Selling some coins, is Heritage the best choice?
jl323
Posts: 8
Hi folks,
I’m a new member and thought I’d post my question here so the experts can give me some advice.
I have the following coins that I’d like to sell,
1) Is Heritage the best place to consign to?
2) Some coins are not graded, should I submit them to PCGS first then consign to Heritage? Or should I send them first to Heritage, let them take pictures, and then submit to PCGS for grading? For those coins that are already graded, do they crack open the case to take pictures and then resubmit them?
3) All advices are appreciated, especially those who have consigned to Heritage before.
Thanks in advance!!
1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar ANACS MS65
1882 Morgan Dollar (not graded, PF65?)
1882-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65
1883-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65 Old Green Holder
1892-CC Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1904-S Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1901-O Morgan Dollar NGC MS65 DMPL
1869-S Seated Liberty Half Dime (not graded, MS65?)
1897 Barber Quarter NGC PF-66
1906-D $10 Gold Eagle (not graded, MS64?)
1883-CC $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1897-S $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1924 $20 ST GAUDENS NGC MS65
1927 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1928 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1857 Flying Eagle Cent (not graded, MS65?)
1947 Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1950-D Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1955 Lincoln Cent "Double Die Obverse" (not graded, MS62?)
I’m a new member and thought I’d post my question here so the experts can give me some advice.
I have the following coins that I’d like to sell,
1) Is Heritage the best place to consign to?
2) Some coins are not graded, should I submit them to PCGS first then consign to Heritage? Or should I send them first to Heritage, let them take pictures, and then submit to PCGS for grading? For those coins that are already graded, do they crack open the case to take pictures and then resubmit them?
3) All advices are appreciated, especially those who have consigned to Heritage before.
Thanks in advance!!
1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar ANACS MS65
1882 Morgan Dollar (not graded, PF65?)
1882-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65
1883-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65 Old Green Holder
1892-CC Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1904-S Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1901-O Morgan Dollar NGC MS65 DMPL
1869-S Seated Liberty Half Dime (not graded, MS65?)
1897 Barber Quarter NGC PF-66
1906-D $10 Gold Eagle (not graded, MS64?)
1883-CC $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1897-S $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1924 $20 ST GAUDENS NGC MS65
1927 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1928 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1857 Flying Eagle Cent (not graded, MS65?)
1947 Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1950-D Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1955 Lincoln Cent "Double Die Obverse" (not graded, MS62?)
0
Comments
Apropos of the coin posse/aka caca: "The longer he spoke of his honor, the tighter I held to my purse."
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
<< <i>They won't take raw coins. Get those slabbed. They do pcgs, ngc, anacs, ncs, icg...hmm, sounding familiar, but that's been their m.o. all along. Contact a consignment rep first, their site has a link and names in the upper right corner of the home page. They will call you to discuss, then you ship to them, they look them over, give you an opinion on whether they are Signature or Platinum auction worthy, and if not, will put them in the online auctions or that new final session thingy. I'd recommend not doing everything in one shot, see how a few do, and if you want the Signature auction exposure, insist on it, or take your coins back. They will return your coins if you don't like their proposed auction placement. >>
Thanks for the quick reply, pharmer.
Actually I did talk to one of their consignment directors about a month ago. I wasn't sure about consignment procedure at the time, so he quoted me the selling-out-right price which is 20% off retail value (a very low retail value too in my opinion).
But how did they take picture of the coin that are already in slab? Doesn't any defect on the slab show up on the picture as well?
<< <i>Welcom to the forum !! Most I see on the list would do better on ebay. Better even if graded by PCGS or NGC. Heritage will nail you to 20% commision. Some very reputable consigners here on the board will only ask 10% or less commision.
Thanks duiguy!
With ebay, I'm concerned about 2 things
1)payment: I'm just afraid of bounced checks and reversed PayPal payments. I mean, it's a lot of money we're talking about here.
2)pictures: I'm not good at taking pictures of coins, though for raw coins, I can use PCGS Photo TrueView service when I submit them.
Do you think the increase in auction exposure justify their higher commission schedule? E.g. if I have one of the consginers who asks 10% to auction my items, but the winning bid is more than 10% lower than what I can get with Heritage, then Heritage would be better choice.
<< <i>
<< <i>Welcom to the forum !! Most I see on the list would do better on ebay. Better even if graded by PCGS or NGC. Heritage will nail you to 20% commision. Some very reputable consigners here on the board will only ask 10% or less commision.
