Miss you Larry!
  • DaveGDaveG Posts: 3,535
    If you're in Northern Virginia, I'd recommend you take them to the next Baltimore show - hundreds of dealers to whom you could sell the coins.

    Check out the Southern Gold Society

  • SeattleSlammerSeattleSlammer Posts: 9,953 ✭✭✭✭✭
    97% !?
    ...instead you may want to consider getting some decent pics and putting them up on the BST.
  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 33,811 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>97% !?
    ...instead you may want to consider getting some decent pics and putting them up on the BST. >>



    image
  • SoCalBigMarkSoCalBigMark Posts: 2,786 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Russ is a honest as they come, goes by Resco on eBay and is a long time forum member.
  • Walkerguy21DWalkerguy21D Posts: 11,115 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Wayne Herndon, Angel Dee's, Harry Laibstain, David Lawrence, and Butternut (mostly copper, but handles all other coins as well) are all in Virginia, and all very reputable.
    Don't know if your coins are raw, slabbed, high grade or not....
    I'm also in the camp that thinks 97% is a bit unrealistic.....if you have say $30,000 worth of material, you are asking dealers
    to spend a lot of time reviewing and marketing your material for ~$900.....if you really need to get that much out of it, I'm
    thinking your better off selling it yourself.

    Successful BST transactions with 170 members. Recent: Tonedeaf, Shane6596, Piano1, Ikenefic, RG, PCGSPhoto, stman, Don'tTelltheWife, Boosibri, Ron1968, snowequities, VTchaser, jrt103, SurfinxHI, 78saen, bp777, FHC, RYK, JTHawaii, Opportunity, Kliao, bigtime36, skanderbeg, split37, thebigeng, acloco, Toninginthblood, OKCC, braddick, Coinflip, robcool, fastfreddie, tightbudget, DBSTrader2, nickelsciolist, relaxn, Eagle eye, soldi, silverman68, ElKevvo, sawyerjosh, Schmitz7, talkingwalnut2, konsole, sharkman987, sniocsu, comma, jesbroken, David1234, biosolar, Sullykerry, Moldnut, erwindoc, MichaelDixon, GotTheBug
  • amwldcoinamwldcoin Posts: 11,269 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I agree, bring them to Baltimore. I would be happy to look at your Barber Material. No dealer no where is going to work on 97% unless you are talking north of 5 figures per coin with no financial investment. Ebay and Paypal will take a minimum of 7% from the best sellers!
  • bolivarshagnastybolivarshagnasty Posts: 7,348 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would agree with Walker. Work with those in Virginia as all
    are reputable. David Lawrence has a large pseudo auction
    platform with a lot of traffic. 3 percent unrealistic.
  • NapNap Posts: 1,702 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I have never dealt with him, but I believe the forum member 'airplanenut' does consignment sales. I believe he is held in high esteem by most people here. He probably would be able to provide references. I do know he takes pretty good photographs.

    I'm sure there are others as well.
  • roadrunnerroadrunner Posts: 28,303 ✭✭✭✭✭
    You'll never really know what they got for the coins. So you'll not be able to confirm getting 97%, etc. Most dealers will want you to agree on a price for the coin(s) and then whatever they get above that amount is their profit. I got a dealer to work on 2-2.5% for me on a couple of occasions. And that worked for both of us. But, I also came up with the minimum prices I wanted for the coin which were somewhat tight. Since this dealer was going to be walking the floor of major shows it was really no extra work for them to show a few dozen of my coins along with their own....and they were different enough so as not to compete with his. For a couple hours of work on my coins they were able to cover all their show expenses and then some. Win-win in my book as I couldn't attend the shows.

