Benefits to selling at auction?

Longacre

I have a particular gold coin that is valued at aroudn $3,000. I was offered a sight unseen price of $3,000. I was wondering if it makes sense to sell a coin of this value at an auction. Will a large auction house like Heritage take a coin with this low a value? What do you think are the chances of getting a higher price than the sight unseen price I was quoted? Do auction buyers take into account the 15% commission in their bids, and if so, will I just end up in the same place (or even a little worse off)?

airplanenut

1- What's the coin?
2- They might not put it in a big sale, but they'll surely take it
3- Yes, buyers will factor in the 15%... as to the odds of getting a better price, see #1

lordmarcovan

Yes. Auction buyers, if they have the brainpower of your average rutabaga, will figure in the buyer's fees.

If your coin is a "wow" coin, then who knows?

Why not post it here for opinions? And who knows, if you wanna sell it, you may find a buyer right here on the Buy/Sell/Trade Forum- without having to pay anybody a commission. You can even hold your own auction if you want.

If you go that route, be sure to go to your profile and activate Private Messages so folks can contact you. If you have a picture of the coin and need help posting it here, I'm sure there are plenty who would lend a hand.

Theop

<< <i>What do you think are the chances of getting a higher price than the sight unseen price I was quoted? >>



It probably depends on the date/condition of the coin. You could post some info on it and get a better idea of what it might fetch.



<< <i>Do auction buyers take into account the 15% commission in their bids? >>



Of course, since it is money they will have to pay for the coin. The same with sales tax, shipping, etc.

Catch22

Possibly. I've seen lots of stuff go for a higher price on ebay than at auctions by Heritage and the like. However, if you have lots of coins to get rid of, ebay can be a pain in the rear. Either way, there has never been a better time for the collector to get true value for his coins. Sure beats the days of getting 50% of Red Book from a Dealer.

Longacre

It's an 1893-S $10 Liberty, MS-63, PCGS. The last time I checked, someone quoted me $3,000. Unfortunately, I don't have the capability to scan it (I'm a little behind in the times). On an eye appeal level of 1-10, I would say it's about a 6.5-7. Any thoughts?

lordmarcovan

PCGS Priceguide is over $3500 on that.

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's the PCGS Priceguide, that maligned and misquoted source. But good for a quick reference.

Sounds like your coin might be worth auctioning.

If it were mine, I would cut out the middlemen and auction it myself, either here or on eBay, so I could put more in my pockets. But I suppose auction houses like Heritage have their advantage. Especially if you don't wanna go through the process of imaging it and all. But those buyer's fees seem like a big chunk, to me. Even eBay seller's fees on something in that pricerange would be noticeable.

RYK

Trends (ahem...CoinValues) is $3975, but "S" mint Liberty $10's are ice cold. I would take the $3000 and forget about the auction.

Heritage will also charge you a 5% seller's fee, unless you go through a dealer or are a bigtime submitter. That's 20% of the price the buyer pays going to Heritage (or one of the others).

Longacre

Any thoughts on a 1915-S $10 Indian AU-55 PCGS with better than average eye appeal?

Placid

I would probably have it regraded if I had it for a few years and thought it might have a chance at grading 64 before selling it.

Probably get about $1,000-$1,200 on the 15-s.

LincolnCentMan

I have a FEW coins that I'm sure that Heritage could get more for. HOWEVER.... once you concider the 15% hit on the buyer's premium, it's hard for me to believe that they can do that much better than I can. Then concider how long it takes you to get your money.... I've never consigned to Heritage.

HOWEVER.... if I had a 50K+ collection where the average coin value were 1K or better, I probably would sell it through them.

David

jhuberdude

A quick version of my experience. I had several coins left to me. I studied and posted pictures here and chose 4 to send in to PCGS. Got very good grades, and decided to sell at Auction for the Medio sale a few weeks ago at ANR. I was offered $6000 by a local dealer after he saw the grades. I ended up getting just shy of $7000 at auction. One coin got 2x what I expected, another was a few hundred less, but all in all decent prices.
When you factor in the buyers fees, it has to effect the price a bit, but the sellers fee was tiny.
I walked away happy.
John

clackamas

Heritage also takes 45 days to pay you. Consider this as well. They don't care that much, IMO, about accuracy and can make mistakes that cost you money. Put it on Ebay for $4K and see what you get.

alergar

So someone offered you $3000 for it. List it on ebay starting at $3000 and tell the guy it's there. The least you'll get is the $3000 he offered and it may go much higher !!!

roadrunner

An MS63 gold coin worth $3000 is usually not a coin to be sent to auction. You'll lose the 20% overall commission and walk away with less money. Auctions are for special coins or superb specialized collections. If that MS63 gold coin were a 1799 $10 or a rare C or D mint from the 1850's then it would be different. An amazing pop top modern might also be best auctioned.

Auctions are funny and you need to stay on top of the situation. The game is sort of stacked against the seller. Lots of pitfalls where you constantly get shaved a % here or a % there. Helps to have a mentor or another dealer giving you some guidance.

But if you go to Superior, they can turn $3000 coins into $69,000 ones at the drop of a hat. Just look at their Coin World ads proving this. It's a wonder anyone auctions with the other companies

roadrunner