Thanks duiguy!
With ebay, I'm concerned about 2 things
1)payment: I'm just afraid of bounced checks and reversed PayPal payments. I mean, it's a lot of money we're talking about here.
2)pictures: I'm not good at taking pictures of coins, though for raw coins, I can use PCGS Photo TrueView service when I submit them.
Do you think the increase in auction exposure justify their higher commission schedule? E.g. if I have one of the consginers who asks 10% to auction my items, but the winning bid is more than 10% lower than what I can get with Heritage, then Heritage would be better choice. >>
Pictures, consigner takes care of that.
Payment, consigner takes care of that .
Exposure, Thats why you go with someone that allready has an established reputation on ebay.
Also An experienced Ebay seller would be able to tell you what would work better on ebay and what would work better on Heritage.
PM sent.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
If you bought the coins from dealers, hopefully, you have developed relationships with some of these dealers, and trust some of them. A dealer with connections may be able to negotiate a better deal at Heritage than the standard 20%, by combining your coins with others. Of course the dealer will have to get another cut, unless you have been a very good customer over the years. Consigning the coins to a dealer, or selling to a dealer out right, is another idea to consider. A person may net out to the same or more money than sending it to Heritage or Teletrade. If the dealer is top notch, the check will be faster than an auction consignment at either Heritage or Teletrade.
There are a lot of factors. How fast do you need the money? How much leg work do you want to do? How much risk or perceived risk are you willing to stomach? Sometimes coins sold at true auction go for relatively low prices. Reserves protect against this, but takes 5% out or so with no sale. If you can make it to one of the larger shows, another idea is to sell them directly, face-to-face to dealers, or other board members. Dealer offers are typically lower than auction prices, but after commissions, shipping, other fees, a person will often come out ahead.
It doesn't seem like Heritage sells raw coins but they are authorized dealers for PCGS and NGC. I also know that they can get your coins submitted for grading if you consign them for auction sale. If you consign to them that's what they'll probably do.
If any of them end up being problem coins use NCS (a division of NGC)
Research pricing on those you aren't familiar with. List them here on the b/s/t board.
take what's left and list on ebay or have someone like Russ (a member here) sell them for you on ebay. His ebay id is Compucheap (I think) and he is highly recommended.
<< <i>Hi folks,
I’m a new member and thought I’d post my question here so the experts can give me some advice.
I have the following coins that I’d like to sell,
1) Is Heritage the best place to consign to?
2) Some coins are not graded, should I submit them to PCGS first then consign to Heritage? Or should I send them first to Heritage, let them take pictures, and then submit to PCGS for grading? For those coins that are already graded, do they crack open the case to take pictures and then resubmit them?
3) All advices are appreciated, especially those who have consigned to Heritage before.
Thanks in advance!!
1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar ANACS MS65
1882 Morgan Dollar (not graded, PF65?)
1882-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65
1883-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65 Old Green Holder
1892-CC Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1904-S Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1901-O Morgan Dollar NGC MS65 DMPL
1869-S Seated Liberty Half Dime (not graded, MS65?)
1897 Barber Quarter NGC PF-66
1906-D $10 Gold Eagle (not graded, MS64?)
1883-CC $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1897-S $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1924 $20 ST GAUDENS NGC MS65
1927 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1928 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1857 Flying Eagle Cent (not graded, MS65?)
1947 Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1950-D Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1955 Lincoln Cent "Double Die Obverse" (not graded, MS62?) >>
<< <i>Hi folks,
I’m a new member and thought I’d post my question here so the experts can give me some advice.
I have the following coins that I’d like to sell,
1) Is Heritage the best place to consign to?
2) Some coins are not graded, should I submit them to PCGS first then consign to Heritage? Or should I send them first to Heritage, let them take pictures, and then submit to PCGS for grading? For those coins that are already graded, do they crack open the case to take pictures and then resubmit them?
3) All advices are appreciated, especially those who have consigned to Heritage before.
Thanks in advance!!
1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar ANACS MS65
1882 Morgan Dollar (not graded, PF65?)
1882-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65
1883-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65 Old Green Holder
1892-CC Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1904-S Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1901-O Morgan Dollar NGC MS65 DMPL
1869-S Seated Liberty Half Dime (not graded, MS65?)
1897 Barber Quarter NGC PF-66
1906-D $10 Gold Eagle (not graded, MS64?)
