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Nubie needs advice to sell an 1847-D 2 1/2 dollar gold piece
loudell
Posts: 22 ✭✭
It actually belongs to my Mom and she wants to sell it. I went to the local happy coin shop in CT and was offered $500. A bit of research and I think it's worth a bunch more.
Can anyone tell me the best way to go about getting a good price for it?
Thank you....
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Post some good pictures here, and you will get a lot of good advice (and maybe a few offers!)
Get it graded to maximize your price
condition?
pcgscoinfacts.com/Coin/Detail/7746
eBay ID-bruceshort978
Successful BST:here and ATS, bumanchu, wdrob, hashtag, KeeNoooo, mikej61, Yonico, Meltdown, BAJJERFAN, Excaliber, lordmarcovan, cucamongacoin, robkool, bradyc, tonedcointrader, mumu, Windycity, astrotrain, tizofthe, overdate, rwyarmch, mkman123, Timbuk3,GBurger717, airplanenut, coinkid855 ,illini420, michaeldixon, Weiss, Morpheus, Deepcoin, Collectorcoins, AUandAG, D.Schwager.
It always helps to go to a "HAPPY COIN SHOP" because the _unhappy _ones are not
good :
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Bad transactions with : nobody to date
As above, get it graded by PCGS to prove to buyers that it is genuine and does not have any major defects.
Then you could try selling it on ebay, to see if you can find a person who is looking for an 1847-D in particular.
It may take awhile.
The PCGS Price guide shows $850 retail down in lowly VG-8 grade, so I agree with your research that there is potentially a lot more value than $500. Of course the dealer who offered $500 left room to make a profit, so if you have time to find collector buyers you can probably get more. A specialist dealer like Doug Winter may also be interested, if it's in a grade high enough for his customers.
https://raregoldcoins.com/rare-gold-coin-inventory/
I did have it graded by PCGS AU53 and will try to attach a picture.
Would I be better off trying ebay or Heritage Auction?
Yes, throw it up on ebay, and it will go for what it is worth
You could also put it up for sale on the BST board here. No fees. But the downside is nobody knows you.
PCGS price guide shows $3800 for an au53, $2250 for a VF40.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
"The Coin Dealer Newsletter" bid for an AU-50 is $2,350. I'm not sure Heritage will accept the coin for auction given the amount. I know that years ago their minimum was $2,000. I don't know what it is now.
If you sell it on ebay you had better start it at a price you are comfortable with! If you don't have an established account it will hurt your results. If you don't have an established ebay account you should find someone who does or talk with Ian at Great Collections and possibly sell it there!
Not a high quality photo, but it looks like a great coin!
I have a friend with a studio that can take very good hi-res close up shots. I'll try to have then done and post if that's OK...
GreatCollections would be my recommendation.
@loudell.... Welcome aboard.... that seems to be a nice gold coin. Since you are not an experienced coin dealer, (Though I credit you for having it graded, and also avoiding the 'happy coin shop' sale) I would recommend Great Collections for selling your coin. Yes, there will be a fee... however, you will likely get a fair price and you can avoid the hassle of selling it yourself. Good luck... Cheers, RickO
$500. /eyeroll
I see a price of $2500-2700 on ebay if you sell it there.
Market for these have softened but could rebound very quickly if the economy continues to improve. If you do not need to sell, hold for a bit would be my advice.
Heritage fees are exorbitant.
bob
Unbelievable lowball offer from coin shop.
Disgusting.
Yes, it was. I could understand the coin shop offering 20% in back of bid. Dahlonega Mint coins are a specialized area of the hobby, and if you are generalist dealer who has no customer base for such coins, you are likely end up wholesaling it to someone who has better connections. This is also true for better die varieties in the early copper field. But offering almost 80% under bid is really unethical.
In all fairness the coin was in a paper holder and not graded at that point but it was pretty low....
The fact that had not been certified at the point did make a difference. Many dealers figure the price they are going to get for the coin, then subtract from that their gross margin. If the piece is uncertified (raw), the dealer than has to deduct the cost of grading and shipping both ways, plus a cushion for the fact that coin might come back in a lower grade than you planned.
Still, if the coin has no problems and really is an AU, $500 is too low.
It also shows their offer was not super recent. When did you get the coin graded? When was the offer made?
Unless you are talking a a real long time ago it does not make a lot of difference. These coins have been valuable for a long time.
nice work getting it graded and doing some research. you will get more than 500 for sure. good luck.
Actually I took the coin in this past February. And lo and behold the gentleman that offered me $500 just sent me a private message stating he may have been "a little conservative".
