I'm thinking about selling my coins

homerunhall

As some of you know, I have a collection of $10 Liberties. Put it together through hard work and a good chunk of money over the last 6 years. It's listed on the PCGS Set Registry under my wife's name, "Ellen D." It's fun to build sets and I've done a few over the years. This one's pretty significant. Not sure if it's the best ever, but according to the PCGS Set Registry it's better than Eliasberg, Bass, and the Smithsonian. I'm a coin nerd and it's one of my babies!!!!

So here's the dilemma. My wife and I what to buy the second home...big one on the beach, California style, i.e. expensive. I have some money, but I really don't want to go into debt and have a mortagage. I think I want the beach home more than I want the $10 Libs. So I'm thinking of selling the set.

So why am I whinning here on the message board. I guess I'm conflicted and thought you might be interested that even I have a mentally weird attitude about coins. I haven't told my friends Steve Duckor and Bruce Moreland that I might sell my $10 lib set. Maybe I'm hoping they'll talk me out of it. But Bruce sold his Seated dollars and Steve sold his Barber halves. I'm just feeling really, really weird.

Not looking for sympathy...wow...what a problem, boo hoo hoo...this guy wonders whether he should sell his coin collection to buy a beach house. Nothing like that...coins have been pretty good to old hrh and I know I'm a lucky little boy. I just wanted to share my weird state of mind with my fellow collectors. How did you feel if you sold a good set...coins you really liked???

Thanks for your time...hrh

Russ

*whining.

Russ, NCNE

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>*whining.

Russ, NCNE >>



I caught that too!!

rgCoinGuy

If you built one of the all time best sets, that is a good enough reason to sell it. It is your hobby (and your job), you should enjoy the rewards. Buy what you want to make you and yours happy outside of coins, and start all over again with some other set!

pmac

Seeing that they mostly look alike, keep one and sell the rest. Enjoy the house and the wining.

rgCoinGuy

<< <i>*whining.

Russ, NCNE >>

speety

If you've already contemplated this hard about selling the set, I think the decision has already been made...

Everytime you look at the set you are gonna hear the waves crashing on the beach and see the beautiful view out the back...

questor54

I have built and sold several collections of coins over the years - usually as 'life happened' and I needed the money for something else. Although my collections were not on the scale of a complete set of $10 Libs, I still regret selling them. I miss a lot of the coins I have sold very much.

Sell something else, or take a mortgage - keep the $10 Libs.

OR - knock our socks off and start a new company that revolutionizes something. You have done it before, you can do it again.

djdilliodon

You are a smart man dave so there is no need for me to go into detail. Sell the coins and get that house!

icsoccer

In a word "SELL!"

Beach houses rock! (Especially in LaJolla or Big Sir)...although Maui is still my fav.

Then I would quietly (to keep hosehold bliss) start a new collection!

chumley

I,ve never built a set of the quality you have but I got most of my satisfaction in the building...there will be some post patrum depression.....but a couple sunsets at that beach house will cure that

DuPapa

If there is going to be a large profit from the sale I'd keep the coins, use some cash and get a mortage.... cheap money right now.
I'd pass the coins along with my estate to avoifd the taxes, the vaule set for heirs at my passing...

but I'm older and closer to it than you... of course you never know... buy mortage insurance too.

magikbilly

"How did you feel if you sold a good set...coins you really liked???"

Hello Mr. Hall,

TERIBLE.
Really though, I miss my little set of Dimes. But, I too am looking at selling some of my collections right now. It is a tough decision. If I had the coins to sell over again, I would have kept the Seated Pr..no, no..the barber Cam..oh..I guess the point is I miss them. However, your beach house will provide enjoyment for all, family and friends and you too. You can't put that kind of enjoyment, the family memories and so on, in plastic so I guess I'd take the house and spread the joy

Best wishes,
Eric

AUandAG

My set was nowhere near yours, I'm sure. But it took 50 years to finish and it was complete. Well, I
never went for the 1895 Philly. My last coin to finish the set was an 88-O. Don't know why I never put
one in the set but it was the last. When the set was complete I had two choices, upgrade everything
or sell off and start something else (didn't think about a beach home at the time!). I have no regrets
selling. I had a lot of pleasure building it. It wasn't the best but it was mine and the most I spent on
any coin in the set was $30 for the '89cc (back in the 60's).

Do I feel sad now? Nah, I was a keeper for just a while and now they are dispersed into many sets
all around the county.

You'll get over it real quick when you fall asleep with the sound of the waves hitting the shore!

Go for it, you only live this one time around.

bob

Oh, did I mention that you have coins in your life everyday and that's a great comfort, too!

SCDHunter

<< <i>*whining.

Russ, NCNE >>



Does that mean you are competing with Charlie Sheen?

