Price for a pound of world coins

dcamp78

Hello all,

Been a while, but I'm still around...

I was wondering - what is a fair price for 1 pound of world coins - all circulated - G-AU - fairly modern, but some early 1900s?

Thanks,
Big Dave

farthing

Silver in the lot or no silver?

Preussen

$4.17 delivered seems fair -Preussen

tbirde56

~$5.

ajaan

$5/lb is a good price. For lots with pre-1900 coins $7-8/lb is more likely.

BBQnBLUES

Dave;

See if you can contact the High Bidder on this auction & strike a deal.... They obviously have more $$$$ than sense

MrEureka

It depends. I looked through a three pound bag of pure junk today for which I wouldn't pay $10. That is, except for the loose Indian Head quarter eagle mixed in with the rest.

BTW, my offer was substantially higher than $10.

CIVITAS

We typically buy decent poundage for $5-$7 a pound.

cladking

It depends on a lot of factors since this stuff accumulates in many
different ways and then gets picked along many different parameters.

I've seen $20 mixes and $2 mixes. Dealers sometimes make up super-
mixes which they use for a junkbox at $2.50/ coin.

Generally Mexico and Canada lower the value a lot and this is especially
true if it's '60's Mexico and one cent Canada. Aluminum can lower the
value unless it's interesting and then it improves it a lot. Incredibly zinc
tends to raise the value. Older and larger are better. A few 19th century
coins can help a lot.

There is a steady evolution in the sorts of coins that are in these mixes
because recently recalled or demonetized coins make a heavy appearance.
As these suffer attrition and are more evenly mixed in with the poundage
already in "circulation" they can "date" an accumulation and affect the val-
ue. There were once lots of '50's Greek and Portuguese coins and some
of these have steep premiums now days. Old poundage is much more lik-
ely to contain better dates and higher grades.

There are an awful lot of world type collectors especially in the US. This means
poundage that is extremely well mixed with not often seen types will have
much wider demand and will be easier to retail. While it doesn't seem to add
a lot of value it does make buyers stretch.

There's more value in poundage than many realize. Coins made in large num-
bers have been destroyed and in many cases they weren't saved when they
were new. There will usually be plenty of survivors which end up in poundage
and represent the only surviving numbers. The attrition on these coins is stag-
gering since they are often used for non-numismatic purposes such as metal
for sculpting or ballast in machinery. Many millions are used as washers, but-
tons, or chill scrap in small industrial processes. They are given to children as
play money and these almost invaribly suffer a fate worse than death.

It's always a hoot to poke around in these mixtures and even the worst seem
to turn up a few interesting items.

dcamp78

Sorry, no silver in the lot. I had ballparked it at about $5 a pound - I was close.
Thanks for the input everybody!

Big Dave