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How to sell my nickel collection without getting screwed

Ok, this thread is not some veiled attempt to solicit offers. In fact, if you contact me, I won't sell you anything. I'm just looking for general advice.

I made up a custom collection of nickels in a Dansco Album. It includes the first two pages of the Jefferson Nickels, which I tried to collect in the range of MS66 and with rainbow toning where I could. I can't emphasize how much effort went into hand picking these. I also have a blank page that I filled with Buffalos which I collected in VF or better (common dates). Then I have a page of shield and liberty nickels mostly in the Fine range (for the Shields) and the EF range for the liberty nickels. I also have a handful of interesting Jefferson doubled dies and more popular errors, some in slabs, some not.

I'm thinking I just want to sell them with the goal of getting a high-end Victoria Gothic coin or two. (yeah, I really like them)

I'm no stranger to Ebay, but I'm wondering if it would make more sense to sell them here, or on facebook. I could slab some of the Jeffersons, but I question whether I could sell them quick enough. I really just want to move on to other things without getting screwed over for the time and effort that went into hand picking many of these coins. Should I just take them to a show? What percent of retail is reasonable for something like this?

What do you recommend?

Thanks in advance.

Steve

Really enjoying collecting coins and currency again

My currency "Box of Ten" Thread: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1045579/my-likely-slow-to-develop-box-of-ten#latest

Comments

  • ilmcoinsilmcoins Posts: 525 ✭✭✭✭

    Either above or visit a show with a well known Jefferson dealer and sell to them.

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I agree with @291fifth ....You can try a major show, but I do not think you will realize anywhere near the time and money you have invested....Of course, ICBW... you could indeed find someone who is looking for exactly what you have, and has cash to acquire it. Good luck, Cheers, RickO

  • 1Bufffan1Bufffan Posts: 616 ✭✭✭

    Everyone is right you won't get very far with Nickels you should have invested the same amount of money in another venue! Like silver older small gold or something that has a Chance of gaining value, certainly not nickel.

  • BUFFNIXXBUFFNIXX Posts: 2,699 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Your gonna hove to werk yer but off one way or another to get any value from your Jeffersons.
    I have been down that road too.

    Collector of Buffalo Nickels and other 20th century United States Coinage
    a.k.a "The BUFFINATOR"
  • HydrantHydrant Posts: 7,773 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 30, 2020 2:17PM

    I have made it a point to tell all my children to NEVER even think about selling my Jefferson album collections when I'm gone. They will never get what they're worth because they're raw, and that the labor of love factor put into building them outweighs the value of the coins. It's like 291 fifth says, "raw Jeffersons will just be regarded as uncs." Your opinion of the grade won't matter.

  • TexastTexast Posts: 1,899 ✭✭✭✭
    edited January 30, 2020 9:43PM

    You say you won't sell to anyone who contacts you, I still hope you get someone making you an offer. I am not interested but I do believe this is your best shot. You may try posting this in the Buy Sell and Trade forum on this site. As long as you don't put a link in this page you will be keeping your promise.

    Good luck!

    On BS&T Now: Nothing.
    Fighting the Fight for 11 Years with the big "C" - Never Ever Give Up!
    Member PCGS Open Forum board 2002 - 2006 (closed end of 2006) Current board since 2006 Successful trades with many members, over the past two decades, never a bad deal.
  • davewesendavewesen Posts: 5,758 ✭✭✭✭✭

    have you sold on eBay? can you take great photos? you would probably maximize sale by selling in small groups -by year for first page, and couple years on next - only if you can capture the color on your pics and have selling history.

    otherwise I suggest consigning to someone like greattoning or take to big show and show to someone who would appreciate value.

    it comes down to how much work do you want to do an how soon do you want to cash out

  • BaleyBaley Posts: 22,658 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Your time and effort are sunk costs. Try to get what you paid in cash for the coins, with minimal additional time and effort. Good luck.

    Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

  • jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 31,611 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @291fifth said:
    You are about to be very, very disappointed. The only way to get money for "high grade" Jefferson nickels is to have them in major brand slabs. That costs money ... probably more money than it would be worth spending. Raw Jeffersons will just be regarded as "uncs".

    The Shield and Liberty nickels will bring a percentage of gray sheet. Don't expect to see buyers get excited about them ... they won't.

