Need Advice With Collection !

mnstortuga · April 29, 2008 1:45PM

Hello Coin Guys- I am a 3 year member of PSA and an avid baseball card collector. My wife and I operate a local eBay "drop off" store in the northeast. We have a client who happens to have what appears to be a $300K + coin collection. Although he has only brought in some of his lower grade stuff ($200-$500 per coin) he has a 2007 price guide highlighted with all the rest of his collection. Quick math last weekend showed $200K with out going through them all. The book also said the price of gold at press time was $525 oz. knowing what grading does to the value of cards, is the same boast true for coins? What is the breakpoint of should grade or not worth the cost? Should we list through eBay or someone like Heritage?

This client also happens to be a close family friend. My mother is his accountant and defacto financial advisor. I need to develop a plan to sell this collection. It does not need to be a fire sale but he does want to sell with gold being at this current level. Perhaps a well respected board member could advise us on what to do. We would be in a position to compensate such a service with a negotiated cut of our portion. Please send PM if interested!

Thanks- Mike

Stooge · April 29, 2008 2:11PM

I think several questions need to be asked before anything happens here.

What exactly are we looking at?
Are these coins graded, and if they are by whom (PCGS, NGC, etc...)
How soon does he look to want to sell them? This depends on wether or not you do eBay, Teletrade, Heritage, etc...
Does he have complete sets of anything?
Does he have duplicates and/or any keys?

I guess these are the things that pop into my head.

I also would post this in the U.S. Coin Forum. This Forum is slow and you will get more response over there.

Later, Paul.

mnstortuga · April 29, 2008 2:20PM

<< <i>I think several questions need to be asked before anything happens here.

What exactly are we looking at?
Are these coins graded, and if they are by whom (PCGS, NGC, etc...)
NONE ARE GRADED
How soon does he look to want to sell them? This depends on wether or not you do eBay, Teletrade, Heritage, etc...
UP TO ONE YEAR WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE
Does he have complete sets of anything?
YES BUT CURRENTLY UNSURE OF WHAT
Does he have duplicates and/or any keys?
NOT SURE ON DUPES BUT IF "KEYS" MEANS "RARE" THEN YES. I BELIEVE I SAW SOME GOLD COINS FROM 1860's HIGHLIGHTED IN THE PRICE GUIDE THAT LISTED 18K and UP. MOST OF HIS COINS ARE GOLD AND LOOK TO BE IN PERFECT CONDITION.

I guess these are the things that pop into my head.

I also would post this in the U.S. Coin Forum. This Forum is slow and you will get more response over there.

Later, Paul. >>

Text

THANKS PAUL!

I'LL HAVE SCANS BY WEEKS END OF THE LOWER GRADE STUFF.

Steve27 · April 29, 2008 7:38PM

A more basic question is which/whose "2007 price guide" does he have?

renomedphys · April 30, 2008 4:20AM

There are quite a few caveats that should be addressed. As the coins are not graded, what appears to be a perfect condition coin to an untrained eye may just be a cleaned coin of far less value. You should at least try to have the coins gone through by an expert. My advice on principle would be to befriend a coin dealer in town and ask his opinion of the entire set.

Also, even a coin of moderate value often benefits by being graded by a third party company. PCGS would be the best. As long as the values of the coins does not exceed $3000, you could have them graded for as little as $30 per coin. Coins above that value go for $50 a piece, but you'll at least get them back more quickly. I think that even a $200 retail coin would benefit the seller more than $30 being in PCGS plastic. Of course, they will not grade "problem" coins, so you should still have an expert go through them with you before you send them in.

If you can't find someone you trust, talk to multiple dealers. Beware the guy who says that they are all cleaned and offers you gold spot for the whole set.

-Matt

mnstortuga · April 30, 2008 11:09PM

Thank you to all who have posted and sent PM's. We really do appreciate the help. Our client has asked us to put one coin up for auction at this time. i really think the reserve is to high and it is hard to explain to people that reserve fees are expensive on eBay. I guess he will understand when it does not get there and we charge him $40 for listing it!

Here is a link to the coin: my coin

kieferscoins · April 30, 2008 11:49PM

Whats the reserve?

Cameron Kiefer

renomedphys · May 1, 2008 1:07AM

Did I miss something, or is there no 1901-D $2-1/2 gold piece? Is that a listing error, or is there really a little "D" on the coin someplace?

-Matt

mnstortuga · May 1, 2008 8:47AM

I just asked my wife (she did the listing) and she said our client said to put the "D" as it ment something. I'm not sure at all but my wife also said she has seen ones with "S" and "C" as well. Please let us know as we do not know anything about coins!

The reserve is $3500 as that is what he wanted. My wife thinks its worth $500 or so. Any thoughts?

THANKS- Mike

RBinTex · May 1, 2008 9:57AM

$500 seems ambitious if it grades MS62 or less.

You'd get that easily (and more) if it were graded by PCGS at MS63 or higher though.

