Using Heritage Auctions to Sell Coins

FolsomMike62

Hello, has anyone had experience consigning coins to Heritage auctions?

I have contacted Heritage to discuss my collection and they are very nice and professional. But, it requires a leap of faith to use them. Essentially, i send in my coins in on consignment and they evaluate them. Then recommend the best way to sell them. Sounds easy enough but how do I know I am getting fair market value? I have 27 PCGS graded Morgans $1, 219 ungraded Morgan $1s several of which are MS, a collection of 83 Indian Head pennies starting with 1859 several of which are MS.

Has anyone used Heritage and are you happy with their service? Thank you in advance for your feed back.

winesteven

I’ve used Heritage, and have been VERY happy. However, they really deal mostly with graded coins, and mostly (I believe) with coins valued in the high three figures each, and higher.

While you have described in excellent detail the quantity of the coins in your collection, you have not said anything about the value of the individual coins. While those of us reading your post don’t need a complete list, we might be able to give you sounder advice if we had a better sense of the typical value of your individual coins.

Regarding your comment that several of your 219 raw Morgan Dollars and several of your 83 Indian Head cents are Mint State, maybe they are, maybe not. The third party graders like PCGS and NGC may indeed grade them as Mint State, but maybe lower Mint State, like MS63 as an example. Do you have any key dates or other dates/mint marks that are difficult to find, even in circulated grades?

As just one example, maybe you have a common date Morgan Dollar, like 1881, graded MS63. Chances are a collector buying that coin in an auction will bid no more than $100, if even that high. I believe that collections of coins with that value are really not of interest to auction companies such as Heritage or Stacks Bowers.

I wish you success in getting fair value for your collection.

Steve

FolsomMike62

Hello Steve, thank you for taking time to respond to my post. Below is a list of my PCGS graded coins. Nothing spectacular but a few nice coins. Of the 219 Morgans, I don't have any key dates but I believe that 50% of the coins would grade at MS60 or higher just based on my experience sending in coins to PCGS. I am a novice and appreciate your comment that they may or may not be MS. The dates span from 1878 to 1921. i.e. 1878-S, 1880-S, 1881-S, 1882-S, etc. Lots of San Francisco mint marks as my wife's Grandmother lived in CA. I've also provided a list of some of the Indian Head pennies. Again, I'm no expert but I do believe that some of the older coins would be graded MS.

The cull value for 219 morgans is $5,400+ depending on silver price. Any of the Morgans viewed as MS, should bring $40-$60 per coin or higher depending on the date even though they are not key dates. So I'm hoping to get $7,500 or higher for the 219 ungraded Morgans.

Graded Coin Grade PCGS Cert # Blue Book
1878-CC Morgan $1 MS63 51018292 $475.00
1878-CC Morgan $1 MS62 49534535 $450.00
1880-O Morgan $1 MS61 49404976 $225.00
1881-CC Morgan $1 MS64+ 49404978 $800.00
1883-CC Morgan $1 MS63PL 51018293 $275.00
1885-O Morgan $1 MS61 51018299 $50.00
1886-O Morgan $1 AU55 49534538 $550.00
1890-CC Morgan $1 MS63 49404981 $1,100.00
1891-S Morgan $1 AU58 51018298 $115.00
1902-O Morgan $1 MS65 51018297 $165.00
1903-O Morgan $1 MS64 49404983 $700.00
1909-S VDB 1C AU53 49534541 $1,300.00
1909-S VDB 1C AU50 49534540 $1,150.00
1934-S Walking Liberty $50C AU50 51018302 $65.00
1926-S Oregon Commem MS65 51018301 $175.00

Example of Indian Head Pennies in collection
1859 - Est. grade - EF
1861 - Est. grade - MS60 or above
1862 - Est. grade - MS60 or above
1863 - Copper Nickel - Est. Grade AU 50
1863 - Est. grade MS 60 or above
1864 - Est. grade MS63 or above
1865 - Est. grade MS60 or above
1866 - Est. grade MS60 or above
1867 - Est. grade AU50

These all came from a coin shop from the 1980s and this is how they had them labeled. The estimated MS coins are bright and look like you would expect an MS coin to look like.

Heritage told me that they have, invitation only, walk through auctions where they sell "ungraded" coins in various lots. Collectors walk through and pay fair market value for coins in lots.

Hope this gives a little more context around my question. I have never consigned anything to Heritage and was hoping to get feedback from others who have. Thank you.

winesteven

Mike - You have some very nice coins. I don’t have a lot of expertise, but I can say two things:

1. Heritage is an honest firm. Perhaps your next step BEFORE shipping any coins to Heritage would be to email them this more detailed list, and ask them how they estimate they would divide and group these various coins, and if they could give you a rough estimate of net proceeds for each of their groups.
2. Separately, rather than using this Q&A Forum, which very few collectors read, create a new post on the U.S. Coin Forum, where hundreds of knowledgeable collectors will read it, and dozens will likely comment. Include the detailed information, including the processes that Heritage described they offer, like that invitation only walk-through. Many of us are unfamiliar that Heritage offers that. Many (but not all) of the comments will be from very knowledgeable collectors, more knowledgeable than me. Be prepared to hear some comments that you may not agree with. You’ll do best if your replies to those comments are respectful, whether you agree or disagree. Their opinions will vary, and you can/should consider and weigh those opinions, not based necessarily on your agreement with liking them, but based on which ones make the most sense when read with an open mind.

I wish you luck!

Steve