Dentuck

I have a collection of German imperial and royal portrait medals that I've been assembling for a few years. This is one of those collections that will never be "finished" (there's no standard reference, and Whitman doesn't make a folder for them!).

I've researched my medals, I've photographed them, scanned them, written about them, done presentations, given talks, and exhibited them.

Eventually I'll get to a point where I've researched each piece, catalogued them thoroughly, and have high-resolution (print-ready) photographs.

By then I'll have weighed, measured, and specific-gravitied them, counted edge reeds and denticles (LOL), etc. At that point I won't be able to tell myself, "I need to hang onto these, in case I decide to write a monograph guidebook and need to study them further to share all the details." I'm talking about some theoretical point after I've studied them as much as they can be studied, individually and in gestalt.

I know --- even at that point, when I have all the data and information I need to publish a hundred monographs, when I'm so bored with them that they're just collecting dust in their cabinets --- that I'll have a hard time selling.

keyman64

Thanks for the Give-Away opportunity! It's the only way I would get coins like that.

BEST ADVICE RIGHT HERE WITH THE RATIONAL BEHIND IT!!!!!
Here's the thing...if you sell the set, there really is no getting it back. That's the truth! You can obviously afford whatever you want so this is what I suggest-

Buy the house and get a mortgage while knowing the approximate value of the coins so that you don't do anything crazy. Happily pay the mortgage etc......then later, if the mortgage is absolutely killing you inside for some strange reason then go ahead and sell the set and pay off the house. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SELL THE SET TO HAVE THE HOUSE AND THE COINS! Do not sell the set first. I think you should get the house and have it for at least 6 months before making any rash decision on the set. You can never go back on that. Think about this...the mortgage rates are at all time lows or darn close to it...nothing to lose!

Advice from a lowly former stock broker with a degree in Finance...

Greg

llafoe

Which one will give you the most pleasure... the most happiness?

Worded a different way... which one will give Ellen the most pleasure... the most happiness?

OnTheHunt

If it's complete - mission accomplished. Sell it.

Steve

Bear

THIS SHOULD BE THE WORST PROBLEM YOU EVER FACE!

Either way, you come out a winner.

DNADave

Life is short.


They won't be your coins forever and you've already experienced them and enjoyed them.

Go for the house and enjoy it.

Frankiefanatic

let me say- 100 for now

and why do you NEED to sell Lib's to buy a beach house?

Where will this beach home be? what kind of home do you want- a fixer or one that is exactly the way your wife wants it

and I agree with Russ- don't whine- you have more money than the Feds do at this time, take a loan out with your stock as collateral and you still get to keep the Libs.

Type2

Sell all of them and buy a big one then you can have a party. Yes I'll go.

llafoe

I took a look at the set... does Ellen know anything about coins? I'd be willing to offer her $10,000 for her set. That's cash!

Broadstruck

19Lyds

Just pedigree it and put it up in one of the big auction houses.

Then buy your beach house and then.......................












...................throw a party! WooHoo!

I'll bring the tater chips and you buy the beer!


Say wait a minute.........this "Beach House" wouldn't be in Costa Rica would it??

BaseballAbs

You could ask yourself this question. Will I be getting more enjoyment out of the beach house or the coins? Also your coins just pretty much just serve you, the beach house can serve both you and your wife and perhaps more of your friends and family. If your really torn, you could find a way to have both. If you wife is like mine she would be happier with the beach house. Sometimes just serving yourself is not the best choice. I would have a hard time selling my set if it was me, so I can understand the conflict mentally.

RB1026

Many collectors regardless of their financial means or the historical context of their collections face this decision at one time or another. I wrote a blog on this very topic on our site a while back. One of the best "tricks" or techniques I have ever run across to make such a decision is to mentally make the move and see how it feels.

Physically take the items from your collection and package them up or in this case move them to a different secure location than where they are normally kept. Remove them from your inventory records. Divorce yourself from them. Basically pretend "as if" you have sold them. Do this and let it sink in. Might take an hour or a day or a week or longer but the answer will come and it will be spot on for what you will be comfortable with.

I know several collectors who do this and I've done this time and time again with everything from $100 items to a high five figure sports collection and for me it works. I've never looked back on any decision I've ever made and it saved me from a couple potentially bad impulse sales I'd have regretted.

Whatever you decide, best of luck with the house and time spent with your family there. That's the true "treasure" in life.

Hope this helps

Manorcourtman

I am guessing the Real Estate market is down in Cali like everywhere else. You may be able to afford more of a house than you expect! Sell the coins, buy the dream house. You'll enjoy that ocean view many more times over then the coins which you probably don't see often. No brainer, enjoy life to the fullest!! Buy the dream house!

drddm

Sell the set and buy the house.

After all, if you are already thinking about it, then it's as good as done, right

Take a great GIANT pic of your entire set, put it in a gorgeous frame, and place it in your soon to be beautiful home (so that you see it as soon as you walk in) so that you NEVER forget them and to always remind you of what it bought you.

