Selling Coin Collection

Have a fairly large collection of coins - lots of indian head cents,
quite a few silver coins including dimes, quarters, halves and silver
dollars.

When selling for silver value of the coin, one of the dealers in my
area quotes 11X face and said that most silver coins have a collectors
value of more than that. Most of the dealers use as their valuation
source some called coin dealers guide or something similar - has
anyone heard of this? How much below Red or Blue book are the prices
in the coin dealers guide - oh it comes out weekly.

One dealer said they typically buy coins at a 20 to 25% discount.
Determining condition is very critical - if the dealer can buy it as
G4 and sell it for F12, he has made a hefty profit.

How much of a difference does size of the collection matter in terms
of what kind of a deal you can get out of the dealer. I hate getting
screwed and have the nasty feeling this is going to be a long slog -
kind of like dealing with car salesmen.

Someone in another post suggested picking out several coins of
reasonable value and see what each dealer will offer for them.

Any help would be appreciated - want to drag them out of the safe
deposit boxes - the wonderful bank raised rental fees.

Thanks

On Apr 24, 9:54*am, wrote:
Have a fairly large collection of coins - lots of indian head cents,
quite a few silver coins including dimes, quarters, halves and silver
dollars.

When selling for silver value of the coin, one of the dealers in my
area quotes 11X face and said that most silver coins have a collectors

Most dealers don't want to waste their time wading through a pile of
silver and maybe finding 2 or 3 better coins just to have you waltz
out the door and sell them elsewhere because you don't like his
offer. If you want maximum profit, learn which coins are better dates/
mintmarks and pull those out yourself and then sell the junk silver to
the highest bidder.

value of more than that. *Most of the dealers use as their valuation
source some called coin dealers guide or something similar - has
anyone heard of this? *How much below Red or Blue book are the prices
in the coin dealers guide - oh it comes out weekly.

Red or Blue book prices have nothing to do with the true value of
coins, IMO they're just good for guidance on the better dates, mints
and varieties in the various coin series.

Dealers use the Coin Dealer Newsletter as a guide for what to pay.
Honest dealers usually pay between 75% and 90% of the prices in the
CDN depending on the popularity of the specific coin. Go to www.greysheet.com
and order a set of recent CDNs if you want to get an idea of the true
value of your collection.


One dealer said they typically buy coins at a 20 to 25% discount.

Correct, then in many cases they sell them to another dealer for a 10
to 15% discount. No one wants to work for free, and keeping the
lights on in the shop is also a good thing.

Determining condition is very critical - if the dealer can buy it as
G4 and sell it for F12, he has made a hefty profit.

If it's a key date coin or better type coin it can be, but for most
common date coins that difference is usually not more than a few cents
to a couple of bucks.


How much of a difference does size of the collection matter in terms
of what kind of a deal you can get out of the dealer. *I hate getting
screwed and have the nasty feeling this is going to be a long slog -
kind of like dealing with car salesmen.

Most dealers can size up a collection as average, or nicer than
average, in a short time and price it on that basis. But you can't
expect them to go through every coin in a Buffalo, Lincoln Cent or
Mercury dime collection and pay you an extra 25 cents for every coin
that is a VG instead of a G unless the coin is a key date. That's an
excercise in brain damage, and one that I would pass on personally if
I were a dealer.


Someone in another post suggested picking out several coins of
reasonable value and see what each dealer will offer for them.

Any help would be appreciated - want to drag them out of the safe
deposit boxes - the wonderful bank raised rental fees.

Thanks

If you want to maximize your profit and let the market decide what
they're worth, then learn to how to sell on eBay and then go or it.
Be prepared for a bit of a hassle having to ship everything and deal
with the occasional deadbeat or asshole bidder, but otherwise you will
not get screwed by a dealer that way. That's the decision, maximum
profit on eBay or minimum hassle selling to a dealer. Only you can
decide which you prefer in the end.

On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:54:41 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
Have a fairly large collection of coins - lots of indian head cents,
quite a few silver coins including dimes, quarters, halves and silver
dollars.

When selling for silver value of the coin, one of the dealers in my
area quotes 11X face and said that most silver coins have a collectors
value of more than that.

Your email address implies that you're in Wisconsin - several of the
regulars here, me included, are in Wisconsin. One in Appleton, several
in Milwaukee Metro, some towards Madison, and so on. It's possible that
what you have, one of us might want.

As far as value - yes, a dealer has to pay less to keep the lights on
and pay their staff if they have a storefront. Hobbiests, like me, can
pay a better price if it's something we're looking for. If you're open
to direct sales to individuals, please say so, and I'm guessing several
folks here wil contact you.

Most of the dealers use as their valuation
source some called coin dealers guide or something similar - has
anyone heard of this? How much below Red or Blue book are the prices
in the coin dealers guide - oh it comes out weekly.

Keep in mind that the redbook or bluebook on the shelves today at the
bookstore, was printed when Silver was worth about 1/2 of what it is
today. Pretty much anything but greysheet is out of date.

http://www.coinflation.com/ will give you melt values of common dates.

One dealer said they typically buy coins at a 20 to 25% discount.

Seems reasonable - they've gotta make expenses. A private buyer,
doesn't.

Determining condition is very critical - if the dealer can buy it as
G4 and sell it for F12, he has made a hefty profit.