1883-CC $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1897-S $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1924 $20 ST GAUDENS NGC MS65
1927 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1928 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1857 Flying Eagle Cent (not graded, MS65?)
1947 Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1950-D Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1955 Lincoln Cent "Double Die Obverse" (not graded, MS62?) >>
Your list of coins I believe would qualify for no listing fee at most of the other auction houses. I would surely contact Stacks and Goldberg if not the other two also.
You should also be able to negotiate no buy back fees.
I am completely satisfied with the prices realized from Stacks auctions (who will auction raw coins) for the last several years.
Although I receive even better terms because of the size of my consignments I think their terms for the average consignment is more favorable to the consignor.
If you feel that the size of Heritage's client base and their name recognition are worth an additional 20% over the 15% bidders will deduct from their bids to allow for buyers fees then that's the place for you to consign. Be aware your coins will have to sell for moon money to overcome these fees.
But you might as well sell to them for 20% back of market. It's less expensive and there's no surprises such as your item not selling and you being charged a 4% buy back fee.
Most any legitimate dealer who is familiar with with the ins and outs of auction practices would gain much better terms for you with a consignment fee of 5%-10%.
Good luck in whatever you decide. Dave W
David J Weygant Rare Coins website: www.djwcoin.com
1882 Morgan Dollar (not graded, PF65?)
1882-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65
1883-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65 Old Green Holder
1892-CC Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1904-S Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1901-O Morgan Dollar NGC MS65 DMPL
1869-S Seated Liberty Half Dime (not graded, MS65?)
1897 Barber Quarter NGC PF-66
1906-D $10 Gold Eagle (not graded, MS64?)
1883-CC $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1897-S $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1924 $20 ST GAUDENS NGC MS65
1927 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1928 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1857 Flying Eagle Cent (not graded, MS65?)
1947 Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1950-D Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1955 Lincoln Cent "Double Die Obverse" (not graded, MS62?)
There are some nice coins here. With some of the raw coins it does need to be determined what they are. So before consigning them or even offering them you should probably get those graded via another dealer source. That's esp true with the raw gold and type coins valued at over $1000. I hope your raw buying skills are up to par because usually when someone buys a raw $1000 coin as say MS65, it comes back BB'd or MS63-64. That's pretty typical.
Unless your graded type coins are super for the grade, you can probably get more money selling them yourself or through a 3rd party dealer on consignment at a nominal fee of 5% or less. While most charge 10%, there are excellent dealers who would be happy to sell a PF66 barber quarter and get 3-5% rather than nothing.
Competition for material is tight these days.
No reason to give up auction commission on gold coins. Once slabbed, those will bring good money at any show you attend.
Don't even bother with auctioning MS65 Saints. Those are like cash.
You should not give up even an extra 5% on those. Right now you can get $1300 for spot free saints. Why consign to an auction and get $1380 less 13% (with a 0% buyer's fee). And then wait several months to get paid once you hand the coins over. Unless you have killer looking gold in old holders or something, those should not go to auction. Spreads on 65 saints are often as low as $2% with wholesalers. Even the biggest wholesale firms work on 3-5%. Why give up 13% on something that is like cash?
CC Morgans are pretty fungible as well and should be quite saleable at most shows or through a trusted dealer for a small commission.
Ditto for the 1955/55 cent.
Good luck. There are many here who can help you with this.
Judging from what you have I'd say auction is not a good route as these coins for the most part are popular and sought after. Premiums on CC dollars, DMPL's, gold should be fairly small. But first you have to slab the remaining key coins which won't even run you $200. Don't stick these into an auction house's hands until you do at least some basic due diligence. Your coins would be quite easily saleable for strong money at most shows. The proof Barber and FE cent are a little slow at the moment. But if your coins have some nice appeal they can bring "bid" at a larger show. Low end coins are a different story. Fortunately, you don't have a lot of oddball and esoteric stuff that newer collectors tend to get saddled with.
roadrunner
<< <i>1881-S Morgan Silver Dollar ANACS MS65
1882 Morgan Dollar (not graded, PF65?)
1882-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65
1883-CC Morgan Dollar PCGS MS65 Old Green Holder
1892-CC Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1904-S Morgan Dollar (not graded, MS65?)
1901-O Morgan Dollar NGC MS65 DMPL
1869-S Seated Liberty Half Dime (not graded, MS65?)
1897 Barber Quarter NGC PF-66
1906-D $10 Gold Eagle (not graded, MS64?)
