Questions about selling coins.....long post.
Eric_Babula
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I'm looking to sell off a bunch (somewhere between 500 and 1,500 coins) of raw, lower-to-mid-grade (say, AG-3 to EF-40), common-date coins. I'd like to organize them to make it easier for someone to put prices on them. Obviously, first tier is to put them into groups by type. Second tier is to put each type in order by date/mm. But, third tier to me would be to put them by "bulk" vs more "special" (for lack of better term) coins (e.g. coins that will get me only melt or bulk value vs coins that would get a higher price for numismatic value). I'm assuming dealers have some sort of system or cheat-sheet where they'll just count up your coins and give you melt value (or some percentage under melt value) or bulk rate (say, $0.80 per coin), vs at some point (is that VF-20?), they'll give you some percent under retail value. I understand that they have to make money, so I'll get some percentage under, say, numismedia.com or Greysheet prices, so I have no grand illusions that I'll get the listed prices for raw, common-date coins.
I quickly chatted with a couple local dealers to see if they could guide me in how to organize my coins to make it easier/quicker, but they just told me to bring in the coins and they can evaluate them and give me prices.
What do you say? As a dealer, or maybe someone who has sold lots of coins to dealers, what grade is the breaking point that determines whether the dealer would count coins and pay bulk price vs looking at each coin individually and applying a price to each individual coin?
Also, what could I reasonably expect for those "bulk", common-date/mm coins?
Steel Cents
IHC's
Liberty Nickels
Buffalo Nickels
War Nickels
Barber Dimes - assuming melt value is $2.40
Mercury Dimes - assuming melt value is $2.40
Roosevelt Dimes - assuming melt value is $2.40
Washington Quarters - assuming melt value is $6.00
WLH's - assuming melt value is $12.00
Franklin Half Dollars - assuming melt value is $12.00
Kennedy Half Dollars - assuming melt value is $12.00
Morgan Dollars - assuming melt value is $33.00
Peace Dollars - assuming melt value is $33.00
Would I be right to assume I'd get about 80% of melt value from a dealer? 90%? 100%? Are there any I should NOT sell for melt value? What's a reasonable bulk rate to expect for the others (not silver)?
Rocking my "shiny-object-syndrome"!!!
Comments
Any dealer who buys coins as part of his business can evaluate your coins faster than you can.
The important thing is to make sure you're right that they're all common. Grade is irrelevant. When you're selling (when the dealer is buying) then value is what matters. You'll get the same offer for an unc 1964 quarter as you will for a heavily worn 1944 quarter. They have the same value.
Prices for junk silver are usually calculated based on face value. You'll get the same offer for 100 dimes or 40 quarters. Silver dollars get a small premium.
If you're willing to ship around, get a few offers and compare. If you're not willing to shop around, then the rest doesn't matter.
The dealer is likely to put them in 2 classes - bulk (BV related, culls) and individual decent pieces (the nice stuff). Then he will work up what he estimates he can get for them whether flip or retail stock. Then an offer that makes the deal worthwhile for him.
Many collections, estates I have looked at the good stuff liquidated long ago so just the crap remains. The dealers goal - flip them quickly at positive margin.
Sometimes the collection is such crap stuff he simply refers them to a coin shop. Rolls of junk silver he might discount offer on those considerably bc of shipping cost in liquidating them. Frankie added up BV (junk silver) plus CDN bid on the nice stuff then offered 60 -70 pct of the whole cabang or so. Even nice stuff his offer might not be more than 80 pct of grey sheet (or melt) or even less in consideration of time, materials, selling costs, shipping, fees.
Your better off opening an eBay store where you are in control and have the option try retail it or move via auction.
Get 2 or 3 offers and take the highest one. 99% of the time, any further sorting or searching is a waste of time. If they are truly common dates below XF, you are just going to get bulk pricing. No dealer is going to price them individually.
I can quote you prices but they icky thing that matters is what you can get locally.
Morgan and Peace $s are not one ounce, silver would have to be $40 per oz for them to melt at $33.
Ball park figure on the silver (not dollars) is 0.68×spot silver per dollar face.
Fine or better Morgans are adding $30 and $24 for peace$ AU/unc would be more.
War nickels are maybe $1.25 each or slightly more in quantity.
Bulk price on IHC, Buffs etc will depend on how good/ bad the coins are.
Post some pictures
If you are in the NJ area I could help you out
See. My pm
A better lesson to be inferred here is NOT to amass this kind of thing. Don't accumulate things that can be a PITA burden when it comes time to liquidate. Save yourself and possibly an heir the headache. Silver coins can be easily sold for their silver content.