    The "errors" ... who knows. They may or may not have a real market.

    +1

  • toyz4geotoyz4geo Posts: 1,467 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @JeffersonFrog said:
    I'm a nickel guy, and in general, I think the thoughts above are pretty accurate and sound advice. Selling is harder than buying. Jeffs won't make you rich, nor get people excited. It's nearly impossible to monetize the effort and care you've put into your set. Be patient.

    That said, to better answer your question, more info is needed on what coins you have. If you have 70, MS66 quality, nicely toned 1939-D or 1939-S Jeffs, that's one thing. If you have 70 nicely toned MS66 quality common date Jeffs, that's another. If you have EF coins for 1885, 1886 and 1912-S Libertys, that's another altogether. Do you have 1879, 1880 and/or 1881 Shields? Do you have 1942-D/D or 1939 Double Monticello coins?

    There are coins of value in these series, and whether or not you have all, some or none of them could impact the most optimal way to proceed.

    My five cents worth.

    Good luck.

    Agree. I have waaaaaay more in my Jeffersons than I can get out. And I'm talking PCGS 67FS stuff. Raw is going to tough. Good luck.

  • JimnightJimnight Posts: 10,763 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I think @291fifth said it well.

  • Dave99BDave99B Posts: 8,331 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Sounds like a labor of love, which is cool. I bet you have a great eye.

    Sadly, there’s not a lot of appreciation out there for your efforts. I’d think you would do the best selling directly to a dealer at a good sized show. Maybe shop it around at a show. They’ll likely cherry-pick out the nicer pieces and wholesale out the rest.

    Buying is easy.
    Selling can be an eye opening event.

    Good luck!

    Dave

    Always looking for original, better date VF20-VF35 Barber quarters and halves, and a quality beer.
  • koynekwestkoynekwest Posts: 10,048 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Some of the slabbed doubled dies might be worth listing with Great Collections if they are the major varieties and in high enough grade.

  • sparky64sparky64 Posts: 7,025 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My thoughts on taking them to show to try and sell.

    You should have a price in mind that you would be willing to sell to the first offer, on the spot.

    Things can go awry if you're percieved to be "shopping" them around to several dealers, playing them against each other.

    "If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"

    My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress

  • topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @koynekwest said:
    Some of the slabbed doubled dies might be worth listing with Great Collections if they are the major varieties and in high enough grade.

    They'll have to be slabbed again to do that.

  • koynekwestkoynekwest Posts: 10,048 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Are they unattributed?

  • yspsalesyspsales Posts: 2,086 ✭✭✭✭✭

    How about some pictures of the toners?

    I bought a complete album of Roosevelt Dimes.

    Half of them are attractive toners.

    I can sympathize with your plight, as I debate whether to grade them and start a registry set.

    BST: KindaNewish (3/21/21), WQuarterFreddie (3/30/21), Meltdown (4/6/21), DBSTrader2 (5/5/21) AKA- unclemonkey on Blow Out

  • amwldcoinamwldcoin Posts: 11,269 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Hmmm, While it's been over a decade ago. I bought a wonderfully toned set of Jeffersons at the FUN show in a Library of Coins Album. I paid a premium for the set and then had a dealer come by that blew my premium away. These were at best 63-64 average coins(No FS) but had exceptional toning. The offer? $2,000.00 dollars. SOLD!

  • CoinHoarderCoinHoarder Posts: 2,435 ✭✭✭✭✭

  • 291fifth291fifth Posts: 23,898 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @amwldcoin said:
    Hmmm, While it's been over a decade ago. I bought a wonderfully toned set of Jeffersons at the FUN show in a Library of Coins Album. I paid a premium for the set and then had a dealer come by that blew my premium away. These were at best 63-64 average coins(No FS) but had exceptional toning. The offer? $2,000.00 dollars. SOLD!

    Smart move.

    All glory is fleeting.
  • oih82w8oih82w8 Posts: 11,865 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My thinking on selling anything...hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and accept whatever comes your way.

