What to expect when its time to liquidate my collection

Pghpete

Hi folks, long-time lurker, seldom poster. Can I get some advice on what to expect when it comes time to turn in my coins for cash? Do dealers go by the gray sheet on certified coins, and if so, is there a normal percentage below the listed price? What's the difference anyway between bid and ask? As to raw silver/gold - what percentage of the current spot should I hope for? I am no where near ready to sell off my modest collection, but when the time comes, I really don't want to go through the BST method. I'm not sure if I'll want to get rid of everything at once, or sell of a coin or two here and there to make ends meet in my declining years. Finally, when the time comes that I want to pull the trigger, should I set up an in-home appointment for an appraisal and expect a package price, or do I need to lug all my coins to a dealer for the appraisal/estimate to be done there? I've got all of my "good" stuff on a spreadsheet and I can easily add a column for either PCGS or gray sheet prices, to know if I'm getting a quote in the same ballpark. It would be smart to at least have an idea of what my coins are worth, wouldn't it?

Thanks, Pete

logger7

Risk protection would be centered on staying up to date on current auction records. Great Collections is a good option, they do permit reasonable reserves for sales, so you could do OK, depending on what you have. Type gold especially cac has other exit plans instead of auctions usually. If they are niche or esoteric coins you could let an expert on those who does the shows handle the sale of them.

Wabbit2313

AT CSNS, as long as I had a CAC sticker on the coins, I sold at Greysheet bid on most coins. They were higher end tough date Peace dollars though. (MS65 and 66) Without the magic sticker, forget about it. Offers were usually low.

If you want out all at once from the same place, you will get the shaft. eBay is a simple way to get rid of most of the non CAC coins. Of course this is a guess in the dark not knowing what you have. What is your definition of the "good stuff"?

Bayard1908

I suggest you try selling a few pieces here and there to learn the ropes. That way you'll be less likely to be blindsided or taken advantage of in the future. Attempting to sell to a dealer, even the dealer you purchased from, can be a shocking experience and not in a good way, lol.

Kkathyl

Best of luck Pete. I would look for a large online seller and give them a call they seem to be fair and respectful. Does not hurt to have a list of items to provide. If demand is high and stocks are low, they will definitely take all for fair price.

Pghpete

Thanks guys. I guess good stuff is in the eye of the beholder. I guess I meant my gold. Half of it is common slabbed $20 Libs/Saints, with the other half being bullion. None of my other coins have a CAC sticker on them and for the most part common MS64 Morgans, and other not hard to find items. Thanks for the advice.

TomB

The two biggest things to keep in mind, in my opinion, are the following-

1) The more time, effort and work you are willing to put into selling your coins, the more you will likely earn from their sale.

2) Really nice coins sell for more than average coins and much more than typical, ratty coins.

Coinstartled

@Pghpete said:
Thanks guys. I guess good stuff is in the eye of the beholder. I guess I meant my gold. Half of it is common slabbed $20 Libs/Saints, with the other half being bullion. None of my other coins have a CAC sticker on them and for the most part common MS64 Morgans, and other not hard to find items. Thanks for the advice.

You will likely be disappointed in the Saint/Lib results as premiums over spot gold have evaporated. Just received a local quote of 5% back of melt on Swiss 20F gold.

BryceM

The right answer to this depends quite a bit on the sort of collection you have. If it's high-volume, low-value stuff or bullion there isn't a reason to be overly worried and I'd try to move it out reasonably quickly to a dealer who will give you a fair price.

If you have 4 and 5 figure coins, you'll want to at least consider having many of the items re-graded and/or evaluated by CAC. The effect on prices realized can be huge. For coins in this category, I'd recommend working through this with a friendly dealer. If you're not in a hurry, the dealer could also consign the coins for you. Over time they'll sell, and he can keep a percentage of the final sale (or a set fee, or whatever you negotiate).

For common double eagles and dollars, there are a ton of ways to sell, all of which may net you more or less the same return.

oih82w8

Expect half of trends and be surprised when you receive more.

TwoSides2aCoin

Trust the instinct/research which led you to collect; for best results in negotiating with whomever assesses or bids on your stuff. Collecting is much more fun than selling, that's for sure.

Pghpete

Thanks all. I appreciate the guidance.

coinkat

Depending what you own, you might consider the auction route.

DollarAfterDollar

^^^ righto.................... a good well published auction is the way to go now a days. The absolute best a Dealer would offer is 10% back of bid. Find that guy and now you have an option.

