A good online dealer for world coins?

Does anyone know any?

 

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Vcoins.com

 

High end at Northeast Numismatics - http://www.northeastcoin.com/selectinventorycategories.jsp

 

Hi eyeball, welcome to CT.

I buy most of my German stuff from this website. There is a massive amount of world coins here. It is a large group of various dealers. I am in the U.S. and haven;t had a problem yet. The prices are reasonable as well. As long you are purchasing a good amount, since shipping costs a little more.

http://mashops.de/

 

What's your price range? What's your interest?

 

joelscoins.com he is good one :yes:

 

ebay.com

 

In case the OP is gone, I sure would like to know where I can get modern bullion from Gibraltar. Some beautiful pieces with Lady Brit and Lady Europa...around $40-80.

 

I have stayed off this question wondering just how appropriate it is to give one name when there are literally hundreds of possible answers. The secret is to find the dealer that wants (not just 'tolerates') your business. I will be going to a big coin show next weekend where I will completely ignore the dealers selling coins for multiple thousand dollars each and they will be happy I walked on by. There are foreign dealers who sell perfectly interesting coins for less than $1 each. Ancient dealers start at about $5 but I know several that do not have a single coin under $500. I have favorites in the low end and friends who I wish I could patronize in the last but I always assumed the details would get me in trouble with the list management. No?

 

OK, then I guess this will work. For a beginner in ancients, I recommend Frank Robinson.
http://www.fsrcoin.com/

Frank also sells world mostly of the common and cheap variations up to $500 or so but what I always liked about him was a willingness to hold beginner hands when bidding on things you really don't understand and more or less realistic guidance on price expectations. His ancients are mostly sold by auction (and can go much higher in price for really nice items) but he has a few items at the back of his list that are available in multiples (hoards of similar coins) sold at fixed price. For example currently he is offering:

471 MILETOS, 600s BC, 1/12 Stater, S3532-33 (£65-75), lion forepart/star pattern; F-VF & well centered, good silver, toned, 39.75. Earliest cheap Greek coin.

I mention this because I agree it is the earliest coin available without selling body parts but I disagree with his listing it as 600s since I'd place it to late 6th century which is only 500's BC. Very few such errors make his lists but this is one. Quite a few offerings allow a multiple purchase at reduced price for example:

477 Gadhaiya Paisa, c.1000 AD, Sassanian style bust r/fire altar, Mitch.424; EF, good silver, excellent quality carefully selected from a hoard. (A VF brought $103, Munz Zentrum 1/12) 9.95, 3/26.95

This listing, however, includes another 'fault' if you must. Frank often quotes prices he has seen from mostly major sale listings that brought ridiculous prices. In so doing he is not suggesting that you should pay $103 for a $10 coin but that there was at least one fool who did ...OR perhaps that there was something about the $103 coin that none of us realized that caused two specialists to bump heads on the lot. Frank is first to point out that there are plenty of opportunities to overpay for coins and his records of ridiculous realizations are second to none. I will also mention that Frank does sell (clearly marked in the listings) reproductions especially of things you will not easily afford in genuine so read the listings before ordering to be sure you realize what is being sold. I'm not quite prepared to live in a time when fakes bring over $100 but real ones are $10,000 so maybe that is just a sign of the times.

63 NAXOS, Tet, Dionysos hd/naked Silenos squatting, S872, “one of the masterpieces of Greek numismatic art;” copy, struck in silver, by Slavei, EF, lt tone, a beautiful piece with great high relief detail. (Another example of this copy brought $134 in my 8/06 sale.)

He sells World coins at fixed prices rather like the back of the list ancients but included are very cheap (under $1) items and some NCLT things I'm not sure why anyone wants even at a super discount. Many items are marked with * indicating he has multiples and many of those have single or multiple pricings. As with the realizations in ancients, he will quote catalog prices in brackets to point out that you are getting a deal.

ARGENTINA
2c 1892 VF+ 1.50
5c 1906-42, 21 diff, avg F or better 3.95*
1948 UNC ($2) .99*
1949 UNC ($3) 1.45
10c 1957-59 BU, 18 pc lot: 1.60

I don't collect modern world but have hit these lists on Chinese cash which are a bit of a specialty of his. About 10% of my ancient coins purchased have been from Frank but that has been falling off a lot lately as more people discover his lists and bid the prices over my head. I am not now just recommending Frank as a cheap source of ancients but as an honest, helpful and beginner oriented dealer that has shown willingness to cultivate a long term relationship rather than just make a killing on the first coin you buy.

Who else would like to post a dealer review? I would not have felt so good about inviting you to compete with me for some of Frank's coins except that I realize that most of us are seeking very different things and Frank buys more common and popular coins than he does the esoteric things I seem to be seeking lately. Give him a try.

 

I heartily agree with the recommendation of course. Doug knows I buy from Frank and have for years.

The one clarification I would say is chinese USED to be a specialty, he sent out an email about 4 months ago saying he cannot compete anymore with domestic chinese demand, and will be exiting those sales once his stock is depleted. Its sad, as he was probably the largest source of chinese material to US collectors.

Other than that, an honest dealer, funny guy, and genuine good person. I highly recommend his first book, "Confessions of a Numismatic Fanatic" if you can find it. I reread it about once a year.

 

I'd be interested in recommendations for someone who sells world coins at affordable prices (a few dollars for low-end coins). I'd like somewhere to go where I can find that coin that I need to complete a series that isn't valuable enough for someone to put on eBay. I find that with a lot of coin sellers, their cheapest item is $50. For example, I'm looking for a few modern Greek, Irish and Mexican coins of no particular value. And I want specific coins, not just lots.

 

I certainly understand that desire but it is hard to make a business out of having 10,000 varieties in stock making sales at 25 cents each. That can be the purpose of coin shows and shops with pick out pots full of coins but that is hard to do online when postage is worth more than the coin.

 

Well, gbroke already mentioned the MA Shops website. That is the "fixed price sibling", so to say, of Muenzauktion. Both are platforms for various sellers/dealers. And of course you will also find lots of inexpensive pieces there. (Here is an example for euro and cent pieces, sorted from lowest to highest price; "play" with the language and currency settings.) But I agree with dougsmit; it costs money to have coins in stock, photograph and catalog them, etc. Also, most of the MA dealers are in Europe, so shipping to North America will make even "low-end" pieces expensive ...

Christian

 

Grandpa how come you are not promoting your favorite online dealer, even a weekly promotion would do

 

Hiddendragon

Maybe you could post what coins you are looking for on the wants list. I am sure many of us have extra modern coins that we are willing to trade or sell. Maybe even the ones you are looking for.

 

I tried that before and didn't get any bites. I'm willing to pay a few dollars for coins that are common for the convenience factor. I was just hoping since someone started this thread that maybe there were some good websites I didn't know about. Occasionally I'll buy something on eBay and when I get the coin the seller includes in the package a link to their site. I've found a few things on sites like that, but I'm always on the lookout for others.