a customer came into the bank today to offer me a *nearly* full whitman folder for 1909-1940 cents. she found it while cleaning out her father's old belongings and wants to sell. since there are only a handful missing, i'll list them here: 1909 vdb 1909-s vdb 1909-s 1911-d 1912-s 1913-s 1914-s 1914-d 1915-s 1924-s 1931-s 1932 1933-d 1937 most of the coins included are in what i would call fair condition, but many were held in by tape that has since come loose, leaving behind residue on the cents. i have a few of the cents that she was missing in my collection already, but there are a few she has that i don't. since i am not in the market of buying and selling (my collections are 99% circulation finds, so i very rarely pay more than face for anything), i'm not sure how much i should offer for a collection like this. i was thinking on the scale of $20-30? any suggestions would be much appreciated.
the 1924-d is also missing. the slot was filled by the 1937, which had worked loose. i just now noticed that.
Honestly, pass. Don't offer anything. Based on your description every coin is a problem coin and you're better off not owning them.
Unless you have or know of any kids you want to get into the hobby by introducing something like this to them, I'd say pass as well.
that's kinda what i'm leaning towards myself. i would be paying quite a bit for only a couple coins that i don't already have (although, i still don't have any 1914's or 1922's and this would fix that problem...). i don't know if i'm ready to drop $30 for those two examples, in that condition especially.
Dealers aren't even buying these at shows. I was at the local show yesterday hanging out with my main dealer, mostly because I haven't seen him since spring as he had a busy summer. He had 4 people with similar albums looking to sell. He passed on all of them, as did all the dealers.
well then, i guess my next question would be concerning good form. how does one *politely* turn down an offer? this woman is the same woman that sold me about $50 worth of junk silver for $35 just a couple months ago. honestly, i would feel guilty offering anything less than $20 or $30 for the folder, but the set isn't worth that much to me for the few pieces i would gain.
I would tell her that these are much more valuable as memories to her family of coins her father loved. She should give them to a young member to keep them in the family and maybe stoke interest in collecting. Thank her and wish her happy holidays. Lance.
$20 or $30 would be a fair retail offer for the items as described. If most of the older coins are slicks with barely visible dates it isn't worth much. Many dealers would pass or offer 2x or 3x face value.
Simply tell this woman the truth, that the coins have little commercial value and she would be better off keeping them as a memento.
wait..... you have the chance to buy a 1909 s vdb, 1909 s,1931 s, and a 1914d for a possible 30 bucks.......???????
I believe every coin can be loved by someone. I would buy it just to give it to some youngster; someone that doesn't care if a penny has a little tape residue if it could have been in Al Capone's pocket!
I know I'm resurrecting a thread that is five months old by replying to this but I'm curious, did you end up turning the lady down or did you just give her a few bucks to appease her and take the set off her hands? Also, what condition is the 1911-S in? That coin alone might have been worth the $20-$30 it would've taken to make her happy. Also, 1910-S, 1912-D, 1922-D, 1926-S, and 1931-D are worth a few bucks too if in decent condition.
i returned the set to her a couple days after this thread happened. i thought long and hard about buying it, but that time of year meant money was too tight for a poor boy like myself to be buying anything up that wasn't an xmas gift.
Yeah, maybe that's why she wanted to sell the set; for xmas money. You should've suggested she just throw it up on ebay. I bet she would've got at least 30 bucks for it. It's the kind of thing that would've made a nice present for some kid just getting into collecting. Heck, I started assembling a set of Lincolns when I was a kid, lost interest for a big chunk of my life, and didn't complete the set until I was in my late 30s. Seeing how it took me all those years to acquire some of those dates in that folder, I think some kid would've had quite a head start with that lady's set.