It's hard to tell by the pics but it seems nice enough for a 63 if it doesn't AU or bodybag for reasons we're not able to see in your images.

Of course, if there's a "D", $50,000 might not be enough.

Cameohunter · May 1, 2008 10:04AM

I found your listing. The coin is a 1901 $2.50 Quarter Eagle minted in Philadelphia and not a 1901-D. It is hard to determine a grade from the photographs but my guess is that this coin could grade in the AU 58 to MS 62 range. It is a common date. If PCGS were to grade it MS 62 you are looking at a $400 to $450 coin. I suggest you get your friend's gold coins graded by a reputable third party grading firm (I would go with PCGS) before trying to sell them on ebay. The money you spend on grading fees could easily be recouped in better final sale prices.

Mark

mnstortuga · May 1, 2008 12:01PM

I can judge by the "D" comment that there is no D...LOL...Thank you guys again for the help and guidance. I will be showing my client this thread.

Mike

mnstortuga · May 4, 2008 4:31AM

Well my client read this thread and has agreed to get the collection graded. We have lowered the reserve price by %92 or so LOL as the value is certainly not what he thought! Thank you to all who have helped give us great advice! I will share our inventory as he brings us more coins. I think it would be appropriate to offer "first dibs" to those who have posted and sent PM's if they are missing a coin or two from their set.

Thanks Again!

Mike

HighRelief · May 4, 2008 4:50AM

<< <i>I just asked my wife (she did the listing) and she said our client said to put the "D" as it ment something. I'm not sure at all but my wife also said she has seen ones with "S" and "C" as well. Please let us know as we do not know anything about coins!

The reserve is $3500 as that is what he wanted. My wife thinks its worth $500 or so. Any thoughts?

THANKS- Mike >>

If your client is a coin collector with a $300K collection he should know what a D stands for on his coin. Getting them all graded is sound advice from the other members, good to here you are getting it done. Good Luck!!

RBinTex · May 5, 2008 4:55AM

So, what's the reserve now?

Steve · May 5, 2008 6:21AM

$3,500 x 8% = $280 ?

mnstortuga · May 5, 2008 8:40AM

$300 - If it does dot sell then we will send it in with the first round to be graded.

RBinTex · May 7, 2008 12:11AM

Then WHY this message:

"Hello, Thank you for bidding on our gold coin, item #300220928783. We are sorry that we had to cancel your bid. The reason for this was that the owner, after further consideration, has decided that he would like to get the coin graded. We will be listing the coin again once it has been graded by PCGS. We are very sorry for the trouble and want to assure you that this was an honest misunderstanding. Unfortunately because there is so little time left on the listing we cannot end the listing early like we intended ? (which is why you will see more bids on the item). My husband was supposed to help me with this yesterday but due to myself and my daughter getting sick he was unable to get it done it time.
Sincerely, Julie emmas-trading-post"

Canceled Bids

e***a( 1223) Cancelled: US $99.99
Explanation: item no longer available, sorry. Bid: May-01-08 17:47:48 PDT
Cancelled: May-07-08 07:24:00 PDT

s***u( 248) Cancelled: US $155.71
Explanation: item no longer available, sorry. Bid: May-06-08 09:44:11 PDT
Cancelled: May-07-08 07:23:11 PDT

d***9( 767) Cancelled: US $183.00
Explanation: item no longer available, sorry. Bid: May-06-08 19:53:20 PDT
Cancelled: May-07-08 07:22:16 PDT

.***e ( private ) Cancelled: US $191.00
Explanation: Item no longer available Bid: May-06-08 09:02:24 PDT
Cancelled: May-07-08 07:21:26 PDT

6***n( 0 ) Cancelled: US $120.00
Explanation: item no longer available, sorry. Bid: May-02-08 17:26:45 PDT
Cancelled: May-07-08 07:23:40 PDT

mnstortuga · May 7, 2008 12:37AM

This has been a tough situation for us. It now appears that we cannot cancel the auction but we have already cancelled some bids! What is the right thing to do hear if our # 1 priority is to the bidders???

We will deal with our client but I do not want to upset the eBay community any more then we already have!

PLEASE ADVISE

RBinTex · May 7, 2008 1:58AM

I won it for you (rellaa) so you won't have to disappoint anyone.

Just tell eBay that we agreed to not complete the transaction and you will get your final value fee back.

Okey dokey then? No harm no foul.

atom48coin · May 9, 2008 9:18AM

I just checked out this thread. Forum guys ARE nice. That was very nice of you, RBinTex.

mnstortuga · May 9, 2008 11:45AM

He is the best...Saved us from some serious problems. THANKS AGAIN!

roadrunner · May 10, 2008 1:33AM

First place I would go with a $300K coin collection is Emma's Trading Post. It would appear the owner/seller may have slightly mis-judged the value on this collection......possibly by up to 10X. If this is a collection formed decades ago, more than likely 10% of price paid might be close. Seems to me the owner may just be a sheister.

roadrunner

Need Advice With Collection !

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