Say hello Chris....
By "a little conservative" he means he tried to rip you and didn't realize it would come back to bite him 7 months later when he got busted for it. Get good pictures of it and try selling on BST first. Look at pcgscoinfacts.com for pricing info for this coin, which will tell you that the most recent auction price for a PCGS AU53 is about $2700, a year ago. If that isn't how you want to try selling, then go to GreatCollections. The buyer-seller fee spread on that coin is 10%, which is better than eBay. If you were to consign a single coin like that to Heritage, it would end up in a weekend auction and the spread would be upwards of 35%.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars
What is BST?
It's the Buy, Sell, & Trade - US Coins board right here on this site.
https://forums.collectors.com/categories/buy-sell-trade-u-s-coins
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
Get good pictures and put it up for sale here, on BST. My guess is you'll find a buyer who will pay what it's really worth and there'll be no selling fees. You probably won't see PCGS-retail ($3400) but you will be pleased.
If it doesn't sell on BST then turn to Great Collections.
As for the shop who tried to rip you off, let them pound sand. I wouldn't even bother replying.
Lance.
I like the great collections recommendation. They do a good job and you get paid fairly quick
Interesting I'm a buyer between $2200-2400 and I am in your area. Pm anytime. Jon
I really appreciate all the great advice. I do have an idea what I would like for it and will have hi-res pics taken next week and I'll post them.
The coin belongs to my Mom and she was actually pretty upset with me when I did not accept the $500 from Chris Morin at Happy Coin in Cos Cob.
And I am sure he reads every post....
Karma is a boomerang.
At least the dealer has a nice website.
I'm guessing that Happy Coin isn't so happy right now. Thanks for posting that info.
There is another side to the story but we don't know it. We do know that fixed costs are super high in the northeast. Seems like a PNG member (plus all the other memberships), should have acted with more integrity.
Your Mom will owe you a nice dinner because you have done your homework.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
Some good came out of the experience in that we all now know who to avoid doing business with if we want to be treated fairly as customers.
Indian Head $10 Gold Date Set Album
A dealer offer you $500? Stay away from dealers as they will low ball you.
Your disclosure of the story is amusing. Why not just state what you have and share the temporal facts of the story and not give the impression you are clueless about what you have. It's clear you know what you have and you just want to "out" the dealer for his/her behavior.
So ... you drop into a local B&M shop with the "it belongs to a relative" story and plunk down an raw, rare quarter Eagle. The dealer's thoughts might be the coin is stolen or counterfeit and then they are stuck after the purchase. After all, most B&M shops rarely have Dahlonega gold cross the counter from John Q. Public so the ability to authenticate on the spot may not be up to snuff or they just might not trust their skills. It is truly a "rare" coin, after all.
So ... the dealer gives you a low-ball offer based on an authentic, high grade coin. Then again, the offer was around four times melt for a counterfeit (assuming it was made of gold). So, despite how much we on the Board love to excoriate B&M shop owners as con artists just looking to rip us off ... the dealer took a chance ... and it turns out, the dealer was on the losing end.
For those who have worked retail numismatics, you have likely encountered the "belongs to a relative" scenario before. Heck ... half the raw coins on eBay seem to be from some family member's "estate."
A better option for the dealer would have been to have the coin graded and offer you a fair price, knowing the coin is genuine and properly graded. Then again, the customer has to trust the dealer won't do a "switch-a-roo" or other nefarious act. And trust is often a commodity rarer than the coin.
Take your PCGS graded coin and offer it at some local B&M shops with the same "belongs to my mom" approach and see what they offer. That's better test of whether or not your being ripped as there is no question about the coin.
By the way ... nice coin and a heckuva great numismatic surprise for your mom. Good luck with the sale and I hope the coin finds a nice home.
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
When they buy your coins they are very Happy!!
Frankly I walked in there with a bag of coins. The gold piece was in a stapled paper holder and I live locally to Happy Coin; like 2 miles away. He could have asked me for ID, etc. and I gladly would have supplied it. I'm 59, own my own business and wear a suit to work every day. I did not walk in to Harry's pawn shop. My intention from my first post was to find out the best way to get a fair price for the coin.
A better scenario would have been for the dealer to educate me in having the coin graded. Maybe partenering with me to send it out and then offering me a fair percentage of it's value. None of that happened.
If all dealers are going to offer 20% of market value then they dishonest.
Using the "belongs to my Mom approach" I have already been offered $2,000+ from 5 dealers from this forum alone.
His being "a little conservative" was him trying to take advantage of a situation. It gives all dealers a black eye.
