wpatton

Hi. I am new to the forum and am definitely a coin novice. I was hoping you all could give me your knowledgeable opinion about some coins. Several years ago I inherited a set of coins from my grandmother. The set is called "The Aussie - Australia's Diversified Precious Metal Portfolio (1994)." It consists of a 2 oz. kangaroo gold coin, a 1 oz. koala platinum coin, and two 1 kilo kookaburra/Elizabeth II silver coins. The coins are very pretty. I would love to keep them but I really need the money to make a down payment on my first house.

My wife took the coins to a local dealer several weeks ago. The dealer essentially took the weight of the coins, looked up the current market prices for gold, silver, and platinum and made us an offer relative to the weight of the raw precious metal. This was somewhat confusing to me as I would think the set would have more value relative to whole collection. I obtained a copy of the Standard Catalog of World Coins (2009 version). The book lists the coins at $2000 for the proof. The current market prices for gold, silver, and platinum would make the raw metal worth about $3500. A couple of questions:

- Does the set have any true collectors value?
- Should I just use the current precious metal market prices to determine the value of the coins?
- What is the best way to sell coins like these? The two options I'm considering are the local dealers in Seattle and eBay.

Thanks in advance for your help!