FWIW I recognize the OP from the old days on the AOL coinboards.
I would not mind picking up some of your coins. Please PM me with prices if possible.
God comes first in everything I do. I’m dedicated to serving Him with my whole life. Coin collecting is just a hobby—but even in that, I seek to honor Him. ✝️
Thanks for your input. I'm really not interested in selling these via ebay or in a store. Just don't want to put in that much effort.
Rocking my "shiny-object-syndrome"!!!
Thanks for your input. This is the kind of info I am looking for.
Still confused about the silver prices. Some say "Melt x 0.8" (or whatever), and some say "20x face". I guess each dealer has their own way to do it, based on how they calculate their profit potential.
Rocking my "shiny-object-syndrome"!!!
You are absolutely correct! But, in my younger days I was stupid, so here I am.
1. I wanted to collect complete sets (ALL dates / mint marks) of a lot of types. I wasn't focused on just one or two types, like I should have been.
2. I wanted lots of silver - first, I liked Mercs, Franklins and Morgans. Then, I liked WLH's. Then, I wanted silver as an investment. Then....
3. I had/have shiny-object-syndrome - Ooooh, look at those Mercs! Ooooh, That Morgan is beautiful! I need it, even though I have three of that year/mm! Ooooh, look at that IHC - I need to collect those! Ooooh, look at that 2-cent piece - gotta have.....and so on!
All of that has led to me acquiring a hoard, rather than an organized collection.
So, now, at 58 years old, I'm re-evaluating what I have done. I plan to rid myself of my "PITA burden", pair down my collection, get some cash, and focus my efforts differently than I had in the past. Hence, the selling questions.
Rocking my "shiny-object-syndrome"!!!
There are different equations to get to the same approximate final value and people just use whichever one they like.
Also, I know it was an example, but 80% of melt is on the low end for junk silver (as long as it's better than "cull" condition, you should be able to find someone to pay more).
And, like mentioned, note that the silver content of a Morgan/Peace Dollar is currently about $25.50 (it is under 1 oz of silver at about 0.77oz).
Go here to get the silver value of coins that have little or no value above metal value. Basically junk silver.
https://www.coinflation.com/coins/silver_coin_calculator.html
From that you can figure an amount times face value. For a Roosie multiply by 10 to get about $24 for $1 face. There is a link to coinflation.com at the bottom of the PCGS home page.
What @jmlanzaf said, disregard cougars advice. Selling this type of an accumulation on eBay is complete waste of your time unless there's some better date au/bu coins you can sell individually.
These are going to be priced bulk, and the best you could do for the non silver is seperate culls, VF/XF, and AU/UNC. For example, Cull buff nickels might be 10c and decent circ umaybe 20c. Here's an ad to sell wholesale coins like that in bulk, so the buy price would likely be 10-20% back of this-
Buffalo nickel damage cull x 374 @ .12c
Buffalo nickel No date x 1,163 @ .13c
Buffalo nickel Partial date x 714 @ .18c
Buffalo nickel Full date x 3,443 @ .40c
V-nickel Cull x 260 @ .35c
V-nickel Circ G+ x 193 @ .60c
V-nickel 1883 w/cent Culls x 35 @ $4
V-nickel 1888-P Culls x 11 @ $5
Barber Dime G+ x 96 @ $4
Barber quarter Culls x 61 @ $6
Barber quarter G+ x 44 @ $7
Barber halves Culls x 48 @ $13
Barber halves G+ x 64 @ $15
SLQ Full dates VG+ x 187 @ $6
Indian head cent Circ x 570 @ .85c
Indian head cent Cull x 260 @ .55c
For the silver, you can expect around 90% of melt for most of the worn and circulated silver (not dollars). In better condition maybe 95-100% of melt for walker/barber. Morgans expect offers between 25-28 and Peace 21-23. It all depends on the quantity and condition, dealers are selling culls at the prices @jmlanzaf mentioned, and the dealer is going to have to ship them out and still need to make 10% or more. Don't spend too much time on them the difference may be marginal.
Perhaps you could net a bit more by listing some her on the best for other members, but I would set a minimum order value $ to be worth the time to ship.
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Thank you for the info - very informative. I have to process what everyone has been saying, and piece it all together.
Talking about AG-F coins:
Before I asked these questions, I was thinking I'd get $3 for Barber Dimes. About $2 for Mercs and Roosies. About $5 for Wash Quarters. Maybe $10-$12 for WLH's/Franklins/Kennedy (silver). I was thinking $1 for V-nickels and IHCs, and maybe $0.50 for Buffs. I'll read all these, and reassess my thoughts.