    Other times I had placed coins on consignment with very well known and well-recommended dealers, they either put unrealistic prices on the coins (much higher than I was looking for) or farmed them out to some of their dealer friends. Those kind of antics don't work too well. It's best that you have a very good and trusting relationship with whatever dealer you choose. In my case I can't think of very many dealers I would trust with a consignment. The worst consignment deal I experienced was with a leading dealer who sold all the coins but failed to deliver the last 50% of the money. They eventually went bankrupt after stringing me along for a long time. Another time I had about $15K in coins sent to a dealer who usually bought most everything I shipped them. On the last occasion they wanted to shop 1 of the coins around rather than to buy it outright. Since they had been a strong buyer for over a year I agreed. Shortly thereafter the FEDs shut the business down for money laundering or something connected to drug dealing. I never did see that coin again and got a partial settlement. That dealer had an excellent national reputation. There's no sure thing in this business. 97% could be very realistic depending on the deal you structure. If you just expect a dealer to market your coins for weeks or months while trying to achieve top dollar for you...then getting 90% might be about the best you could expect....though generic gold coins tend to have a buy/sell spread of around 4-6% (much tighter than most other parts of the coin market). Since gold coins and key dates seem to be what you have for sale, the spreads on those should be a lot tighter. Those kinds of coins you could easily get 95% or more via BST or other retail/collector avenues. If your collection is worth $5K to $20K I could easily see it being sold as a group seeing as most of what you have are liquid and desirable coins. The commems I'm not so sure about.
    Barbarous Relic No More, LSCC -GoldSeek--shadow stats--SafeHaven--321gold
  • ms70ms70 Posts: 13,946 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Russ is a honest as they come, goes by Resco on eBay and is a long time forum member. >>



    +1

    Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.

  • Wabbit2313Wabbit2313 Posts: 7,268 ✭✭✭✭✭

    97% image


  • Ok you guys are laughing at me for throwing out that percentage...it was a ballpark number. Yeah I know it might be a different number in the end.
  • I just want a trustworthy person who will give me the value they get for them minus an agreed upon percentage and won't play any tricks or steal the coins. I live in northern va....so if any dealers are in this area, please chime in.
  • BAJJERFANBAJJERFAN Posts: 30,977 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Post a list with pix if possible. On the BS&T board.
  • rawteam1rawteam1 Posts: 2,472 ✭✭✭
    Lol, hilarious...
    keceph `anah
  • TomBTomB Posts: 20,697 ✭✭✭✭✭
    There are many trustworthy dealers, but the pool you may want to deal with (and who may want to deal with you) is really going to depend heavily upon what your coins are and what they look like.
    Thomas Bush Numismatics & Numismatic Photography

    In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson

    image
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 45,301 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Suggest that you contact Julian Leidman who is a forum member here under the name Julian. He has a large coin shop in the Washington area (Bonanza Coins in Silver Spring, Maryland) and does all the major coin shows. He's honest and can help you with the orderly sale of your collection.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 45,301 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Question for the forum members here. What would be a fair commission as a percent of the sale price for a dealer? I would think the higher the percentage the harder the dealer will work to get close to full retail while if he's working for a small percentage he may just wholesale it out to another dealer. For high value coins and bullion, 5% may be fair. For lower valued coins, 20% may be realistic.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.

  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,772 ✭✭✭✭✭
    On the surface, 97% is unrealistic, but possibly more important than the percentage is the denominator. 85% of $20k is a heck of a lot better than 97% of $10k.

    You have a few options:

    1. Sell them yourself, on the BST, on ebay, or at a show.
    2. Send them to Great Collections for auction.
    3. Outright sale to Heritage for quick wholesale deal.
    4. Sell/consign to a myriad of local/regional/national/internet dealers, each of which will have a different niche, strategy, price structure, business model, and level of enthusiasm for your coins.

    I suggest that you figure out what you expect to get from the collection, and that will guide your decision. Likely, the higher the number, the more work that will be required on your part. Selling directly to other collectors is often what will yield the most, but it will require the most work on your part.


    Question for the forum members here. What would be a fair commission as a percent of the sale price for a dealer? I would think the higher the percentage the harder the dealer will work to get close to full retail while if he's working for a small percentage he may just wholesale it out to another dealer. For high value coins and bullion, 5% may be fair. For lower valued coins, 20% may be realistic.

