Question?

dotcom

I have some coins that I inherited that I may want to sell. What is the best way to sell them? Is it best to sell through an auction house and if so, which one? They are rare gold coins. One is an 1853-C gold dollar and a 1877 $3 dollar Princess. I also have some more, but for right now I would like some info on the best way to sell these coins. Thanks for the info!

LucyBop

Be Bop A Lula!

Placid

Are they certified?
What grade if they are?
Many fakes have been made.

Heritage probably. www.heritagecoin.com

greghansen

I'm assuming these coins are 'raw' meaning they are not slabbed by one of the grading services. If they are raw, IMO they should be slabbed by PCGS or NGC. Your gold dollar, for example may be worth from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand, all depending upon condition. The major auction houses, (Heritage; Bowers & Merena; Superior, etc.) can and will help you with get your coins graded and encapsulated, buy you can also do that yourself or with a little help. You'll get the largest exposure for your coin through a major auction house, but you'll pay a sellers fee, and you'll wait many months from the time you consign to coin until it is sold and you ultimately get your share of the money. Another option is to let one of the dealer types here on the boards help you with getting the coin graded and marketing it for you. Somebody would probably do that for about a 10% commission if the total value of your coins is at least 5K or more. I'm not in the business, but I'm sure you'll get some responses here from some folks who are.

dotcom

The 1853-C gold dollar has been graded by PCGS at MS61 and the $3 dollar princess has also been graded by PCGS at MS61.

Placid

Great
You can put them on eBay if you are in a hurry to sell or use a auction house like heritage.
You can use the price guide at www.numismedia.com or the pcgs one to get a rough idea of retail value.
The username-password at numismedia is morgan-morgan.
You can also look at heritage in the auction archives to see what similar coins have been selling for.

prooflike

You can try the BST boards here also and see if anybody bites & it is commission free to do so.

CarlWohlforth

I, and probably several others, can sell your coins for you on eBay. We might be able to get a little more than you are offered from a local coin shop.

Russ

dotcom,

How are things in the graveyard? Bwuahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!! Hey, just kidding!!!!

Welcome aboard! Got proof JFKs?

Russ, NCNE

EVillageProwler

It may also be useful for get an appraisal of the coins before selling. The slabbed grade doesn't always give an accurate value of the coin, and it's always nice to maximize your return.

Good luck!

EVP

tradedollarnut

Nobody's addressed the obvious yet - when were they graded? Can you post a scan of the holder? You could leave a lot of money on the table if those coins are in the first generation holder!

RotatedRainbows

I was thinking the same thing as TD, since you inherited them there is a chance they were graded back when PCGS was more conservative in their grading then they are today. Are the holders small and unstackable or are they bigger stack on top of each other and have hologram on back?

Placid

The one old style I had since 89 graded 62 downgraded to 58. The other two stayed the same grade.
Sending them in for regrade is a option but I would not crack them out first like I did.

If you sell them as is the bidders might think upgrade and bid more.
If you get them regraded and they comeback the same grade in new holders then they won't be thinking that.

BillJones

It’s impossible to make blanket statements when it comes to crack-outs and the age of the holder. Yes, many coins are the old holders are crack-out candidates for re-grading, but not all of them! An expert grader has to look at the coins to decide if (1) it might upgrade and (2) if the upgrade would be worth it if you got it.

I’ve had coins in old holders that didn’t need to come out, but I’ve had few that have gone up by as much as 2 grade points in the Mint State portion of the scale (61 to 63 or 62 to 64) But just because it’s in an other holder (especially the old PCGS “rattlers”) is not sure fire sign that the coin is a bargain or an upgrade.

airplanenut

Welcome aboard!