    It really depends on the potential buyers. Selling as a lot will normally bring a lesser amount than selling individually. Good luck with your decision.

    oih82w8 = Oh I Hate To Wait _defectus patientia_aka...Dr. Defecto - Curator of RMO's

    BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug...
  • braddickbraddick Posts: 22,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I own two full sets of Dansco Jeffersons (including proofs) as the asking price was a steal in my opinion (both from a local coin shop so you know they bought them for much less). Each coin appears to have been selected by a picky collector yet seriously- probably paid much more for the singles than the set is worth (sadly).
    As beautiful and lustrous as these coins are- and they truly are- I know if I ever were to sell them I'd be in the same boat as you.
    Not really valuable enough to have graded yet too pretty to accept what they are "worth". I suppose it'll be an issue for future generations to figure out!

    peacockcoins

  • Aspie_RoccoAspie_Rocco Posts: 3,259 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Your best return will probably be the varieties. Please share some info or pics of your varieties.

  • shorecollshorecoll Posts: 5,445 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Figure out the dozen best and have them pre-screened for slabbing by a respected specialist. If those 12 turn out to be worth it, go with 12 more, etc.

    I do agree with most of what's been said. I was a shield/liberty collector but sold out years ago.

    ANA-LM, NBS, EAC
  • DRUNNERDRUNNER Posts: 3,791 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Some superb advice above . . . . I cannot disagree at all.

    As I was finishing my higher end sets (Morgans, Commems) I found it always fun when I couldn't buy the right high power coin, to take a look through all the boxes and folders on the bourse floor for fun Jeffs. That led to a LOC rainbow set . . . .and two Danscos, one of which has been submitted to several Jeff specialists, rebuilt from the ground up, and would certainly play ball with some of the better sets listed above. I now have two Dansco sets, various keys in PCGS plastic, and toners and 'fun' singles in 2x2s . . . fully realizing they are strictly for my own enjoyment. Even raw . . .I probably have $450+ in my 38-64 sets, then add the moderns and a full set of proofs . . . . .well . . . . . they would be looked at as 'common uncs'.

    I will never get my return out of them . . .but they are a fun set that killed a lot of bourse time when I couldn't find anything I needed in higher end coins . . .

    No . . . . I won't be selling my set(s) for GSB . . . . . . . I'll just have them put in the coffin with me . . . .

    Drunner

  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 11,660 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I echo the comments above.

    I have picked up two 38-64 Jefferson in aftermarket holders (LOC album and a low end 1960's vintage plastic Capital holder) that had been assembled coin by coin. The coins in the LOC album are all MS with toning, luster and eye appeal. The coins in the Capital Holder were a mixture of MS and high circulated grades (I cherry picked the best coins in the two sets and put them in the LOC album.

    The best part of the purchase of the LOC album of Jeffersons is that the 1945 P war nickel is a DDR variety that would likely grade a 64 or better.

  • MasonGMasonG Posts: 6,268 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If, instead of starting this thread, the OP had offered his coins to a dealer and just reported the results, is there any doubt a dealer who made an offer reflecting what's been posted above would have been ripped to shreds here? I don't think so but of course, YMMV.

  • CoinJunkieCoinJunkie Posts: 8,772 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MasonG said:
    If, instead of starting this thread, the OP had offered his coins to a dealer and just reported the results, is there any doubt a dealer who made an offer reflecting what's been posted above would have been ripped to shreds here? I don't think so but of course, YMMV.

    There is some doubt, yes. I can recall many people reporting here that dealer X at a show made them an "insulting" offer for such and such. The most common response was that the poster took it to the wrong dealer, i.e., a non-specialist in the material in question. Another frequent response was that the poster was vastly overvaluing whatever he/she was attempting to sell.

  • HydrantHydrant Posts: 7,773 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 31, 2020 10:10PM

    @amwldcoin said:
    Hmmm, While it's been over a decade ago. I bought a wonderfully toned set of Jeffersons at the FUN show in a Library of Coins Album. I paid a premium for the set and then had a dealer come by that blew my premium away. These were at best 63-64 average coins(No FS) but had exceptional toning. The offer? $2,000.00 dollars. SOLD!

    I did the same thing a couple of years ago. Only I popped out all the nickels in the album and replaced them with nickels that I had in 2x2's that needed a good home. Why?.......because I love Library of Coin albums and I found a dandy! MS70 album...pristine!

  • koynekwestkoynekwest Posts: 10,048 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @SanctionII said:
    I echo the comments above.

