Do you ever sell some of your nicest coins for what you realize later is not enough money?
mr1931S
Posts: 7,431 ✭✭✭✭✭
This has happened to me numerous times especially those days when I fancied myself a dealer. I'm not a very good dealer. I have great difficulty parting with my nicest pieces anymore. What was the nicest piece you ever parted with by selling for what you realize later was not enough money?
I have fond memories of the 1807 Draped Bust half dollar that I bought from the dealer occupying Dan Brown's old shop on Colfax Avenue in Denver. They had mispriced the 1807 half by half as much as they should have been asking for it. I gave them $40 for it. It was totally original with the most wonderful toning I've ever seen on a circulated draped bust half-dollar coin.I made a whopping $20 selling it later to a different shop (which will go unnamed here) for $60. Not the coin I bought seen below. My 1807 half was prettier. The 1807 half I sold making $20 profit is probably the dumbest sale I've ever made as a collector/dealer wannabe.
“Never let yesterday use up too much of today.”
Will Rogers
Comments
chopmarkedtradedollars.com
Yes 😭
Empty Nest Collection
Well, you can't hold onto everything. You do what you had to do at that point in time.
But to your question. Yes, once or twice.
I had a financial hardship about 30 years ago and had to liquidate most of my gold and my 1955 DDO. It was ANACS graded UNC DETAILS NET AU55, SCRATCHED. The scratch can down and went over the first 5. I really didn't want to sell it but, you do what you got to do.
I apologize for the following images as digital cameras were just coming out at the time and their quality was nothing like today.
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I don't think I have ever been happy to sell a coin and it never seems like enough money at the time. I too have had to come up with money in a hurry and was just glad to have a hobby that offers some sort of money back. In those situations you have to console yourself with the need being met is more important than any profit or loss. James
No material is marked up accordingly, cost plus. ABC (A highest, then B their muf, etc. At that point players will get in the game to mark up material that hasn’t sold higher to get more money as mkt value rises. Some players price their best material ahead of the market, Others might markup vs whether ABC coin. This happened on bullion silver coins when silver sky rocketed big time awhile back - fun and games.
Yes, that is a part of the hobby. And anyone who thinks otherwise is not being truthful.
You mean not enough money for tickets to the Captain & Tennille Tribute Band?
Do you ever sell some of your nicest coins for what you realize later is not enough money?
Yes, but only the best. Everything else I get good money for.
Several years ago, I sold an 1873-CC Trade dollar that was Pcgs Xf-40 for $1600. I had bought it raw for $800 and with grading fees about $850. Same coin now is $3500
Reminds me of the 1849 dated Mormon $5 gold piece that I could have bought for $500 in 1974 that is now valued in tens of thousands of dollars, $25-$30K for a well-circulated example.
“Never let yesterday use up too much of today.”
Will Rogers
Too many to recount.
I used to work with a couple wholesalers, and serviced want lists for a few forum members and other guys. Two standouts were a crusty original ‘39O bust half, and a ‘93 Liberty Cap cent. I bought them both cheap enough that I could double my money, and still sell them well below the real market price to some of my valued customers.
In all honesty, I've never regretted leaving something for the next guy. Even if it was too much.
Not to mention all the times that someone left too much for me.......
I can agree that it is normally bitter sweet to sell any of our coins that we once possessed, but you can't take it with you. What really steams my beans is when I sell a coin for a price that is about the same, no matter who makes an offer for, and then flips it for double or more because the right buyer came around or was waiting in the wings. At least I still have the images of most of the coins that I used to own in a folder for a walk down memory lane.
BST transactions: dbldie55, jayPem, 78saen, UltraHighRelief, nibanny, liefgold, FallGuy, lkeigwin, mbogoman, Sandman70gt, keets, joeykoins, ianrussell (@GC), EagleEye, ThePennyLady, GRANDAM, Ilikecolor, Gluggo, okiedude, Voyageur, LJenkins11, fastfreddie, ms70, pursuitofliberty, ZoidMeister,Coin Finder, GotTheBug, edwardjulio, Coinnmore, Nickpatton, Namvet69,...
When I sold more on eBay, I always felt the BIN was too low whenever it sold within 30 minutes of listing.
Hindsight is perfect. If you are selling never accept the first offer especially if it's a schmoozing, charming potential buyer. A local flea market told me he recently went to a shop I'm familiar with and the owner brought up recent sales and offered him 50% of fair market value. I told him he needed to counter and be willing to walk out.
