Seeking advice for selling a friend's collection
dorkbar
Posts: 427 ✭✭✭
A friend told me he wants to sell his entire collection. I told him I'd take a look.
What it lacks in quality it makes up for in quantity. Mainly it's scores of tubed, circulated, nonmodern cents, nickels, and dimes separated by year and mintmark, some full, some nearly empty; 30-40 Whitman folders of all denominations; and a few loose Morgans and such.
Now he tells me he'd like me to be his "broker," meaning I can dispose of everything. He made it clear he just wants everything gone.
So a couple of questions:
Aside from checking for hidden gems (unlikely), are there any words of advice you'd care to offer? I'm thinking local auctions would be one good outlet because they often bring strong money without the risks of returns/scams posed by online.
Also, is there a standard fee/percentage for such a thing? The reason I offered to do this is he told me he wouldn't know how to go about it and I have a better grasp of how to sell it all. It's of course going to require time and gas to get it done, so I waver between, "Aw, don't worry about it" and, "One million dollars."
My goal is to present him with a decent amount of dough and leave him feeling as if he chose wisely in allowing me to help him out, which is why I humbly seek assistance here. If there's one thing I've learned over the years it's these boards are a tremendous resource for a perennial newby such as me, so thanks in advance for your help.
Comments
If your local auctions bring strong money and the fees aren’t too bad, that may be a good route. They may even do a lot of the work for you.
Since you are a forum member, I’ll assume you have at some and possibly a lot of coin knowledge, so yes absolutely you should screen the collection for diamonds in the rough, so you can maximize the value from them (ie get them slabbed, sell them through a major dealer or auction house, etc).
You may even find something you like or need for yourself, that you can negotiate for your fee.
Best of luck!
The best way to remain good friends is to apologize that you just don’t have to time to get it done currently. These deals are rarely worth the hassle.
Identify any issue that could potentially be of significant value and post photos here to see whether it is worth certifying. Sell everything else in bulk. Look to eBay for going prices. Local auction or direct sales to collectors are the way to go.
Thanks, you guys. I really appreciate it.
There is a local auction company here that seems to do quite well with such material. They send out catalogs and have enough attendees between dealers and collectors that little seems to fall through the cracks. Each auction has dozens, if not hundreds, of rolls of 90% silver from estates/hoards/collections. Usually dozens of Whitman folders too, average circulated stuff. Lots of raw type; mostly grouped into lots of 3 or 4 coins to get the lot value worth the effort. It sounds like this is a close approximation to your friend's collection. If he's really a friend, I would refer him to the auction company and help out with the logistics if he needs it. Up to you if you need a commission for that.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
I'm doing this right now for a friend. Their grandfather's collection, which sounds a bit more "collectible" than yours, but still has alot of bulk silver, circulated blue folders, common proof sets, etc.
I have gone to the local coin club with some items, took some to the Balty show, posted some on these Buy, Sell boards. Told them I would avoid going to outlets that were lower percentage plays like, ebay, local coin stores, etc.
Two key points. Told them this would take some time, and not to expect instant results. I plan on almost a year to systematically dispose. So set their expectation on time frame on your terms. At some point, they may run out of patience, and tell me to dump the rest at whatever price, which I will do at that point. But they completely understand the game plan.
Second, to me the percentage cut depends on how much you are doing this out of friendship, versus how much you want to be compensated for your time. I am only charging about 5%, because I want to do this for a good friend. If you want full comp for your time, then I wouldn't bother, and suggest instead you spare both your time and energy and accompany them to the local coin shop or show and help them dump the collection for whatever they can get. Then they can buy you a beer.
I have a similar situation with an estate which is large in bulk (thousands of coins) and been going over the clients long listing provided (highlighting the few better dates it has) except for grades which I will perform and quickly input (to my copy) upon viewing meeting this week. All of it is raw so nothing likely over MS60. My hunch these are coins pulled from circulation (mostly common dates on listing provided) in 50’s and 60’s most of which prob only worth bv. Includes some barber and seated stuff but most likely low grade worn circ (G04 at best). I will use blue book cost out basis of any offer. Bought the new 2020 issue last week due to this project. I am about 75 pct sure it won’t produce any material worth enough justify cost of slabbing.
In estates have a game plan going in be courteous, confident, decisive (quick execution), take inventory quickly (or add needed data if inventory provided). Then take data home, cost out and make decision on offer - lump sum or pieces (avoiding being buried in unsuitable material). Make sure you understand what you can quickly sell it for and the variable selling expense / estimated potential net profit involved. Bullion based material can be very turbulent and you don’t want the aircraft stall then crash. Don’t make any negative comments about the deceased persons collection nor confuse the client about something non relevant like the Holder / sticker game. Many times these people have grossly inflated idea on value so on that let them shop it around if they balk on offer. They usually come back.
Take bad pictures of the collection. Make sure it’s insured. Drive it to a IHOP in a questionable part of town. Leave the doors unlocked with a trail of coins. Have the all you can eat pancakes and take your time.
Otherwise this can go very very sideways for you the conventional way. Been there and done that and lost a couple of friends along the way.
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Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
I did something like this for a friend in 2006-7. It was a big mistake. I charged only a 10% commission, which given the amount of work involved, was way too low. In spite of that, his wife was very unhappy when she found out I had charged any commission at all.
If you want to stay friends, just say no.
Check for key dates and assist with getting those slabbed and sold. It’s not worth the time/hassle for the rest.
I usually see bulk collections of commons for sale “not willing to split up” until the seller learns no one wants the whole thing.
From your description, you should refer him to coin shops and/or auction houses....There will be a lot of work if you undertake this task, minimal return for your friend and even less for you. Cheers, RickO
Thanks for the input, everybody. A glutton for punishment, perhaps, but I'm already in possession of the collection, and I've decided I can at least begin the process of liquidation to see how it goes. I've delivered a few items for an upcoming local auction I had to drop other material off at anyway, so no additional hassle.
My friend insists he's good with how any of it turns out as far as what he ends up with; I'll press on with it without regard to reward because since it can be piecemeal it will be easy for me. I suspect he'll be happy to be getting what will probably be low four figures when it's all gone.
This will be either an amusing adventure or yet another lesson on the hardscrabble streets of Coinworld.
Sounds like a lot of work for you to help your friend gross a few thousand dollars. I like helping friends but I also value my time. Good luck.
Best of luck! I guess this is but one way to test a good friendship. ..
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Good luck.
Good luck, I agree with what most have posted. I would make sure they have a realistic expectation of the actual real life value before you start.
He's cool with whatever transpires, Batman23. Thanks for all the comments, all.
If it were me, I’d make a slow pass through everything and pull out anything nice. After reviewing everything, I’d be sure and set expectations with him. Make sure he’s on board. Anyway, the bulk of everything else would be liquidated at my favorite B&M coin shop, someone I trust. They don’t pay top dollar, but it’s a quick way to liquidate a large amount of material. For the nicer stuff, I’d likely use eBay. My assumption here is there aren’t any $500+ coins. Those may need special attention.
Sadly, even if he has some better date 90% rolls, expect to get regular 90% money. That’s just how B&M joints roll.
BTW, I think its cool that he has entrusted you to help him. Says a lot about your friendship.
Dave