1883-CC $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1897-S $20 Gold Double Eagle (not graded, MS63?)
1924 $20 ST GAUDENS NGC MS65
1927 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1928 $20 ST GAUDENS PCGS MS65
1857 Flying Eagle Cent (not graded, MS65?)
1947 Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1950-D Lincoln Cent PCGS MS67 Red
1955 Lincoln Cent "Double Die Obverse" (not graded, MS62?)
There are some nice coins here. With some of the raw coins it does need to be determined what they are. So before consigning them or even offering them you should probably get those graded via another dealer source. That's esp true with the raw gold and type coins valued at over $1000. I hope your raw buying skills are up to par because usually when someone buys a raw $1000 coin as say MS65, it comes back BB'd or MS63-64. That's pretty typical.
Unless your graded type coins are super for the grade, you can probably get more money selling them yourself or through a 3rd party dealer on consignment at a nominal fee of 5% or less. While most charge 10%, there are excellent dealers who would be happy to sell a PF66 barber quarter and get 3-5% rather than nothing.
Competition for material is tight these days.
No reason to give up auction commission on gold coins. Once slabbed, those will bring good money at any show you attend.
Don't even bother with auctioning MS65 Saints. Those are like cash.
You should not give up even an extra 5% on those. Right now you can get $1300 for spot free saints. Why consign to an auction and get $1380 less 13% (with a 0% buyer's fee). And then wait several months to get paid once you hand the coins over. Unless you have killer looking gold in old holders or something, those should not go to auction. Spreads on 65 saints are often as low as $2% with wholesalers. Even the biggest wholesale firms work on 3-5%. Why give up 13% on something that is like cash?
CC Morgans are pretty fungible as well and should be quite saleable at most shows or through a trusted dealer for a small commission.
Ditto for the 1955/55 cent.
Good luck. There are many here who can help you with this.
Judging from what you have I'd say auction is not a good route as these coins for the most part are popular and sought after. Premiums on CC dollars, DMPL's, gold should be fairly small. But first you have to slab the remaining key coins which won't even run you $200. Don't stick these into an auction house's hands until you do at least some basic due diligence. Your coins would be quite easily saleable for strong money at most shows. The proof Barber and FE cent are a little slow at the moment. But if your coins have some nice appeal they can bring "bid" at a larger show. Low end coins are a different story. Fortunately, you don't have a lot of oddball and esoteric stuff that newer collectors tend to get saddled with.
roadrunner >>
While I agree with most of the opinions in this thread, there are still some factors that may not be readily apparent.
For a newbie to try and sell generic gold coins at a show I can only say it's not as easy to get true market value for your coins as you might believe.
One major dealer puts out a gold fax sheet listing their sell prices for that day for generic gold.
These are for the most part gold coins that are in holders reading ms 64 or ms 65 etc. Many if not most are average to low end.
They are not the same as hand selected gold coins that though generic are very high end for the grade. Yours might be of like quality.
I have had many high end generic gold coins that I have paid a premium for and when I quote a slightly higher price I have the gold fax sheet waved in my face.
Conversely I have consigned coins like this to auction and been more than pleased to see collectors and dealers pay substantially more than my reserve and a lot more than they could have bought them from me on the bourse. Most times they cover the reserve plus the buyers fee.
I can't explain why this, it just is.
Do check out the auction archives and don't accept as fact that all moon prices are the result of auction fever.
I have bid over 50% above sheet and gotten outbid by not one but several dealers.
Some of these coins are so exceptional that that they are desired at prices that far exceed the market price for that grade.
Collectors that demand only the best coins will pay more for really nice coins regardless of the grade on the holder.
Unfortunately these buyers will not be available to you as you try to hawk your coins around the bourse.
You will be limited to dealers both at tables and "roadrunners" who will only offer 10% back of the goldfax sheet prices or even less.
I do recommend that you follow the advice to have your coins graded and slabbed by one of the top tier tpgs. Dave W
David J Weygant Rare Coins website: www.djwcoin.com
That's funny Walkerman....or should I say "Goldman." The great PQ gold market you speak of ONLY exists on the auction floor. Try getting those prices from anyone the day after the auction. The underbidders are often relieved they lost the lot. They finally came to their senses after a good night's rest. Sure, get 2 so-called crackout players who both see the coin wrong and you have a game. Whose to say where those real PQ gold coins end up (10 attempts for an upgrade and then dumped into a customer's portfolio for a 20% profit to the seller).