I am lucky that I generally have not had to sell out of need, so I haven't had any fire sales where I immediately regretted the price. I have had a few coins take off in value after I've sold, where I regret a little not hanging on longer, but by the same token I've been lucky to sell some stuff at the absolute apex of a market.
Being a collector first and foremost, I am also generally not hung up on milking every last cent out of a sale, I am happy if I can come out whole or a little ahead while placing a coin with another collector who wants / needs / loves it more than I do. Plenty of folks have helped me build my collection in this way, and it seems right to pay it forward accordingly.
Sean Reynolds
"Keep in mind that most of what passes as numismatic information is no more than tested opinion at best, and marketing blather at worst. However, I try to choose my words carefully, since I know that you guys are always watching." - Joe O'Connor
I tend not to ask enough. This is not a plug, but I feel that I have done better selling more stand out coins on Great Collections. They set the initial bid to about 40-50% of the value, but then the bidders battle it out. Then 10% for $1K plus coins works for me. The 15% for under 1K is not bad.
I sold a quintessentially 'perfect' VF35 1795 Bust dollar back in 1988. I received $1,600. from a well known coin shop in Laguna Beach. It was a totally fair price at the time but dang- I still think and look back with regret. Luster on smooth, even unmolested surfaces. I reminisce with more sadness at that coin than I do about first wife (married to her at the time).
How pathetic is that?!
Not nearly as pathetic as my experience.
I sold this coin through auction in 1982 for $26,000. I don’t remember what my commission rate was.
It resurfaced in 2009 and brought a wee bit more.😉
https://coins.ha.com/itm/patterns/1877-50-fifty-dollar-judd-1549-pollock-1722-r7-pr67-brown-ngc-pcgs-61893-/a/1121-1888.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Since I've never yet sold a "nice coin", I'm going to have to say "no" to this question.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
I don’t think the examples with 20+ years in between are necessarily indicative of bad sales or poor decision making.
Very few people who get serious about buying coins can keep EVERYTHING they purchase, and % gains like the examples given could be had across a wide spectrum of asset classes given that duration of time. So anyone collecting nice coins (or cards, or watches, or cars, or even stocks……etc) who sells from time to time can probably point to specific items theyve bought and sold that have seen significant appreciation since selling.
I bought 2 acres in a beautiful area and held it for around 8 years. Did OK when I sold but probably would’ve done a little better in the market. The guy I sold to held it for 18 months and damn near tripled his money
Covid was a hell of a time.
That $26k invested in the stock market at the time would be $1.3-4.73 million today
So opportunity cost of the cash could have worked out much better...
I haven’t really been kicking myself for that sale, but I think it makes for a good “The big one that got away” story. Realistically, even if I hadn’t sold the coin in 1982, I likely still would have sold prior to 2009 and at a MUCH lower price than it brought in that sale.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Collectors typically overvalue their widgets and undervalue their gems
Dealers to ally overvalue their widgets and their gems
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
.
My first reaction was "OUCH!" But, then I'm thinking this was 1982 and $26,000 was REALLY a lot of money back then. Top It off you must have been a very young man and the $26,000 was probably close to your total liquid net worth if not your whole net worth..
I was into stamps those days and the stamp market was BOOMING. Do you recall your cost and how long you had that coin?
I believe that my cost was $35,000 in 1980. I bought the coin in a down market from a very sharp dealer who had paid $40,000. And the market continued to drop.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
OUCH, OUCH, and OUCH! And you still dealt in coins?
Actually, stamps fell out of bed too. I sold my then stamp collection at the top of the market in 1981 and with the money, created my kids' stock market college education fund. In the mean time I stayed away from buying any more stamps for at least five years. With the seed money. the kids ended up going to the college of their choice without financial aid, debt free.
At the time certain coins nice sale however I regret selling some that are quite a ways up there now.
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
Covid was a hell of a time.
I miss the serious money I had to spend on coins while Covid was raging.
“Never let yesterday use up too much of today.”
Will Rogers
Luka Doncic pretty much single-handedly covered me putting my oldest 2 kids in private school during the shutdown (wasn’t a fan of “virtual learning”) thanks to that absolutely insane COVID market.
We’re talking about an actual time in human history when people scurried to “invest” in basically .jpegs of gorillas smoking cigars on surf boards for upwards of $1 million.
All my coins have sold at auction, so the market dicated the prices.
But, I have oodles of regrets selling many, many coins.
Sadly yes......
Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value. Zero. Voltaire. Ebay coinbowlllc
If a project more than budget - pass.
Watch out for that cc dept.