    I think you answered your own question.


  • << <i>Russ is a honest as they come, goes by Resco on eBay and is a long time forum member. >>





    100% accurate. A solid and well deserved reputation and I would not hesitate doing business with the man at any level.



    OTH 97%, is so unrealistic an expectation that a severe re-think is in order.


  • << <i>Suggest that you contact Julian Leidman who is a forum member here under the name Julian. He has a large coin shop in the Washington area (Bonanza Coins in Silver Spring, Maryland) and does all the major coin shows. He's honest and can help you with the orderly sale of your collection. >>



    image
  • CoinZipCoinZip Posts: 3,253 ✭✭✭
    31 DEALERS WITHIN 50 MILES OF 22003 which is an Annandale VA zip code


    Andy Singer
    Phone: 301-805-7085
    Green belt, Maryland

    Ratner Rare Coin Investments, Inc.
    Phone: (301) 770-1799
    Rockville, Maryland

    J.E.L. Coins
    Phone: (410) 674-9380
    Baltimore, Maryland

    RKT Coins
    Phone: 703 268-5234
    Fairfax, Virginia

    Kennedy's Stamps & Coins
    Phone: (703) 569-7300
    Springfield, Virginia

    Penny Pincher Coins
    Phone: (703) 383-1414
    Fairfax, Virginia

    Cameo Coins and Collectibles
    Phone: (703) 281-7053
    Vienna, Virginia

    Robin Borum Rare Coins RBRC
    Phone: 703-395-3269
    Woodbridge, Virginia

    George Watson - Numismatist
    Phone: (703) 843-7072S
    pringfield, Virginia

    Old Tavern Coins
    Phone: 504-270-2237
    The Plains, Virginia

    The Family Trust Numismatics LLC
    Phone: 540-955-8067
    Berryville, Virginia

    Brian Kritt
    Phone: 301-236-0256
    Burtonsville, Maryland

    ARUNDEL COINS & CARDS
    Phone: (410) 761-3232
    GLEN BURNIE, Maryland

    Annapolis Coin Exchange
    Phone: (410) 266-2530
    Annapolis, Maryland

    Burton's Rare Coins
    Phone: 301-663-3223
    Frederick, Maryland

    CEO Coins Currency-Treasures
    Phone: (443) 623-7025
    Savage, Maryland

    The Butternut Company
    Phone: 703-802-0252
    Clifton , Virginia

    Innovative Coins
    Phone: 443-310-8675
    Reisterstown, Maryland

    Wayne Herndon Rare Coins Inc.
    Phone: 703-385-0058
    Chantilly, Virginia

    Senior C and C
    Phone: 702-845-1934
    Ijamsville, Maryland

    Daryl C Spelbring's Banknotes of the World
    Phone: 703-938-7267
    Vienna, Virginia

    Capitol Coin & Stamp
    Phone: 202-296-0400
    Washington DC, Dist. of Columbia

    Woodstock Consolidated Services
    Phone: 410-790-1170
    Randallstown, Maryland

    Mike Dixon.
    Phone: 301-788-6232
    New Market, Maryland

    Edward J Waddell Ltd.
    Phone: (301) 473-8600
    Frederick, Maryland

    Bonanza Coins
    Phone: (301) 585-8467
    Silver Spring, Maryland

    David Kahn Rare Coins
    Phone: (301) 570-7070
    Olney, Maryland

    Coast To Coast Coins
    Phone: (800) 638-8869
    Columbia, Maryland

    Angel Dee's Coins and Collectibles®
    Phone: 703-580-6969
    Woodbridge, Virginia

    LRC* Numismatics
    Phone: 301-448-9396
    Silver Spring, Maryland

    Coin Club Benefit auctions ..... View the Lots

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 45,301 ✭✭✭✭✭
    He wanted a personal recommendation. Some on your list I would not recommend after having dealt with them.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.

  • coinlieutenantcoinlieutenant Posts: 9,305 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Morning,

    I live in Northern Virginia and would be willing to take a look at what you have if you would like.