While it is true you can take a pile of fairly fresh $20 Saints for example and see them bring a huge range of prices in auction, that is only because the shot-takers are there. It's a feeding frenzy for sure. And believe me, out of 100 possible bidders, you will always find 2 to run the price up if a coin is even the slightest bit nice. Of course this means that you are putting PQ coins into the sale to begin with. For average Saints at auction (this is most of them), they sell for around current bid or less if heavily ticked or spotted. I'm sure most slabbed gold submitters probably shake their heads that they ever got convinced to auction those pieces. Let's not forget that the auction houses like to put their own gold into the sale as well. What effect that has I'll leave to one's imagination.
Now here we have a forum member who is asking for advice on how to sell his coins, and he has some raw coins sprinkled in with huge spreads from his expected grade to the one just lower. Sounds like he doesn't know all the ins and outs of marketing/grading etc.
He came here for help so we're offering it. And being honest is part of that. What are the chances that he has PQ gold sitting in the group? One out of 50? One out of 100? It certainly depends on where he got them from, and how long he has held them. How many $20 Libs in 64 do you look at to find one worthy of paying a 30-50% premium? Maybe 50 or more coins on average?
jl323, please bring your slabbed coins to the "walkerman" and tell us of the premium above bid that he offers you. It would be enlightening I'm sure. He's basically telling you not to even waste your time to attempt to figure this out on your own. It's too hard. Sort of consdescending if you ask me.
Since I don't subscribe to "goldfax" as the player "walkerman" does I cannot speak to those buy/sell prices. All I can say, is be careful of the dealers who pay the PQ price game. For every winner you might get, you'll find 4 burials. The markups tend to be severe and often the coins are only PQ in the eyes of the buyer. Remember, that buyer beat out one other guy for that coin.....while 98 others probably saw it is as nothing special. And those monster prices for common stuff being paid at auction are mostly from shot takers, not your "buddy" coin dealer bringing home PQ prizes for his cherished customers at a lowly 5-10% markup.
I speak to the odds. And contrary to what WM says the odds of winning at auction with fairly routine stuff that is available in qty all over the bourse floor is slim to none. For every winner Walkerman consigns to auction, he fails to speak of his losers. Auctions are typically places dealer coins go to to get sold because they cannot get their hoped for price any other way. What was quite ironic in the last Stack's sale (lots of gold coins) is that the Saints that brought the most % money were the raw ones. They often brought a grade or two higher than catalogued. Yet the ones in slabs had a much tighter range. Therefore shouldn't we be telling the OP to crack out his gold and sell it raw?
As far as Walkerman's comments on buying 10% back of bid, there are a number of forum members who I have paid quite handsomely for their gold coins.....and almost always at their prices. And in some cases took some nice lumps as gold prices retreated shortly thereafter. Those prices by the way were not 10% back of any gold fax sheet....but Walkerman can dream on. Dealers are out there to make their commish with the least amount of effort possible to be able to move on to the next deal. And as a rule they aren't there to maximize the collector's profits. It's as simple as that. I recently compelted a $20K transaction with a major auction company and even with a buyer's fee of +3% (net 90%) and was disappointed with the results. I know I could have done better selling the coins on the bourse. Auctions are really meant for the coins you don't find on the bourse.....how many times has Legend pounded that same concept?
I've always dreamt of my best coins going to the auction floor yet in the past 5 years, I've only sent 2 great coins to auction.
Some others I decided to sell via the bourse. And of those 2 auction coins only one surprised me. The other brought less after commission than if I had sold it myself. And the one that surprised me was very hard to estimate it's value......hence the vital reason for auction.
roadrunner
<< <i>You will be limited to dealers both at tables and "roadrunners" who will only offer 10% back of the goldfax sheet prices or even less.
That's funny Walkerman....or should I say "Goldman." The great PQ gold market you speak of ONLY exists on the auction floor. Try getting those prices from anyone the day after the auction. Whose to say where those PQ gold coins end up (10 attempts for an upgrade and then dumped into a customer's portfolio for a 20% profit to the seller).