See, you can have your cake AND eat it to!!!

coinsarefun

Sell the coins.............find a cheap lot and I will design/build your dream home
After all that is my business..........And I'm local, right next door

I'm working on one right now in Laguna Niguel for a coin dealer!


Stefanie

cmerlo1

You worked hard putting the set together. The beach house is the fruit from all that hard work. Time to sell.

Broadstruck

HRH, While your pondering selling you could have the set Tru-View'd

llafoe

<< <i>Sell the coins.............find a cheap lot and I will design/build your dream home
After all that is my business..........And I'm local, right next door

I'm working on one right now in Laguna Niguel for a coin dealer!


Stefanie >>



I agree... my devushka Stef should be your architect!

llafoe

<< <i>HRH, While your pondering selling you could have the set Tru-View'd >>



... and regraded with SecurePlus. I don't think you can get your modern coins pedigreed though?

Bear

Please let me know the date and time of the beach party. I and the rest of the Forum

guys and gals would all love to attend.

wondercoin

Check out the $10 1859 MINT STATE PCGS coin in the Bowers sale tomorrow, but don't even think about selling the set for now! You are way too young!!

Sincerely, the crazy guy with 95 active registry sets!!

WONDERCOIN

Broadstruck

<< <i>... and regraded with SecurePlus. >>



Then Sticker'd

fastfreddie

David,

While there will always be another opportunity to collect some really cool coins, you're not getting any younger and you may not want a beach house in ten more years or it'll be even more cost prohibitive.

My motto is...happy wife...happy life.

When you start putting coins in from of life...wait this seems like an oxymoron since your life is coins and alike, the trouble is only regret may follow. I only regret the things I don't do!

PS, PM me with wire instruction for the bank transfer.

Best of luck.

Freddie

llafoe

<< <i>

<< <i>... and regraded with SecurePlus. >>



Then Sticker'd >>



That CAC'd me up!

ambro51

Mr. Hall thanks for posting. This is, after all, your forum, as a collector, also.

Your feelings are not unique. We men cannot have babies. Our "things" are our children. To nurture them, raise them...see them mature and become 'whole'....very much the same as building a set.

Selling off a nice coin, one you have your heart in, can hurt. Ive always mitigated that hurt by using the proceeds to buy something I like better. It didnt make me want the coin less, but the new plaything usually done its job well in taking its place.

Go ahead. Sell those bad boys. Sell that whole set intact and pedigreed.

Enjoy your new Beach House!

holeinone1972

<< <i> Sell the coins, buy the dream house. You'll enjoy that ocean view many more times over then the coins which you probably don't see often. q]


Yep right up until the next Tsunami!

Don't let your wife kill you!




J/K, sell the coins. Whose holder they in?

STONE

I've been watching, and commenting on this set since I saw it listed.

I was kinda hoping it was a chick who was collecting...but I guess I was wrong



Anyway, this is a significantly awesome collection of $10 Liberties, and I was SUPER happy to see it at 100%

GrumpyEd

I would think of a few other options.

Maybe sell the set but keep what you feel is the centerpiece?

Do you really want 2 houses, why not sell the other house and get one even nicer house that serves both purposes and costs less than both houses combined and it's less cost/effort than maintaining both?

llafoe

I think I know what David's going to collect when he sells his $10 Liberties!

erickso1

Sell it, move to the beach. Collect another type of coins (like pocket change). I'm pretty sure they aren't carrying any change down on the beach.

jesbroken

Mr. Hall--congratulations on completion of such a rare set of coins. The hard work has been completed. Now allow someone else to enjoy the set, let them keep it in bank vaults for safety's sake, let them have the opportunity to show the set and accept the applause, knowing all the time that YOU built the set and completed it. YOU did. Sell the set, buy your house, and start a new collection, if you wish. The set will not be yours forever, regardless, for after you pass so it will pass into another's hands without your approval, and then another's after them, and so forth.
Enjoy your life now for it is a short lived affair(no pun intended) .
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
Jim

19Lyds

Uhhhhhh HRH.


Why am I NOT seeing any Trueview's??

Dammit! Second again!!

Goldbully

Frozenink

Granted my situation was different, but I sold most of my bullion holdings 3 years ago to buy 5 acres and a cabin in South Carolina. I made money and felt the enjoyment was best in the mountains compared to little gold discs.

We can only hope that our hobbies can lead to another form of enjoyment. Go for it and enjoy.

You can start another set of something else, that is how I started to collect CBH. I still needed the fix to collect.

Gary

Lucanus

Remember your top priorities, your wife and family. Sell your treasured set and enjoy the opportunities that are presented to you.
You sound like a very passionate collector, you could start a new set that you could really get into. I would suggest a mid-grade
seated liberty or barber set. Above all, enjoy every minute with your wife!

Doug