BTW - where was this ad? Does anyone have access to it?
Rocking my "shiny-object-syndrome"!!!
I think you’re pretty close on your estimates with the silver, for real bulk lots as of late I pay $2 for dimes, $5 for quarters, and $10 for halves. Then I’ll add 10-20% for the more classic designs (walker/barber) . In AG/F however, I might go down 10-20% just like I would if the order wasn’t big enough to bake in the shipping cost.
I think you may need to just adjust your expectations for the nickels and cents, may need to cut your numbers in half on those, if not a bit more depending on quantity.
Founder- Peak Rarities
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Thanks for your input! I feel that a lot of good info has been given, so far! That's why I love chatting with all of you - the knowledge base and willingness to help is incredible!
Rocking my "shiny-object-syndrome"!!!
Meltx 0.715 or melt x0 68 is what you do to get to 20x face (or whatever).
You will do better if you have everything organized for the dealer. Your common silver should be sorted by denomination and in plastic bags, with counts of the coins, i.e. a bag of 300 silver dimes. The coins should be loose and not in 2x2's. Everything else that is common should be sorted and in bags, and the good or better coins should be separate from the AG coins, i.e. a bag of 45 Good Indian cents and a bag of 25 AG Indian cents. Counts should be marked on the bags. The less time the dealer has to take to evaluate your collection, the more likely he/she is to pay better.
When you have counts of everything, with the values listed above, you can evaluate any offer you get and see if it is acceptable. That way, if the first dealer makes an acceptable offer, you can take the offer and avoid shopping your stuff around.
Good luck with your sale.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
I have never done business with this company Miller’s Mint, but he attends a bunch of coin shows, and says to just ship the stuff and they’ll mail you a check. Stuff like you have (I believe) is his bread & butter. I have spoken with him, and he seems honest and knowledgeable.
https://millersmint.com/
I would never do this with someone I have no experience with. There are a number of reputable companies that are also known to be extremely harsh on the classification of coins (full date vs partial vs no date, MA vs details etc). In such a transaction, you end up at their mercy and with only a single offer.
There's also one major player known to sort the coins and return the culls which are then nearly impossible to sell as a lot.
I understand your point exactly. Reason I mentioned this route was for the ease of getting it done in 1 transaction. I don’t deal with any of what the OP has, and it honestly sounds like a massive headache. I’m looking to save that person time.
Understood. It really depends on local options. The best, almost quickest way is to take it to 3 places and accept the highest offer. But that only works if you have 3 places close by.
If there not a few local places, you can call/email songs for bullion prices and take the highest. The bulk stuff will them be a headache. But, sometimes saving time and not getting the best price is better than spending hours trying to get another $100 and wasting gas doing it.
True story. A stamp dealer friend died. His brother was handling the estate. He put the brothers collection in a storage unit.
It was mostly junk. The good stuff had been sold with the store 15 years earlier. I told the brother that and, at no charge, spent several days trying to help him get organized and telling him how to maximize the sale price.
The family didn't want to buy spend a lot of time so splitting it up the way I suggested wasn't an option. They eventually decided to try and get 3 bids and take the highest. They couldn't get 3 bidders for the lot and after THREE AND ONE-HALF years of messing around, they took my bid which probably didn't cover the storage unit costs. If they had taken my initial advice, they probably wiggle have grossed more and definitely would have netted more.
Time has value.
I do have local options - probably a dozen coin shops within 30 miles of me. I do plan on going to a couple/few and get the best deal, as you mention. But, my original questions centered around how I should organize the coins to make it as easy as possible for them to review, and for me to get the best price. I want to put "junk" coins together so they can give me their bulk pricing. But, I want to keep the better stuff, the stuff they'd look at individually, set aside so they can properly review those. I just don't know where the line is. If I have common date/mm coins in the types I listed, does everything below F-12 get put in the "junk" piles? VF-20? I don't want to throw the "better" coins in with the "junk" coins, and miss out on what should be some additional numismatic value. The two coin shops I checked with didn't give me any clues.
Rocking my "shiny-object-syndrome"!!!
It depends on the series, but for common dates in the IHC, Buff, V nickel series, fine or lower is bulk. But there is generally a cull price and a good/ better price. You can sort that way if you want a quicker, better offer.
Again: grades are irrelevant. The only line that matters to you is value.
An MS-63 1964 25c has the same value as a VF-20 1944 25c. They are both worth silver value and nothing more.
Do you have a Redbook? If you can't explain to the dealer why one of your pieces is worth more than the others, then the dealer is unlikely to either.
Never dealt with firm. Buy list for items you have .
https://www.azcoinexchange.com/BuyList.htm