I know local auctioneers would love to chat with you.

roadrunner

It's good from a liquidation stand point that half of your stuff is common $20 Libs/Saints and bullion. These are easy sells, with small margins. Typically common MS61-MS65 $20's can be sold within 92-97% of what a major bullion dealer like Heritage/Rarcoa would sell them for. If you nice 64's or 65's it's probably worth a trip to CAC as those can net another 10-15% for 64's and 25-40% for 65's. I typically use a 5% spread for buy/sell. In a strong market I've seen it shrink to 2-1/2% for someone who is buying on volume...say $20K and up worth of material.

None of this stuff should go to auction where you'll be lucky to net 88% and have to wait months for the check. I cringe every time I see common date MS63-MS66 Saints in major auctions. Just hope that when it is time to sell that gold prices have recovered from the lows of the past 1-3 yrs. Be aware that during the times of larger shows when the gold market is also weakish (FUN, ANA, Long Beach, Balty) that the big gold dealers often buy so much gold before the show is over and sometimes shut down all buying for days. It's hard to sell common $20's during those times unless you give a much larger spread. At least try to pick those 2X per year when gold is peaking, and sell into strength (typically Nov-Dec, April-May).

Raw silver or gold? Figure margins are in the 3-6% range for most larger bullion dealers. The bigger the deal, the tighter the margin. Figure some of your local coin shops will be trying to work on 6-10%. I'd try to avoid them. They just end up wholesaling most of that to the bigger guys who are working on 3-5% margins. You can sell slabbed gold or bullion over the phone for pretty competitive prices if you contact the bigger boyz....or sell it on the BST or at a show for just a bit over the big boyz buy prices.

If you do the leg work you'll figure out what your stuff is worth. Then you can factor in a reasonable price to move it to a collector or dealer. There's no single spread that works for bid/ask. It varies from coin to coin, grade to grade, and other inputs. In some cases bid/ask prices can be ridiculously high or stupidly low. That's not the case for $20's or US gold coins.

ricko

Good advice above.... best to do your homework now... that way you have an idea of value(s) and are not rushed. Also gives you time to find a good outlet (i.e. dealer, BST, auction house)....I think you mentioned you already have a spreadsheet...so just add a couple of columns and you should have a good idea of what you have .... Good luck, Cheers, RickO

sparky64

Congrats getting started on the right foot by soliciting opinions beforehand.

Pghpete

Thanks all. Wise inputs.

BStrauss3

Buy a single copy of the Bluesheet.

CDN have changed the pricing model, Bluesheet represents sight-unseen dealer-to-dealer pricing ("I'm buying 1907 $20s at (price)" from the bid networks). The Greysheet represents sight-seen dealer-to-dealer pricing.

So the bluesheet is what a dealer will pay (usual adjustments up/down for quality and appeal) and the greysheet is the best case sales price, retail is above that.

unclebob

Been dealing with a similar situation with a cohort of mine.

A decent sized collection that the owner is selling off bit by bit.

He's moved away from his dealer.

He keeps coming back doing quite well selling off a little at the time to me vs his old dealer.

A local club show might be a good place to set up one weekend.

Elmhurst

Try to consign them, unless you need the money all at once.

COCollector

I recently started selling some of my collection. Mostly ebay, mostly $50 - $150 individual items.

For $300+ items, I like Shows and local Shops: cash, no fees, no shipping, lots of no-nonsense buyers/dealers.

But I don't try to sell a bunch of stuff at Shows. For me, that'd be too time-consuming & too much cash.

At one Show recently, I sold one slabbed 1 oz pre-1933 gold. At another Show, one raw 1 oz Platinum Proof in OGP. Less than 10 minutes each. Very pleased.

Bottom Line: Research prices BEFORE you try to sell. And as others suggested, start small with just a few items.

caddyshack

I do not understand the thinking here. If you have coins up to $1,000.00 Great Collections is a lock. So pay the fees. You get protection-its their risk who they sell too. They have spent a ton to find the top buyers. You know you will get paid. They do all the work-including getting your coins CAC (I think-you can always ask). Why shun a good easy deal like that? To save $10? You think dealers are bad? Ebay is a risk. Selling at shows to dealers-is wholesale.

If there is any strength in a market, they will have the buyers. If your coins are really worthy, they will bring all the money

I have nothing to do w/them and have used them.

roadrunner

GC posts seller's fees at...... 0% for coins that realize over $1,000 or 5% for coins $1,000 or under. Small listing fee of $3-$10 per lot. My take on this is that the consignor gets hammer less 0/5%. So net, that's 90% for coins over $1,000 and 85% for coins under $1,000. Not bad at all.