    I have picked up two 38-64 Jefferson in aftermarket holders (LOC album and a low end 1960's vintage plastic Capital holder) that had been assembled coin by coin. The coins in the LOC album are all MS with toning, luster and eye appeal. The coins in the Capital Holder were a mixture of MS and high circulated grades (I cherry picked the best coins in the two sets and put them in the LOC album.

    The best part of the purchase of the LOC album of Jeffersons is that the 1945 P war nickel is a DDR variety that would likely grade a 64 or better.

    This is one of those worthwhile doubled dies cited above. There is around a dozen like this, including one overdate, a couple over Mint marks and a D over horizontal D. Most of the doubled dies can be seen here-http://varietyvista.com/index.htm

  • 291fifth291fifth Posts: 23,898 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MasonG said:
    If, instead of starting this thread, the OP had offered his coins to a dealer and just reported the results, is there any doubt a dealer who made an offer reflecting what's been posted above would have been ripped to shreds here? I don't think so but of course, YMMV.

    Dealers are under no obligation to pay stupid money for common collectibles such as Jefferson sets in albums. Thirty five years ago I was talking to a local dealer (now long out of business) who was lamenting that he had allowed his 1960's era coin enthusiasm to influence his coin buying. He then showed me a several foot thick stack of Jefferson nickel sets he had purchased over the past few years. He couldn't get rid of them. The market for them had died in 1964 and he was now paying the price for not paying attention to what the then current market actually wanted.

    All glory is fleeting.
  • mustangmanbobmustangmanbob Posts: 1,890 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I mentioned this before, but several years ago, at the local B&M, the owner had a 5 - 6' tall stack of milk crates filled with Jeffersons. He finally decided to chunk the series, popped out all the silver nickles, 50-D, and a couple others, and all the rest, including proofs, BU coins, 1938's, etc. were all going to the bank. The interest in the set was minimal, and the prices were poor. It was just not worth his time to deal with it.

  • CoinHoarderCoinHoarder Posts: 2,435 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I don't ever remember the Jefferson nickel being a widely collected coin.

  • 291fifth291fifth Posts: 23,898 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @CoinHoarder said:
    I don't ever remember the Jefferson nickel being a widely collected coin.

    It was during the great coin boom of the late 1950's - 1964.

    All glory is fleeting.
  • MasonGMasonG Posts: 6,268 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @CoinJunkie said:
    There is some doubt, yes. I can recall many people reporting here that dealer X at a show made them an "insulting" offer for such and such. The most common response was that the poster took it to the wrong dealer, i.e., a non-specialist in the material in question. Another frequent response was that the poster was vastly overvaluing whatever he/she was attempting to sell.

    You're right, some people will post such responses. But then again, I didn't say everybody would rip the dealer, just that it would happen. Read just about any thread that gets into discussing "the crooks at the local coin store" to see how it goes. Yeah, some of them are, but not as many as you'd think from what gets posted here.

  • CoinJunkieCoinJunkie Posts: 8,772 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @MasonG said:

    @CoinJunkie said:
    There is some doubt, yes. I can recall many people reporting here that dealer X at a show made them an "insulting" offer for such and such. The most common response was that the poster took it to the wrong dealer, i.e., a non-specialist in the material in question. Another frequent response was that the poster was vastly overvaluing whatever he/she was attempting to sell.

    You're right, some people will post such responses. But then again, I didn't say everybody would rip the dealer, just that it would happen. Read just about any thread that gets into discussing "the crooks at the local coin store" to see how it goes. Yeah, some of them are, but not as many as you'd think from what gets posted here.

    Fair enough, but the meaning I took from your post was that "ripping the dealer to shreds" would be the overwhelming consensus as opposed to a few grenades lobbed in from the peanut gallery.

  • metalmeistermetalmeister Posts: 4,584 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I bought a entire collection 38-64 of gem Jefferson's in a blue Dansco. Most 65-66 with beautiful toning. It cost around a $1 per coin. It's a thin market. Best of luck.

    email: ccacollectibles@yahoo.com

    100% Positive BST transactions
  • SonorandesertratSonorandesertrat Posts: 5,695 ✭✭✭✭✭

    $1 per coin? Wow

    Member: EAC, NBS, C4, CWTS, ANA

    RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'

    CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]

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