I deal with 2 dealers in the western parts of Milwaukee area regularly,
and I don't think either of them would undergrade coins they're buying,
especially by 2 grades. One doesn't stay in business long in this small
market by screwing your customers.

How much of a difference does size of the collection matter in terms
of what kind of a deal you can get out of the dealer. I hate getting
screwed and have the nasty feeling this is going to be a long slog -
kind of like dealing with car salesmen.

Well, keep in mind, their time is worth money too. "How much is this
worth - OK bye, thanks for the free consulting" probably happens WAY too
much to them.

If it were me, i'd buy a redbook by Yeomann, and find out which are the
key coins, and which are "junk silver". Separate those - the common
dates are probably worth melt no matter where you go, the keys are
obviously a premium.

Whatever you do please don't clean or polish them.

Someone in another post suggested picking out several coins of
reasonable value and see what each dealer will offer for them.

Not bad advice, find some keys and see what they say. If they offer you
melt for your 1932-S quarter, smile, shake their hand, and walk out.
Muttering audibly wouldn't be inappropriate.

Any help would be appreciated - want to drag them out of the safe
deposit boxes - the wonderful bank raised rental fees.


Well sure, gas prices and all or some excuse, I suppose.

On Apr 24, 5:44*pm, reality wrote:
Honest dealers usually pay between 75% and 90% of the prices...

Honest dealers = oxymoron

On Apr 24, 8:35*pm, Dave Hinz wrote:
Well sure, gas prices and all or some excuse, I suppose.

Hinz, surely even a dolt like you has heard of inflation.
But I do commend you in finally posting about something other than
your love for your killfile.

On Apr 24, 8:26*pm, RF wrote:
On Apr 24, 8:35*pm, Dave Hinz wrote:

Well sure, gas prices and all or some excuse, I suppose.

Hinz, surely even a dolt like you has heard of inflation.
But I do commend you in finally posting about something other than
your love for your killfile.

RF, you really ought to be more cautious about answering this kind of
thread.

We don't know the OP.

It sounds like he actually has valuable coins; so he likely knows more
than he is letting on.

Could just be somebody trying to tempt you into a libel or slander.

I'd pass on this thread and let fools like Hinz flap their jaws.

oly

On Apr 25, 5:46 am, oly wrote:
On Apr 24, 8:26 pm, RF wrote:

On Apr 24, 8:35 pm, Dave Hinz wrote:

Well sure, gas prices and all or some excuse, I suppose.

Hinz, surely even a dolt like you has heard of inflation.
But I do commend you in finally posting about something other than
your love for your killfile.

RF, you really ought to be more cautious about answering this kind of
thread.

We don't know the OP.

It sounds like he actually has valuable coins; so he likely knows more
than he is letting on.

Could just be somebody trying to tempt you into a libel or slander.

I'd pass on this thread and let fools like Hinz flap their jaws.

oly

Thanks for all the advice - I knew zilch when I started a couple of
days ago. Now I know this nickels are made of nickel and almost
worthless unless they have a date on them. composite half and silver
dollars are worth very little also. However I do have a lot of indian
head pennies - and a several rolls of silver coins from 10 cents to
dollars. Am getting some of the cardboard holders with plastic covers
and will pick out some of the more valuable examples from test rolls
and schlep them around to see what kind of cut the dealers are
taking.

If there are enough valuable coins - might try ebay - or something on
line.

Thanks again - I really dread getting taken by crooks - but like
anything else there are honest people as well as crooks in any
profession.

On Apr 24, 6:17*pm, RF wrote:
On Apr 24, 5:44*pm, reality wrote:

Honest dealers usually pay between 75% and 90% of the prices...

Honest dealers = oxymoron

Believe it or not, there are a few. Unfortunately for our hobby the
ratio is far higher for dishonest ones who will screw you over in a
heartbeat.

On Apr 25, 3:46*am, oly wrote:
On Apr 24, 8:26*pm, RF wrote:

On Apr 24, 8:35*pm, Dave Hinz wrote:

Well sure, gas prices and all or some excuse, I suppose.

Hinz, surely even a dolt like you has heard of inflation.
But I do commend you in finally posting about something other than
your love for your killfile.

RF, you really ought to be more cautious about answering this kind of
thread.

We don't know the OP.

It sounds like he actually has valuable coins; so he likely knows more
than he is letting on.

Could just be somebody trying to tempt you into a libel or slander.

I'd pass on this thread and let fools like Hinz flap their jaws.

oly

Considering the OPs follow up post to yours, your ridiculously foolish
jaw flapping proves that *once again* you don't know your asshole from
your piehole.

"reality" wrote in message
...
On Apr 24, 6:17 pm, RF wrote:
On Apr 24, 5:44 pm, reality wrote:

Honest dealers usually pay between 75% and 90% of the prices...

Honest dealers = oxymoron

Believe it or not, there are a few. Unfortunately for our hobby the
ratio is far higher for dishonest ones who will screw you over in a
heartbeat.

-------------------------

As often as I have badmouthed dealers in these pages, I will see your "a
few" and raise you "quite a few."

I have recently been downsizing my collection of both U.S. and world coins,
and have gotten a fair shake from almost all whom I have approached. There
was one guy who blew up in my face, calling me everything but a human being,
but most will politely say "pass" is they are not interested. Wait, that's
probably because I'm big and nervous and ugly, and have a bunch of notches
on the handle of my coin cart.

James