Hi all, I have an opportunity to buy a small lot of Morgan Silver Dollars. To give some background on the situation. The person offering these to me is a friend that inherited these coins and they do NOT have any sentimental attachment to the coins. They are giving me first chance on the coins and has not made a specific price to me. I want to remain friends with this person after the deal is done, but also want to buy these at a reasonable price to allow me to make a profit, possibly on ebay? There are around 40 coins in this lot. Most of them are in the G to F condition, with 4 or 5 that might make EF. None of these I am asking about are key dates. Any thoughts on how to make an offer on these? Thanks Randy p.s. there are also around 20 Liberty halves in G to VG condition, around 20 Liberty quarters in G, 100+ Indian Head Cents which I have not looked at yet so I don't want to mess up before I get a chance at the cents.
I can tell you what I've done in the past and I think it works out but may not work out for you. My intent is never to sell the coins to make a profit though so I'm not sure how it would work for you. The bottom line is honesty - When I've had the chance to buy coins I tell the person flat out what they coins are worth or at least what I think they are worth based on grades etc. For common, circulated coins I would tell them what the melt value of the coins are and offer them less than you would have to pay at the shop and more than they would be offered. I always offer more than they would get if they took them in themselves which is still less than what I would be charged if I went to buy them. I explain that to the people though and encourage them to call around if they aren't sure of my offer. Personally, I'm not down with being dishonest or witholding information.
If the Morgans are all common dates, I'd check with any of the coin shops in your area to determine the average they are paying for Morgans based on melt value. I see no reason why you shouldn't offer the same to your friend. Chris
All of these are common dates, no keys in this lot. I did find 2 key dates (I don't remember what they were at the moment), but all I had with me at the time was a 2010 Red Book and the 2 keys I found were in probably G to VG condition and was not listed. He called me to come at look at them a few days ago, it was late in the evening and I thought he was wanting me make an offer that night. At nearly mid-night I discovered he just wanted me to look to see if I was interested and that I could take my time to come up with offers and money. At first I only pulled out 6 of them in F to EF and maybe 1 AU, which I may keep, but want to sell the rest. Thanks for the help!
Yacorie, that sounds like how I would like to handle it. I think is OK with me making some money and anything he gets is obviously profit, but I don't want him to feel resentful later on. As people may tell him later, Oh I would have given you more than that, why didn't you call me, etc. Chris, I would love to check at a local coin shop, but unfortunately the closest shop I have been able to find is about 3+ hours drive away from where I live. But that goes for any kind of specialty, hobby, etc in my area.
The best thing to do is to explain to your friend how the market works when it comes to selling silver coins. Show him the value of the silver coins according to PM prices for that day and offer him that price. Since most dealers would pay a dollar under spot for the coins you would be giving him a fair offer.
As protection for both parties I would recommend that you weigh each as they are purchased. Worn fakes are out there and many of them have been around for a long time. I like the idea of buying at that days spot and then you make your profit on the better items at sale. As mentioned dealers are going to buy this type of material at under spot.
Wow,where are these dealers? There are quite a few near me I have never met one that would pay more than 80% of spot,and most only pay70-75%. Even the refiner about an hour and a half drive from me only offers 85%-90% depending on how much I have. To the OP,somewhere in these numbers is a fair price for you and your friend.Personally,I would offer him about 80% of spot,if you score big on something,you could always go back and offer him more $.
If you are looking for a quick profit on well circulated common Morgans, buying LOW is a must especially if planning to sell on eBay. If the closest dealer is 3 1/2 hours away y car, make a phone call. If they do not want to quote you a sight unseen price (were you to sell that day) hang up and call another. Although I too like the idea of buying at $1 under, unless the OP is willing to hold and take the gamble that silver will rise significantly, his chances profit (from what he has told us) would most likely be slim at best. Overall I think the OP is taking a big gamble if he pays more than marginally above what other area buyer will.
Buying the coins at $1 under spot is admirable (I've never gotten anything near that in my experience), however, eBay is going to charge a commission of anywhere from 10% to 12.5% (if I'm not mistaken) on anything that is sold plus listing fees. I don't see how making a profit is feasible purchasing the coins at that price unless you can get a nice premium depending on the grade or if it's a low mintage / key date. Whenever I sell anything on eBay, I have next to nothing in it. There is simply no room left for profit if you buy your stuff a few percentage points below what you're actually going to get for it. When I was in need of quick capital and came across silver, I was often low-balled to death by the dealers, pawn shops, We Will Buy Your Gold & Silver places (they offered me 10x face on silver currency, about 50% of spot when silver was approximately $43/oz), etc. In most cases, I was offered close to 70% of spot on average. I made a very meager profit in many cases. Maybe I was getting ripped off, but I needed the money and the dealers had to pay their light bills. But, I'm strictly collecting now, so anything I buy or find gets cataloged and put in my book, so I'm not concerned with profit anymore. The history is worth more to me than anything now. At any rate, I hope you strike a deal with your friend that will benefit you both. JP
If they're all common dates and in that low of a grade range, start your offer off at 23x face and go from there. That would be a good starting offer to get the haggling going between you two. I wouldn't be offended by an offer like that myself and that is about what he would get from any B&M with the current spot price at $33.91. Good luck.
I don't know any dealer who buys at $1 under spot for any silver dollar worth melt only. At least not any dealers still in business anyway. Most dealers I know, and B&M shops, pay anywhere from $3-$4.50 under spot, with $3 being more average than not, but not a $1 under.
Looking at completed auctions on ebay for coins of similar dates and condition, most were selling on a range of $25 to $33. I have not sold anything on ebay for at least 6 maybe 8 years, but did so during ebay's earlier days, and have never sold a coin. But with listing fees, etc, to be worth the trouble for me to list an item that sells at that price I would need to buy at $15 to $18. I do not know what silver sells in my area. There are a few jewelry stores that offer to buy gold and silver and the occasional buyers that sets up in a local hotel. Someone I know took a common date Morgan in probably VG to F condition and was offered $10 for it but she kept it because it had more sentimental value to her than that. I know someone that owns one of the stores that buys silver and will ask what he usually pays for a worn silver dollar. BTW where can you the current price for silver online? Thanks for all the replies Randy
You can list on craigslist.com for free. If you're talking raw, uncertified coins. Here's a link I use for online market watching of PMs. http://www.kitco.com/market/
