Market for American Arts Commemorative Series?

kranky

I had someone ask me for guidance selling a complete set of American Arts medallions. The person was getting offers below spot and felt they had some amount of numismatic value beyond bullion so didn't sell. I didn't know, so I said I would ask some experts. If they do have value beyond bullion, can you suggest a place that would be interested?

bronco2078

Nope

But I did read an article somewhere on the internet about them recently and it was about how small the mintages were on some of them. It may have been on numismaster .

CaptHenway

Some of the later, lower mintage ones used to bring a very small premium, but that disappeared when gold started approaching $1,000/oz.

ricko

They make good gifts.... Cheers, RickO

PerryHall

The fact that they aren't coins hurt their demand among collectors. Neat series though and they were made by the U.S. Mint.

tincup

The earlier ones did not have the amount of gold on the medal; these tend to be not as desirable. And these had the higher mintages also due to being 'new' and the first gold offerings by the US Mint in modern times.

The later issues had the amount of gold added to the medal, and had lower mintages. Like previously said, they used to have a small premium but now all are pretty much bullion. Some refer to the Arts medallions as the first modern commemoratives, although they were not issued as such. Like all bullion items, no telling how many have been tossed into the melt bucket.

OnlyGoldIsMoney

View the Anderson, Wood, Twain, Armstong, Wright and Cather issues as bullion. I buy them for below or at spot on ebay so that ebay bucks and my credit card rewards will let me pay 97% of melt.

Calder, Frost, Steinbeck and Hayes still bring a premium on ebay. List them as coins so that buyers can get ebay bucks. That way you get higher bids.

CaptHenway

<< <i>View the Anderson, Wood, Twain, Armstong, Wright and Cather issues as bullion. I buy them for below or at spot on ebay so that ebay bucks and my credit card rewards will let me pay 97% of melt.

Calder, Frost, Steinbeck and Hayes still bring a premium on ebay. List them as coins so that buyers can get ebay bucks. That way you get higher bids. >>



But they are not coins........

OnlyGoldIsMoney

<< <i>

<< <i>View the Anderson, Wood, Twain, Armstong, Wright and Cather issues as bullion. I buy them for below or at spot on ebay so that ebay bucks and my credit card rewards will let me pay 97% of melt.

Calder, Frost, Steinbeck and Hayes still bring a premium on ebay. List them as coins so that buyers can get ebay bucks. That way you get higher bids. >>



But they are not coins........ >>



Indeed - quite true. Ebay bucks eligibility still gets you higher bids. ASE's listed as coins and not bullion are a good example.

derryb

<< <i>Indeed - quite true. Ebay bucks eligibility still gets you higher bids. ASE's listed as coins and not bullion are a good example. >>


However, listing bullion in non-bullion category causes you to offer a 14 day return on volatile bullion if you want to keep your seller discounts.

Twinturbo

I send them to the smelter. So If he's getting slightly underspot, that would be a good deal, he should take it and run with the money.

OnlyGoldIsMoney

<< <i>

<< <i>Indeed - quite true. Ebay bucks eligibility still gets you higher bids. ASE's listed as coins and not bullion are a good example. >>


However, listing bullion in non-bullion category causes you to offer a 14 day return on volatile bullion if you want to keep your seller discounts. >>



The 14 day return could be an issue for some. I find many ASE rolls are listed as coins. The hope of getting higher bids when ebay bucks are applicable is probably entering into the decision to list a "coins". I commonly bid a bit more aggressively when ebay bucks are available.

derryb

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Indeed - quite true. Ebay bucks eligibility still gets you higher bids. ASE's listed as coins and not bullion are a good example. >>


However, listing bullion in non-bullion category causes you to offer a 14 day return on volatile bullion if you want to keep your seller discounts. >>



The 14 day return could be an issue for some. I find many ASE rolls are listed as coins. The hope of getting higher bids when ebay bucks are applicable is probably entering into the decision to list a "coins". I commonly bid a bit more aggressively when ebay bucks are available. >>


Ebay bucks equal a 2% rebate to a buyer so I don't see a knowledgable buyer paying more than a 2% premium to capture the ebay bucks. 2% more on the final sale price, to me, is not worth the two week waiting period in a volatile market to see if I'm going to get a return because of a spot price drop. If I do get a return, I eat the shipping cost I paid to get the item to a buyer and I'm now holding a bullion item that is worth less than it was two weeks ago.

From a buyer's perspective, purchasing ebay bullion that is not listed as bullion is a win-win (ebay bucks and the ability to return within two weeks if spot prices fall drastically). For the seller it can become a lose-lose very easily.

ttown

I purchased a 2005 W plat proof off of Ebay and to my surprise since it was in the bullion
category I didn't get any Ebay bucks. I called to complain that this was a collectors
coin but never got a reply other than they'd push it up the ladder. They were stupid
enough to send out a survey a week later and I ripped them.

Ebay isn't doing it for me anymore. I'm also tried of all the gold platted trinkets
in the bullion category. I'm about done buying off of Ebay, seems most of the stuff
I'm interested in anyway is high BIN prices.

derryb

While many items on ebay may fit into more than one category the seller of a listed item ultimately determines category. Many sellers of coins choose the bullion category when possible to avoid the 14 day return policy that is required if they want to keep their seller discounts. The bullion category is exempt. If the coin's primary value is in its precious metal content, a seller facing a 14 day return policy in such a volatile market stands great risk.