if you had to sell your collection?

i was thinking this morning that if i ever had to sell my collection of coins and bank notes, what would their overall value be? my collection dates from 420 bc to present day, and i have a brilliant collection of UK coins from celtic to date including an example of every shilling from edward VI to 1967. also which coin would it be the hardest to sell? mine is my beautiful harold penny, a truly stunning example of this coin. or it could be my oliver cromwell shilling from 1658......

what would yours be?

 

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You would probably create more grief and self-doubt for yourself worrying about something like this. The market will ultimately determine the value. If I knew I had to sell, I would just put my entire collection into the hands of a reputable auction house and forget about it. Your worrying won't change anything.

Chris

 

it's not a worry but just a thought, i have one of the best private collections of english civil war coins which are earmarked as a bequest to my eldest grandson, and my son will most probably get what is left as he is an avid collector as well. but it was just a fleeting thought.

 

My wife knows that when I pass she should go to the local Coin Club that I am a member of and get there help in settling my coin and paper collections. We have agreed to do the same with every member who passes.

 

I will guarantee you that you would be surprised and disappointed. I have never met a collector who has disposed of a collection that didn't have some major surprises up and down. Some coins would go much higher than you thought, and others you would be disappointed with. This is why dealers frequently pay just a lump some, to avoid disappointing collectors on certain coins they think should go higher.

 

Reckon I wouldn't be too upset - nearly all the coins I bought have shot up in prices, some easily in terms of 20x.

 

I'd almost be inclined to bet that if you listed them at auction or tried to sell them to a dealer that your "20x" would be reduced substantially.

Chris

 

The overall value will change by the month, week, even by the day. It all depends on who you catch looking for what you're selling, IF they're looking. You could re-sell a coin on ebay, 5 weeks in a row, and it's doubtful it would sell for the same price twice. Would all come down to luck. One week you may have nobody looking for your auction. The next week you might have 4 people in a bidding war. Also depends on how in demand the coin is.

 

I personally have already laid out the process for the disposal of my collection with the named executor of my estate . I can't tag a definitive dollar amount on what this collection may bring, but I frequently update the current market values vs my original investment as a simple point of information for them. What happens after I am ash, is beyond my concern . The Coin Club Sale is also a reasonable consideration, which is also included as a suggestion as well as my appointed Dealer of disposition by Auction House.

 

Part of being forced to sell them is the pressing matter forcing the sale. If you *HAD* to sell then you'd probably take 10% of what you really wanted if you really had to sell it.

I do my best to grow my personal reserve funds so if tragedies strike, hopefully I can survive without having to sell my coins.

 

Same here. It gives extra incentive to save an emergency fund. The only thing I struggle with is occasionally wanting to sell something from one hobby to help support another.

 

Well I had to sell my collections of U. S. Coins and it is a very depressing feeling. If you can possibly avoid it , do so, please.

 

As to the original post I would work with a auction house like heritage. I am not sure what it would take since a lot of my coins are raw and some are low grade(not worth the grading fee). In those cases I might work with a specialized dealer for consignment. No clue what I could get for the complete collection.

Yep - do the same thing with emergency fund. I also believe on occasion you should sell some - just to get a feel for the process.

I sold a complete IHC(except for two I kept), plus a bunch of other coins - to me it felt good to sell these sets and the extras. Now I can concentrate on the other sets.

 

I just had my collection appraised. It came in at a whopping $42.

 

Its a good point about working with a dealer. I have thought about what to advise my wife if I am gone, (trust me, that will be the only way I ever sell most of my coins), and I think I will suggest working through a dealer who is a friend. I trust him to try to maximize the value for her, for a fair profit on his side.

 

most of mine would be easy to sell at melt value for the silver. i have never figured out what the "melt value" of my collection would be. most of my coins i have got for close to melt value, besides a few. i think i have around 90 silver coins, and around 200 others. and also about 400-410 foreign paper notes. something i have never thought about, but i would like to know what a total value would be on all of it.

 

My collection is mainly graded Morgans some bought a while back at good prices. At least with mine it is pretty liquid and expected prices are relatively easy to guess.

 

If I had to sell, the circumstances prompting that would dictate that I get as much as quickly as I could, without regard to profit/loss. It's all bought with disposable income, so it really is a hobby for me rather than an investment. If it gets to the point where I have to sell, it's no different than selling my golf clubs, woodworking tools etc. It would be about raising cash quickly.

As far as what to do with it when I'm gone, that's a different story. My family will deal with it. They have basic instructions but there would be no real rush to get rid of it.

 

I'm in the same general feeling of if I absolutely had to sell it, I'd be in dire need of cash and I'd take what I can get. I'd rather not post what I think the collection itself is worth on a public forum, but most of the collection at the moment is worth at least bullion silver/gold melt, and probably could carry me through 6 months' worth of full living expenses at today's prices.

Later on down the road, if I don't have to sell it, my kids will get everything (although it does make it more expensive now since I need to buy two of everything... ). What they do with it is up to them, I can only hope the hobby will still be thriving and they also inherit the collecting bug and keep it going.

 

I have been trimming down my collection. I'm taking the cash and investing it in just one or two higher quality pieces. This way it will be easier to liquidate and bring better prices. Eventually I would like to see a minimum value of $500 per coin or piece of paper currency.