So I was at an Auction w/ coins today.....

RunnersDad

I went to an estate auction this morning to "potentially" bid on some coins that they had in the sale. This individual had put aside a massive quantity of Wheat pennies, Silver coins from the early 20th century and some proof sets and other misc. coins. The boxes of Wheats(some rolled and weighing 15ish pounds a piece) went for around 300 dollars each. None of the coins looked BU or unc but presuming that they were unsearched the potential was there to find some gems. The box of silver had aprx. 4.90 in buffalo nickels...7.00 in Mercury Dimes....and 15.00 in misc silver halves and quarters..and sold for 250.00. That was well above melt value so it was completely based on what "might" be in the box. I don't exactly have deep pockets right now so I did not have the funds to go that high for the coins. Presuming that the bidders, even after looking through a few of the coins, didn't really know what was there...Are the prices that these items sold for abnormally high? I was anticipating a lower price for the aforementioned auctions...but then again I am newer to the hobby. Just looking to get some insight. Thanks everyone!

Edit: It was an actual estate sale at an individuals home put on by a very reputable auctioneer

doh

From my experience, people think they'll find treasures at estate sales, so they bid far more than the value of the item. Most - if not all - of those boxes and rolls of coins have been searched numerous times. I'm sure you did better by not bidding.

savoyspecial

it has also been my experience that these estate auctions sell for higher than you could buy the same coins from a local (honest) coin shop......your local shop can be your friend......if lincolns are your thing then i advise getting one of these and talk to your local b&m about bags of wheat commons (a good mix of mintmarks and early dates too).....in many cases you can purchase bags of 500 for $25 or so (it will almost certainly be void of key dates but it gives a great start to filling up a penny board)

by the way runnersdad, did you get that redbook i sent?

greg

BRdude

Folks who don't "know" about coins will definately pay too much for them. I also agree that most, not all but MOST stuff at auctions and estate sales are searched thru, cleaned, problem coin junk. There are severalk folks here in town that do auctions and they have 'sellers" that provide them "stuff" to sell. It's always listed as "estate", or some other misleading name just to get the coin buyers there. Then they wait til the LAST thing to sell them just to try to keep you there thru all the "junk" just to get to what you hope is the good stuff. You probably did yourself a favor in not bidding. Now this isn't ALWAYS the case, but i'd say 9 times out of 10 it is. JMHO

RunnersDad

<< <i>it has also been my experience that these estate auctions sell for higher than you could buy the same coins from a local (honest) coin shop......your local shop can be your friend......if lincolns are your thing then i advise getting one of these and talk to your local b&m about bags of wheat commons (a good mix of mintmarks and early dates too).....in many cases you can purchase bags of 500 for $25 or so (it will almost certainly be void of key dates but it gives a great start to filling up a penny board)

by the way runnersdad, did you get that redbook i sent?

greg >>



Greg-

I did, just hadn't had the chance to thank you yet. So let me officially say THANK YOU!! It Came sometime last week and Between all the illustrations and explanations it has been extremely helpful. I haven't had the opportunity to use my newfound knowledge but will certainly make the best of it when I do. I am really taking an interest in Lincoln's and I absolutely love toned coins. I am contemplating trying to put together a toned lincoln set and a BU lincoln set....as well as obtaining some toned Morgans!!

BECOKA

I don't like estate sales. I agree that there are too many people with hopes that bid stuff up too high.

I like it when people bring collections into a B&M while I am standing there, I can usually pick and choose for a small markup.

AUandAG

Most estate sales I go to have just the leftover junk (even if it's silver). The kids grabbed the good stuff
or sold it off before the estate sale happened. What is usally left is what the dealer didn't want to purchase.
Maybe it's just the Vegas sales and not eslewhere but that's what I've seen.
bob

ricko

You did well not to bid. A cautionary note though... if you come from a small town (or go to one) the previous owner could be known.. and that may change the decision. Cheers, RickO

onejinx

When I lived on the other side of the state, I use to go to a weekly "auction" type sale and use to get wheat pennies there for a $1 a roll. Then the guy went out of business.

JustMakesCents

Actually I believe $250 was a decent price. If you assume the buffalos were worth 5x face, that leaves $225 for $22 face of silver. Since that is just of 10x face, it was actually less than the going rate.

Jeff

TomB

$250 was not well above melt for $22 of silver plus $4.90 in Buffs.

AJ2525

My experiences at auctions are usually people pay too much.

RunnersDad

<< <i>Actually I believe $250 was a decent price. If you assume the buffalos were worth 5x face, that leaves $225 for $22 face of silver. Since that is just of 10x face, it was actually less than the going rate.

Jeff >>



I was just assuming, but wasn't really certain...How does the price they paid compare to the melt value of the silver in those coins?

TomB

If you take a spot price of silver at about $17.40 per ounce and all the silver coinage was 90% silver coinage then you would have about $275 in silver in that lot as well as the Buffalo nickels. Of course, if the coinage was very low grade then the total silver weight would be a little less to reflect wear.

RunnersDad

Thanks Tom...makes sense