    I don't deal much any more, but can at least give you a realistic idea of what a dealer is going to want in return for their work.
    It really does depend on what you have. Low percentages may work on higher end coins, but 97% will be difficult for most of what you listed.

    90% is working pretty close and pretty hard.

    PM me if you want anything else. I am a Naval Officer stationed here for the next year or two.

    V.r,
    John
  • Seeing that most dealers offer "10% back of bid", I don't know who the hell
    would work of 3% ???
  • PhotoguyPhotoguy Posts: 118 ✭✭✭
    We would be happy to take a look at your coins and give you an idea of estimate and a fair commission.

    Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins and Collectibles Inc.
    Contact Ira Goldberg
    800-978-2646
    Numismatic Photographer for Superior/Ira & Larry Goldberg since 1990, Photographer of THE TYRANT COLLECTION one of the greatest collection ever formed.
  • Airplanenut
  • joeykoinsjoeykoins Posts: 14,787 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nice little collection! If and when in the Chicago area. I would prefer you to the most honest guy I know in the business. That is Joe Rizdy. His shop is called " Lagrange Coins and Stamps". In Lagrange Park, Il. Minutes from I-55 in Chicago. I'm sure you'll be satisfied with his prices. If you do, tell him Joe K. sent ya'. Good Luck!image

    "Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!

    --- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.
  • MGLICKERMGLICKER Posts: 7,995 ✭✭✭
    If the Gold is generic, you 97% of melt is probably about right from a high volume, good coin dealer. On the other stuff, 15-20% is the norm.
  • BochimanBochiman Posts: 25,284 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Morning,

    I live in Northern Virginia and would be willing to take a look at what you have if you would like.

    I don't deal much any more, but can at least give you a realistic idea of what a dealer is going to want in return for their work.
    It really does depend on what you have. Low percentages may work on higher end coins, but 97% will be difficult for most of what you listed.

    90% is working pretty close and pretty hard.

    PM me if you want anything else. I am a Naval Officer stationed here for the next year or two.

    V.r,
    John >>




    To the OP.....I've known John online here for more than a few years and have also met him in person when he was stationed nearby where I live.
    His offer is valid and he is a good, and honest, person who has experience to help give you a good idea on what to expect.

    It would be a good use of your time if you could meet with him.

    I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment



  • << <i>

    << <i>Morning,

    I live in Northern Virginia and would be willing to take a look at what you have if you would like.

    I don't deal much any more, but can at least give you a realistic idea of what a dealer is going to want in return for their work.
    It really does depend on what you have. Low percentages may work on higher end coins, but 97% will be difficult for most of what you listed.

    90% is working pretty close and pretty hard.

    PM me if you want anything else. I am a Naval Officer stationed here for the next year or two.

    V.r,
    John >>




    To the OP.....I've known John online here for more than a few years and have also met him in person when he was stationed nearby where I live.
    His offer is valid and he is a good, and honest, person who has experience to help give you a good idea on what to expect.

    It would be a good use of your time if you could meet with him. >>



    If he was that good he would have been an army officer instead of Navy image
  • BStrauss3BStrauss3 Posts: 3,109 ✭✭✭✭✭
    How about Ian from GreatCollections? He's active on several of the hobby boards and is a warm and genuinely nice guy. He will give you and honest answer as to what he can and cannot do for you.

    If it's really a major major collection, then the big guns are the ones with the major auctions [The Goldbergs, Legend, Heritage, Stacks, Kagins]. But the kind of marketing that requires is both costly and takes time. However for the truly top end, nothing beats having two or more buyers at a top end auction fighting over something the market hasn't seen for 30 or 40 years!
    -----Burton
    ANA 50 year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
  • morgansforevermorgansforever Posts: 8,428 ✭✭✭✭✭
    How about buy a Redbook, buy a loupe, organize, categorize and utilize photograde online. Empower yourself, get informed, JMO.
    World coins FSHO Hundreds of successful BST transactions U.S. coins FSHO

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