Thank God for the internet where you can eliminate the middleman.
Since you are obviously comfortable with the internet and shipping your coins by mail I'd highly recommend using Great Collections to auction it for the best price...
In terms of the honesty of the dealer that offered you $500...I'd like to believe that he was low-balling you because he wasn't familiar with the series or hedging his bets if the coin was doctored or cleaned...but maybe not who knows...I am collector of old gold...but still enough of a nubie myself that I would never buy a raw coin for fear that there was something wrong with it...from my perspective it seems that 99% of the good coins are already in TPG holders...and 99% of the raw coins have problems...just look at the inventory on EBay...
Good luck!!!
Those that are defending Happy are out of line. Period.
bob
Send me a pic and I may be a strong buyer for you and this is up my alley.
Latin American Collection
Should I also get a NCS certification or is the PCGS good enough?
Are you kidding me? A first-time poster comes here and suggests he was almost ripped off...mentions the name of a specific dealer...then the next day he produces the coin that he has already gotten graded...why the need to even mention the place that supposedly offered him the $500...he now knows from CoinFacts exactly what the value of the coin is...is his agenda to trash the dealer or sell the coin?
The owner of the coin store in question is a stand up guy and a member of the PNG...at a minimum he deserves a chance to address the issue before he is hung out to dry...
Yeah, no offence to the OP, but before he wrote his first word here. He already had a graded coin, stated he did "a bit of research " in another words he knew the approximate value. Was not happy being low balled. Started a thread bashing a dealer.
Now he has multiple strong offers. On a coin he selling on the us coin thread. Idk draw your own conclusions.
I'm not taking any sides , but thinking out loud. Nor do I know this Happy coin shop. Looks like he will get a good price for a nice coin and good for him. I just don't understand all the hate for the shop, because we don't know all the details.
eBay ID-bruceshort978
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Sorry, the coin shop deserves the trash talk if he only offered $500 for it.
I think there is equally enough BS to go around.
Has a coin (moms coin dont forget) brought it to shop, He got a lowball offer, so he declined. Shame on shop. But no harm because he didn't take the offer. Next move...
Did his due diligence, got it graded and obviously looked up values. Now he knew what he had.
How to maximize value.
. Put on eBay and roll the dice? Send to GC? And pay 20 plus % or
Start a thread on a popular coin board stating that "nubie needs advice "
(Mind you after he already knew exactly
What he had and what it's worth.
Does that sound like a guy getting played or a calculated move to sell a 3k coin. Not trying to start anything, just calling them as I see them. Look at the sequence of events.
He has already stated that he has had multiple offers. And didnt even need to put it up on th BST. Not bad.
eBay ID-bruceshort978
Successful BST:here and ATS, bumanchu, wdrob, hashtag, KeeNoooo, mikej61, Yonico, Meltdown, BAJJERFAN, Excaliber, lordmarcovan, cucamongacoin, robkool, bradyc, tonedcointrader, mumu, Windycity, astrotrain, tizofthe, overdate, rwyarmch, mkman123, Timbuk3,GBurger717, airplanenut, coinkid855 ,illini420, michaeldixon, Weiss, Morpheus, Deepcoin, Collectorcoins, AUandAG, D.Schwager.
Sure, it's a calculated move. If you were trying to sell a multi-thousand dollar coin, wouldn't you? He IS a nubie at selling coins like this. That wasn't a lie or anything. Thankfully he was smart enough not to get robbed by the coin shop.
Especially with all this irrefutable PROOF !!!!!
What a bunch! Anything goes if you're knocking a coin shop huh?
I'm going to try and attach some very hi res pics of the 1847-D gold coin. There is a small scratch in the lens of the plastic case on the front of the coin. If this is a big deal I would ask PCGS to put it in another case. I just received it from them last week.
You haven't sold it yet? If your not happy with the service send it back, we can't answer your question.
I think you should be posting it on the BST at this point, and ask the potential buyer his or her opinion.
eBay ID-bruceshort978
Successful BST:here and ATS, bumanchu, wdrob, hashtag, KeeNoooo, mikej61, Yonico, Meltdown, BAJJERFAN, Excaliber, lordmarcovan, cucamongacoin, robkool, bradyc, tonedcointrader, mumu, Windycity, astrotrain, tizofthe, overdate, rwyarmch, mkman123, Timbuk3,GBurger717, airplanenut, coinkid855 ,illini420, michaeldixon, Weiss, Morpheus, Deepcoin, Collectorcoins, AUandAG, D.Schwager.