Is a 20% premium worth it for nearly BU Franklins and Washington Quarters?

I have a local seller trying to sell several rolls of coins he says are from his grandfather's hoard. He has both Franklin half dollars and Washington quarters. He is asking $250 for a roll of Franklin half's or Washington quarters. The coins appear to be BU or the very least AU. A 20% premium in junk silver is very high but with them being in such nice condition would it be worth paying such a premium? If I buy these coins I plan to hold them for years if not decades. No plan to flip them in the near future.

Here are the pictures of the coins.

 

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I personally would purchase only the rolls of the UNC.? halves as they a coin design which many find desirable, especially in a better state condition. You should also find that the half mintage is miniscule relative to the quarters.

It has been my experience that the average "junk silver' collector would, other than Silver Dollars, prefer halves before the other denominations. The Franklins are especially desired, as it is the easiest 90% Silver coin set to collect in its' entirety.

I believe, if you do an advanced eBay search for uncirculated Franklin halves on eBay, it'l support my contention, thus:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-BU-Roll-20-1962-Franklin-Half-Dollars-/160686329606?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item2569a6cf06
:thumb:

 

Probably not for the 1/4s, especially if they are all 1964s like the picture shows.

 

20% is not bad at all for BU coinage, its high if its AU coins. AU 1960's is worth melt, unless of course you are cherrypicking for your collection.

Bottom line any coins in the 60's are only worth over melt if they are truly BU. At least it was that way when I was buying these.

Chris

 

I think $240 is a fair price for BU silver coins (but probably not AU), especially for the Franklins. Also, take a look at a Cherrypickers' Guide and check out the Type B reverse quarters from 1956 to 1964 and the Type C reverse quarter from 1964. That roll of BU quarters could be worth much more than $240. TC

 

I kind of figured it was steep for the quarters. I am going to try to negotiate several rolls of Franklins from him and see what he will do with the price.

I am checking out the Type B and C reverse for the quarters right now so I know what to look for.

 

I just spoke with the seller and he said he has several rolls of Franklins that are all pre-1960's that are in bu/au condition. He says there is good demand for them so he is sticking with his price of $250 per roll. I noticed on eBay, per imrich, that rolls of bu/au Franklins consistently sell for at least $300. I think this is a fair deal.

 

Pre 60's may be. I thought they would all be 60-63's.

 

At first that is what I thought but then I asked if he could just give me all bu/au pre-60's and he said he can.

My only hesitation is the steep premium for really nice junk silver. At $250 per roll he is asking $12.50 per coin or nearly a 21% premium. It comes out to $34.55 per ounce of silver. So that is a premium of $6 per ounce! As much as I like to get really like nice coins for my personal collection there has to be a line in the sand and I think these coins are just too steep.

I can get average circulated mercs, franklins and washingtons right at spot. I think I would be better off just getting a few tubes of these versus a few rolls of these BU/AU Franklins. Am I missing something? I really like the coins but are they worth the steep premium?

 

21% is not a "steep premium" for BU coins versus circulated coins. What you are running into is quality versus quantity. Unless you are trying to put together a VF franklin set, and have all of the coins being the same grade, I believe it is WELL worth 21% extra for about half your collection to be BU versus average circulated. BU coins in the time frame you mention have true collector value, while Vf's and the like will always be worth silver value only.

 

I just did some research and noticed that Provident Metals is currently selling AU Franklins for $12.40. You are right, he isn't asking a ridiculous price especially if most are BU and the rest are AU. I think I will pull the trigger on them. I already have a bunch of average circulated washingtons and kennedys. These will be a great addition to my collection. He claims he can get me four rolls of pre-60's.

He said some might have toning but most if not all will be BU and the rest AU. Should I not purchase the toned ones? I know some desire toned coins but does that affect the collector value negatively?

 

Actually $250 ($12.50 a coin) isn't too bad it's just short of dealer bid minus a dollar. I just sold 6 walkers to a dealer for the silver and got $80. 80 divided by 6 is $13.33 per coin. So you could even at what a dealer would pay make almost a dollar a coin. Be aware that if you are holding on to them for years or decades silver MAY once again be $10-13 dollars an ounce. That's the rub about buying silver, gold and platinum they are investment vehicles too. They are tied to the markets and market swings. So you could be holding the bag so to speak and won't get your money back when you do sell them. That's why BU's are better long term because they will hold their collector value better. Plus with all the melting going on Bu's may go way up because there will be fewer circulated coins and even some UNC's (some dealers will melt Bu's) to buy.

 

Well he had enough '52 to '59 to fill four full rolls. I am picking them up today. I am going to try to figure out a way to check a few quarters for the Type B and C reverses. If I can find enough of them for a roll I will buy them as well.

 

Eagles are going for 32 or so right now so 34 isn't bad, especially if you find a really nice one or two.

 

For MS coins it's worth the premium IMO. Worst case you buy them now and hold them until silver makes another run. In the mean time, if they are MS, I'd keep what you needed and sell the rest a few at a time.

 

If several of the BenFranklins are from the 1950's take them and run. I like the older Bens. Price wise, I am not too sure it is a good deal. Maybe make him a 10% premium offer over spot. That would be reasonable.

You can always walk away. Spot may drop a bit more in the shortterm. Anything is possible. I like older quarters, but if the majority are 1964's, I would move on at %20.

It is nice that you seem to understand what you are doing. When I started, I sure overpaid big time. I don't give those shops much business anymore. That's the price for taking advantage of someone.

 

Well I made the purchase and 78 of the 80 were from the 1950's. I tried to get him to budge on the price but he wouldn't as he already sold $60 face earlier in the day to other buyers at this price. Since he wouldn't budge I asked for all the best looking 1950's and he was kind enough to sort through them for me.

I plan to end up paying for them with some of the halves I pulled from circulation through coin roll hunting. I hope to end up getting these for face value once I sell my 40% halves for spot. I'm basically trading a bunch of 40% rolled hunted halves for 80 ms Franklins. I'll do that upgrade any day of the week.

 

Sounds like you do really will with roll searching. I am not as successful. A teller once commented to me that all the half dollars had long ago been searched. Maybe this is ture in our neck of the woods - Central/Western Kansas. All our local banks use the same coin service courier. I have a tough time locating hand or soft rolled rolls of paper. The machined rolled rollers are most common. There are no bags to speak of out here. It is not like the old days when banks used canvas bags. It's a big day when a teller pulls out a canvas bag for coins.

Congrats on your purchcase. You did well.

 

Thanks! I believe I did well too. Just for kicks I asked a coin shop what they would offer me for the Franklin's and they said at least $15 per coin and more for the BU ones. I got into silver / gold as a hedge but am finding I get far more enjoyment when I determine what I like and buy the best conditioned coins possible. This may sound odd but the hardest coins for me to find in good condition are Mercury's. I can find a few here and there but nothing in large quantaties, like several rolls.

Compared to others I am maybe average at the whole coin roll hunting. The only reason I consistently get results is I consistently search regardless of how many skunks I may experience. I am pretty consistently searching 8 to 10 half boxes and 2 to 4 dime boxes per week. I do it more as a hobby and a thrill of the hunt, as I know the time and money spent picking up and dumping coins adds up quickly. Plus my kids get in to it as well and they like finding silver in old coins.