While it is true you can take a pile of fairly fresh $20 Saints for example and see them bring a huge range of prices in auction, that is only because the shot-takers are there. It's a feeding frenzy for sure. And believe me, out of 100 possible bidders, you will always find 2 to run the price up if a coin is even the slightest bit nice. Of course this means that you are putting PQ coins into the sale to begin with. For average Saints at auction (this is most of them), they sell for around current bid or less if heavily ticked or spotted. I'm sure most slabbed gold submitters probably shake their heads that they ever got convinced to auction those pieces. Let's not forget that the auction houses like to put their own gold into the sale as well. What effect that has I'll leave to one's imagination.
Now here we have a forum member who is asking for advice on how to sell his coins, and he has some raw coins sprinkled in with huge spreads from his expected grade to the one just lower. Sounds like he doesn't know all the ins and outs of marketing/grading etc.
He came here for help so we're offering it. And being honest is part of that. What are the chances that he has PQ gold sitting in the group? One out of 50? One out of 100? It certainly depends on where he got them from, and how long he has held them. How many $20 Libs in 64 do you look at to find one worthy of paying a 30-50% premium? Maybe 50 or more coins on average?
jl323, please bring your slabbed coins to the "walkerman" and tell us of the premium above bid that he offers you. It would be enlightening I'm sure. He's basically telling you not to even waste your time to attempt to figure this out on your own. It's too hard. Sort of consdescending if you ask me.
Since I don't subscribe to "goldfax" as the player "walkerman" does I cannot speak to those buy/sell prices. All I can say, is be careful of the dealers who pay the PQ price game. For every winner you might get, you'll find 4 burials. The markups tend to be severe and often the coins are only PQ in the eyes of the buyer. Remember, that buyer beat out one other guy for that coin.....while 98 others probably saw it is as nothing special. And those monster prices for common stuff being paid at auction are mostly from shot takers, not your "buddy" coin dealer bringing home PQ prizes for his cherished customers at a lowly 5-10% markup.
I speak to the odds. And contrary to what WM says the odds of winning at auction with fairly routine stuff that is available in qty all over the bourse floor is slim to none. For every winner Walkerman consigns to auction, he fails to speak of his losers. Auctions are typically places dealer coins go to to get sold because they cannot get their hoped for price any other way.
As far as Walkerman's comments on buying 10% back of bid, there are a number of forum members who I have paid quite handsomely for their gold coins.....and almost always at their prices. And in some cases took some nice lumps as gold prices retreated shortly thereafter. Those prices by the way were not 10% back of any gold fax sheet....but Walkerman can dream on. Dealers are out there to make their commish with the least amount of effort possible to be able to move on to the next deal. And as a rule they aren't there to maximize the collector's profits. It's as simple as that. I recently compelted a $20K transaction with a major auction company and even with a buyer's fee of +3% (net 90%) and was disappointed with the results. I know I could have done better selling the coins on the bourse. Auctions are really meant for the coins you don't find on the bourse.....how many times has Legend pounded that same concept?
roadrunner >>
Wow! I must have ticked you off by using the name roadrunner. That surely was not intended as a personal attack but only to use the common description of untabled dealers.
After reading your flame over again I can't see where we are in too much disagreement.
I don't believe I insinuated that the coins in question were a "lock" to bring premium money I distinctly said"your coins might be of like quality".
A couple of times a year I, like nearly all dealers, consign the coins in my inventory that did not sell for whatever reason.
There are some coins included that are obvious losers,especially gold coins where the market has drastically tanked.
The positive part is that there are enough coins that sell far in excess of my cost that they cover the losers.
The net result for the entire consignment has always been a net profit.
The fact you state that this only happens on the auction floor is obviously true. So what is your point other than agreeing with me that the auction venue is sometimes the most advisable route to go.
I certainly agree with you that consigning average generic coins to auction is not preferrable to selling them outright. Or perhaps on ebay.
Expecting premium prices for average stuff at auction really is dreaming and I don't recall saying anything different.
I also agree that some or even most high prices are from "shot takers and crack-out kings but again--so what?
It's the results the consignor is looking for not the whos and whys.
You can call what I described as true experiences dreaming but this is the reality that I see facing a new forum member trying to sell his coins for the best return.
His original question was "is Heritage the way to go".
I tried to give him some well intended alternatives with reasons I deemed valid.
When a new member asks for help and advice I don't think it is condescending to point out certain pitfalls that an inexperienced member might face. I believe that is why he asked for our help.
Surely you can disagree with my views without personal attacks which only serve to detract from your arguments,most of which are quite reasonable. Dave W
David J Weygant Rare Coins website: www.djwcoin.com