Complete Sets Are Better

500Bay · June 24, 2011 10:22PM

I saw this article today on selling your coins. It had the familiar saying that "Complete Sets Are Better" when selling.
I do not believe this to be true, as the sets are broken up to be sold, and the keys are usually cherried out of them. A dealer may buy a complete set to get the keys, is selling as a complete set advantageous to the seller?

Tips on Selling Coins

BillJones · June 24, 2011 10:32PM

As a dealer I bought every coin one a one by one basis. The way one approaches the purchase of a set of coins is to look at the condition of the key dates, price them and then add something for the common pieces. The key dates were the keys the price of the set, plain and simple. If they were low grade, cleaned or damaged, that lowered the value of the set considerably.

I’ve known a few dealers to take advantage of less than savvy people or non collectors who brought coins into sell. One colleague of such a dealer once told me confidentially, “The more coins the person had in a group, the less he’d pay for the group. If the seller took that low ball offer, it was so much the better for the shop.”

ambro51 · June 24, 2011 10:35PM

I disagree. The only exception would be something 'cheap and easy' like a set of Kennedy Half Dollars or State Quarters.

The fun is in the hunt.

No two collectors have the same eye for coins and like a furnished and decorated house on the market...the set may appeal to ONE collector but NOT to another.

crypto79 · June 24, 2011 11:06PM

in an auction a known or complete set can stir interest as people compete for certain coins it pushes the rest of the coins up reciprocally while encouraging others to attempt to mimic the set.

Walkerguy21D · June 24, 2011 11:39PM

I think it depends - on the series and overall quality of the set.
A circ set of Washie's probably isn't sellable w/o the 32D and S coins included, save for some lowball offers at back of melt. But an XF-AU set of Walkers, Indian cents, or Standing Quarters lacking the keys is still very desirable, IMO. For sets like these, I would be tempted to sell the keys separately, and you could still command respectable offers for the remainder, as there are a good many coins still left that are marketable.

llafoe · June 24, 2011 11:44PM

I tried a complete set once... blonde, brunette and redhead; but I quickly learned that one was better than a complete set!

Mowgli · June 25, 2011 2:11AM

I sold a complete set of UNC Lincolns in a Dansco last year. Even though I bought the 1909-s vdb as a raw MS 62 and the 1914-D in a PCGS 62 holder, I sold the entire set based on each coin as an MS 63 but using the greysheet bid back 10%. Some of the coins were starting to spot (which is the only reason I sold them) and the cost of slabbing them was substantial so I sold them as a group. With the TPG grading inconsistencies and questionable color issues, it seemed like a wiser move to let someone else deal with that. To me it was a good deal; I have no idea if it was for the buyer.

JamesMurray · June 25, 2011 2:15AM

<< The fun is in the hunt. >>

robkool · June 25, 2011 3:18AM

I had sold a complete Dansco set of 5 cent nickels (1883 to 1964) to a fellow coin club member for a fair deal. All were different grades from a cleaned & corroded fine details 1885 liberty nickel, to a gem mint state 1950 d Jeff.

morgandollar1878 · June 25, 2011 3:29AM

The only way that I would buy a complete set, is if I liked each and every coin in the set, or if the price made up for the ones that I did not like.

BillJones · June 25, 2011 3:29AM

<< 

<< The fun is in the hunt. >>

>>

To a point ...

At the last Baltimore show I purchased this coin for my type set. It is next to last coin I need to finish, and I've been looking for it for more than a year.

When I showed to another veteran collector he was on my case for buying it because it didn’t have the multiple colors that are indicative of a totally original piece of early gold. First, I’m no sure he knew how rare this type is. Second, you can hold out for perfection, but when it’s a coin like this where at perhaps 340 examples of the type are known in all grades, including the messed up ones, there no guarantee that you will find or how much over the market the asking price might be.

The hunt can be fun, but for me ownership is even better. I know a lot collectors lose interest in something after they have finished, but I’ve owned some coins for over 35 years, and have no intention of selling them any time soon.

mrearlygold · June 25, 2011 3:56AM

What Blanchard says:

Set Building as an Investment
There is one coin collecting strategy that has also proven to be one of the most rewarding coin investing strategies over the years: set building. In fact, set building has earned profits for thousands of coin investors, as well as collectors, in prior bull markets.
Set Building as an Investment

Edited . That story is for another time

veryfine · June 25, 2011 5:15AM

<< I think it depends - on the series and overall quality of the set.
A circ set of Washie's probably isn't sellable w/o the 32D and S coins included, save for some lowball offers at back of melt. But an XF-AU set of Walkers, Indian cents, or Standing Quarters lacking the keys is still very desirable, IMO. For sets like these, I would be tempted to sell the keys separately, and you could still command respectable offers for the remainder, as there are a good many coins still left that are marketable. >>

Yes, excellent reply.

TwoSides2aCoin · June 25, 2011 6:26AM

Complete sets are great, but if they're not evenly matched coins, they can detract; and to a buyer that might mean a lesser offer. So it depends on a lot of variables. On the other hand:

"Completing a set" is best, so complete sets can be better and incomplete sets can be good.

grip · June 25, 2011 6:44AM

<< 

<< I think it depends - on the series and overall quality of the set.
A circ set of Washie's probably isn't sellable w/o the 32D and S coins included, save for some lowball offers at back of melt. But an XF-AU set of Walkers, Indian cents, or Standing Quarters lacking the keys is still very desirable, IMO. For sets like these, I would be tempted to sell the keys separately, and you could still command respectable offers for the remainder, as there are a good many coins still left that are marketable. >>

Yes, excellent reply. >>

Agree!

LeeBone · June 25, 2011 8:02AM

IDK

I`m thinking that one day when the time comes, I`ll be looking to sell my Morgan Set as a whole. How many people will be interested in it like this...can`t really say. Just need to find the right buyer who could appreciate the positives of a complete set now vs. later.

JMO

MidLifeCrisis · June 25, 2011 10:32AM

Buying a complete set deprives the collector of building a set one piece at a time with his/her personal touch.

If I owned a complete set, I would not sell it intact.

Complete Sets Are Better

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