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Is a coin show a good place to sell silver?

CoinscratchCoinscratch Posts: 11,085 ✭✭✭✭✭

Or should I sell it somewhere else before I get there?
Good morning folks! I’m headed to a local coin show with a stack of silver and looking to sell or trade for one or two collectibles.

What percentage of spot should I expect?
Google says 90 to 98% so I’m assuming I’ll be happy if I get 95%.

If I sell at the coin show, will they give me cash so I can turn around and go to a table and buy the coin I want?

Do most or all dealers buy, and sell bullion case I see the coin I want before I’ve sold my silver?

Thanks any help would be appreciated!
Chris

PS last night I watched a podcast on YouTube featuring John Albanese giving his assessment on numerous coins so I fell like I stayed at a Holiday Inn. 😎

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    MFeldMFeld Posts: 17,130 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If you can get a fair price prior to the show, I’d certainly go that route. I suggest that you call a few local dealers, let them know what you have and ask what they’re paying.

    Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.

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    mr1931Smr1931S Posts: 7,308 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Coinscratch said:
    Or should I sell it somewhere else before I get there?
    Good morning folks! I’m headed to a local coin show with a stack of silver and looking to sell or trade for one or two collectibles.

    What percentage of spot should I expect?
    Google says 90 to 98% so I’m assuming I’ll be happy if I get 95%.

    If I sell at the coin show, will they give me cash so I can turn around and go to a table and buy the coin I want?

    Do most or all dealers buy, and sell bullion case I see the coin I want before I’ve sold my silver?

    Thanks any help would be appreciated!
    Chris

    PS last night I watched a podcast on YouTube featuring John Albanese giving his assessment on numerous coins so I fell like I stayed at a Holiday Inn. 😎

    I traded some 90% with a dealer for a coin that he had last show I attended. 1/2 of what he wanted for the coin in 90% @ 38x face and the other 1/2 in cash. Worked out well for me and I think for him too.

    A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

    Albert Einstein

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    PClark99PClark99 Posts: 123 ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 18, 2026 8:25AM

    I would be stunned if a dealer is going to give you that close to spot.

    I would expect they will want to buy 15-20% back. At least thats what I have seen from local shows here.

    Edit, like MFeld said above, maybe check with a couple local shops and see what their buy price is. That should help you calibrate your expectations.

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    CoinscratchCoinscratch Posts: 11,085 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 18, 2026 1:04PM

    @PClark99 said:
    I would be stunned if a dealer is going to give you that close to spot.

    I would expect they will want to buy 15-20% back. At least thats what I have seen from local shows here.

    Edit, like MFeld said above, maybe check with a couple local shops and see what their buy price is. That should help you calibrate your expectations.

    I sold it 8% back of spot for the .999 and 90% but most folks had no interest in the 40%ers so they’re coming back home.

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    mr1931Smr1931S Posts: 7,308 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Coinscratch said:

    @PClark99 said:
    I would be stunned if a dealer is going to give you that close to spot.

    I would expect they will want to buy 15-20% back. At least thats what I have seen from local shows here.

    Edit, like MFeld said above, maybe check with a couple local shops and see what their buy price is. That should help you calibrate your expectations.

    I sold it 8% back of spot for the .999 and 90% but most folks had no interest in the 40%ers so they’re coming back home.

    You did very well selling your 90% at 92% of spot.

    A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

    Albert Einstein

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    Morgan13Morgan13 Posts: 2,689 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nothing wrong with holding out for the best price.

    Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
    Successful BST transactions with: Namvet Justindan Mattniss RWW olah_in_MA
    Dantheman984 Toyz4geo SurfinxHI greencopper RWW bigjpst bretsan MWallace logger7 JWP BruceS bigjpst
    JWP PROMETHIUS88

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    Cougar1978Cougar1978 Posts: 10,067 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 18, 2026 4:48PM

    Yes - a show an be a good place to sell silver.

    Investor
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    ShaunBC5ShaunBC5 Posts: 1,974 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I’ve had what I felt like was good luck selling 90% at shows. Some I sold outright and some I traded. I don’t sell/trade much of anything but have always found someone to treat me fairly at a show (sometimes exceeding my expectations and sometimes not).
    Looks like you picked up some cool stuff.! Congrats!

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    CoinscratchCoinscratch Posts: 11,085 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Thanks guys, and yes it was interesting to hear the different rates guys would offer even sitting right next to each other.
    The show was in Houston and a few of the guys I talked to were from Louisiana and were some of the nicest people you would ever meet. They could tell I was a newbie at this and were very helpful.

    In the very moment that Glen was struggling to give me the best price on the flowing hair without hurting himself and while looking at the coin I asked if he had one in an MS 65 and we both almost fell out of the chair, laughing.

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    MasonGMasonG Posts: 7,558 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Coinscratch said:
    Thanks guys, and yes it was interesting to hear the different rates guys would offer even sitting right next to each other.

    Not all dealers are interested in the same things, but there's often a price at which they'd be a buyer.

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    orevilleoreville Posts: 12,398 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Might be more important to find the right coins at a decent price than what you can sell your 90% silver for.

    Search for the coins you want before the show and if you find what you are looking for at a favorable price then ask the seller how much he would pay for your 90% silver in trade. Even if he only offers you 90% or less for your 90% silver it might still be a favorable trade given your coins in return at the right price. That being said you can still look to obtain more than 90% for your silver coins before and at the coin show with other dealers.

    But most dealers do not like carrying massive amounts of bulk coinage back home at the end of a coin show.

    More important is the spot price of silver on the day of the coin show.

    A Collectors Universe poster since 1997!
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    CoinscratchCoinscratch Posts: 11,085 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @oreville said:
    Might be more important to find the right coins at a decent price than what you can sell your 90% silver for.

    Search for the coins you want before the show and if you find what you are looking for at a favorable price then ask the seller how much he would pay for your 90% silver in trade. Even if he only offers you 90% or less for your 90% silver it might still be a favorable trade given your coins in return at the right price. That being said you can still look to obtain more than 90% for your silver coins before and at the coin show with other dealers.

    But most dealers do not like carrying massive amounts of bulk coinage back home at the end of a coin show.

    More important is the spot price of silver on the day of the coin show.

    That is very sound advice and I would’ve rather sold the silver before the show instead of lugging it around and possibly taking a hit. But it wasn’t a planned event it was a last minute realization that I found out about the show and the stars happened to line up and was able to miss work that day.

    I certainly wouldn’t have planned it that way but in the end it worked out.

    So, are you saying that I could find out the dealers that we’re gonna be there? Look at their website and see some of what they were gonna bring beforehand?

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