Has anyone ever bought a lot of mixed coins off of ebay for a cheap price and had any luck?

bigtime36

Just curious, i just did and hope i dont get screwed, i was bored and though id give a try. Let me know if youve tried it and how it went.

Thanks,
Jim

numisma

No, not me. It is possible, but it's like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack.

ColonialCoinUnion

It is possible in the same sense that winning the lottery is possible. Of course most people don't win the lottery, they just throw away hundreds or thousands of dollars in a misguided attempt to hit it big.

WoodenJefferson

Yes, picked up a lot (when lots were lots and not these mystery lots they sell now) the pic showed a bunch of coins on top of table, 200 or so, some still in little brown envelopes. In the 5 or so pics you could not read what was written on those little envepoles, plently of silver so I bid a high of $75.00 and won. His title listing was not the best, so I don't think he had many veiwers. When I got the lot and opened up all the coins in various conditions, I opened one little manilla envelope and a 1877 Seated half fell out, it was a nice AU probably 58 at the least, could go 60 on a cloudy day. I was very pleased, more than paid for the auction/s&h...plus I had all the other coins to disperse through out my raw collection.

This lot did not come from a dealer, just some guy cleaning house of antiques & junk.

AmericanCopper

Well, I bought a lot of about 20 pieces that I believed was described as being "A lot of old beat-up coins, tokens and I don't know whatall". I paid less than $8.00 for the lot and a couple of bucks shipping. It was mostly 1730 - 1820 VERY problematic coppers and a couple of old silvers. (mostly darkside) The last coin I picked up was a really trashed Nova Constellatio. I sold it on eBay for 19 times what I had paid for the entire lot.

Mercfan

<< <i>This lot did not come from a dealer, just some guy cleaning house of antiques & junk. >>



IMHO, the above is a MIGHTY important detail for anyone thinking of winning this sort of lottery.

When I was a teenager in the mid-sixties, I bought a large lot of U.S. type coins from a dealer via an ad in a coin magazine. The lot contained a nice number and variety of coins, and the Red Book value of the coins in the lot easily exceeded the minimum Red Book value that the dealer advertised. I've always been as happy as a clam that I dipped into my bank account back then and purchased that lot (for something like $275).

However, I'm not at all confident that very many of the people purchasing lots of circulated U.S. coins from dealers on E-Bay today will get as good a deal as I did forty years ago.

bigtime36

I hear that, im not trying to get rich just trying to browden my collection, it was 9.99 for 3-30 coins with a retail value of at least $25, if that true well then thats ok, if not i just added a few more coins to the pile witch is fine by me, like i tell everyone here in new to collecting and im just trying to have a good time with it.

Jim

numisma

Not much downside on $10. Plus the entertainment/thrill is worth at least the price of a movie ticket.

BlindedByEgo

No, but apparently smoe have. Good luck!

jonathanb

I've done it, "once or twice". As others have mentioned, it depends a lot on where the coins are coming from. You need to get a good read of the seller. You should still count on getting not much, but sometimes you can get extremely lucky. It can pay off big...

In the less earth-shattering category, I'll be listing on eBay tomorrow some individual pieces that I fished out of larger lots. Check in the evening to see pics. The Franklin Pierce campaign token and the awarded Good Conduct medal came out of two different lots that I bought for about $70 each. The campaign token has a shot of bringing in $70 on its own, and the awarded medal could sell for $100+. And even if I'm wrong about those pieces, there were plenty of other interesting things in those lots, so I'm not complaining.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes for you.

jonathan

lonelyp

<< <i>Just curious, i just did and hope i dont get screwed, i was bored and though id give a try. Let me know if youve tried it and how it went.

Thanks,
Jim >>



I would ask,

What kind of lot is it?
I see lot deals of certified coins, that turn out mostly third tier TPGs (or worse)

Or lots like, "500+ coins" or "70 - 75 carded" Some say you MIGHT find a gold coin. Some say you WILL in every lot. So if its cheep and you want a 10th oz eagle. or 20th oz Maple leaf or the like. Go for it.

And what are you looking for?
If you looking for, Mercs, Buffs, Wheats, war nickels... and don't mind Very circulated condition. you may find enough hole fillers to be happy. Don't expect key dates, DDs, 3 legged buff, at least not in even good condition.

You can find xf, au, or even some bu coins in the most common dates. If of course it's a good one.

RedTiger

I never have. Most of the lots I see are offered by dealers, and they continually sell lots. For these the odds of a winner for a smart buyer are slim to very slim. For a newbie novice there will be some entertainment value.

Some lots that are okay are a mix of foreign coins, a mix of foreign silver coins close to melt. Some that raise red flags are any certified coin lots that quote the PCGS price guide, while including coins from other companies. I see tons of these for sale at high dollar amounts. One in a while a fish must be hooked to pay for all those listing fees. The newbie buyer probably doesn't realize he/she has just been taken to the cleaners.

Anyone who continually sells lots is probably making good money on them, and the buyer is paying the profit.

lathmach

Sure.
I got an 1871-S Seated Quarter in a junk deal. Also a dateless 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter in another.
Sometimes you're lucky.

Ray

TwoSides2aCoin

No, I have not. But I have bought plenty of raw individual pieces for a cheap price and have had luck.
But, I got a couple of counterfeits that way, too

It's like GO FISH !

seanq

The few times I've had luck buying large group lots on eBay, the following two things have been true: the seller was not a coin dealer, and there was some kind of picture of the coins in the lot.

Read the posts johnathanb links to above, that's the way to have luck with mixed lots. Gunning for a "blind cherrypick" is like buying a lottery ticket with about the same chances of success.


Sean Reynolds

Tonedbuff

There is a seller who does $34.99 for a half pound bag. I've bought several over the last few years, and never been ripped. Just good fun digging though a bunch of coins, some nice proof franklins, a F CC dime in one, a lot of wheaties to look at, and generally some silver quarters and halves. I figure on the whole, the stuff is worth a bit less than I pay (though the proof frankie I got in my first batch ever (a 1963) went out to NGC and came back a nice PR67, which is not too bad.
On the whole, I buy them for grading practice, and fun. Think on it as an investment in learning about coins. If the value is poor, then it is still money spent learning, and they are great to then hand off to the kids (my son loves it when I buy these 'cause he knows he is getting almost all the coins when I am done.
I think I bought from a company called suncoins liquidations or some such.

LeeG

Yes. 1921 Morgan in PCGS MS64. Arrived raw in a plain white envelope. Happened just before I joined the forum. Wouldn't do it now. I most definately got lucky.