Hey all, quick question. Why do all these dealers say the silver coins are only worth there silver amount? The red book will say for example my 1915D Silver Barber quarter is worth $10, but when you bring it to a dealer they say its worth its weight in silver. Just looking for some advice why? <--- Newbie here
Because they are trying to buy for less and sell for more. They`re buying for silver value, so they can't lose. They`re selling for silver value OR for numismatic value, which is higher than silver, so they definitely can't lose.
As xGAJx says they can't pay retail, and when you take the normal discount from retail that a dealer would normally pay, you will find that that amount is not that much more than the melt value of the quarter. Also currently most of the activity at most dealerships has been in bullion, gold and silver. Since the metal market is where most of their income is coming from that's what they pay attention to. This means any money tied up in collectible coins is basically dead inactive money that could be more profitably employed in the metal market. To reduce the amount of dead money tied up dealers will pay even less for collector coins, but if they do that they reach the melt value for items like your quarter. So to them your quarter is only worth the melt value.
ebay But fees and shipping can eat into your revenue substantially. So for coins like that it often works best to sell three or four of them as a lot.
im talking if you have 100 1909 IHC, selling them one by one would realize less of a profit. But for the really high quality stuff, like a thee dollar gold piece, one by one is the best way to go. Coin collections usually realize less if its mixed with IHC Wheat cents, and wartimes, cause it's mixed. A lot of 40's nickels is better than selling 1 by 1, so it really depends.
While the eBay Paypal fees can be high, people tend to pay well over the coins melt value on that site. People are still paying well into the $30+ range for a oz of junk silver coins. You wonder what these people are thinking, but it is good for the seller. With the buyers on eBay, you should get close to melt give or take a percentage either way after fees.
Dealers have various buy/sell spreads they try to adhere to in an effort to earn a profit. The buy/sell margin is usually higher for collectible coins than it is for bullion coins. Here's an example for a collectible coin like yours: You walk into a dealer with an XF 1915D Barber quarter. Assuming the dealer isn't actively seeking that coin, he might offer you 60% of what an EF1915D Barber quarter might fetch. That way, if he's wrong on the grade, he's still going to earn some money. For a bullion coin, the spread is usually much smaller because there's generally less risk involved for the dealer. If the melt value of your coin is $4.36, he might offer 10% under spot for it, or $3.92. Or maybe he's got a lot of people willing to buy 90% silver above spot, so he might be willing to pay spot for your coin. Or maybe he'll buy it for 10% under spot and sell it for 10% over spot. It all depends on the dealer and his market. But, sometimes the two meet as in your situation. The highest price he's willing to pay for your particular coin just so happens to be based on his bullion coin pricing, and not his collectible coin pricing. Or maybe he just threw a low price out there, but he's willing to haggle a little. Whatever the case may be, welcome to CoinTalk and good luck. :thumb:
Redbook overprices nearly everything. Usually 90% silver is just worth its melt value unless it is either a key date or in uncirculated condition.
Rarely can you ever actually do that. Think about it, if you buy a coin for $10, then what makes you think you could possibly sell it for more than $10 ? Or even the same $10 that you paid for it ? A lot of people think they are getting deals or bargains when they buy a coin. But the reality is that in most cases there are far, far more people that pay too much for a coin than there are those that get a bargain. There are very, very, few bargains in coins. Can you buy a coin at a bargain price ? Sure, but not very often. It simply doesn't happen often for a couple of reasons. 1 - the person selling the coin knows what it is really worth in most cases. And he also knows that there are enough uneducated and inexperienced collectors out there that somebody will probably over-pay for it. Many dealers make their living doing exactly that. A lot of people on ebay make a living doing exactly that. And the second reason is that there are some educated buyers out there, and they watch the market very closely. So if and when any bargain does come along it is quickly snatched up and gone before you ever see it. And then just as quickly it is often put right back on the market at an increased price. On just about any coin you can buy there is an buy and sell spread somewhere between 20% to 40% - on just about every coin. What that means is that if you buy a coin and then try to sell it that you are in most cases going to take a 20% to 40% loss. That is just a fact of life. And as collectors we must, absolutely must, recognize and be aware of that. So where can sell a coin and get "full value" ? The answer is just about anyplace. But the problem is "full value" is not what you think it is.
The post above is an example of the reason not to collect coins as an investment. I buy coins that I like for the best price I can get them for at a show. I also buy a few different things from the mint that i think may be popular or just a design I like. After 30+ years I have coins that have both lost and gained in value. Many high quality certified coins have decreased in value 30 years later. To invest I buy stocks, the buy/sell spread is generally a fraction of a percent instead of 20-40%. Coins are fun and a challenge, but unless you can buy them to turn for a profit, i would go somewhere else to make money. Lack
If you have one barber quarter I would say keep it, because you can never have enough barber quarters! I will shoot from the hip on some advice for two different scenarios. 1. If you only have a couple coins you want to sell, but them on ebay. Make sure you take good pictures and give a good description of the coins condition. 2. I learned a long time ago that if you want to get in the coin trade (or any trade for that matter) you have to learn to do as the big boys do. How do you do this? Go to lots of coin shows, forums, and shops. Pretty soon you will realize that most dealers (that I know) use the grey sheets. The grey sheets are pretty standard for dealer buying and selling, which they deem as "wholesale". The grey sheets are set up as different values for conditions, then broke down for a bid price and a ask price. That being said, they all price their merchandise different according to the grey sheets and most of them buy at different margins from the grey sheets. You also have to know how to grade coins at a reasonable level to minimize mistakes. You will learn who to do business with and who not to do business with. I have dealers that I buy a lot from and sell a lot of coins to. Those dealers usually price everything to me around "bid" or "5% back of bid". I know other dealers, no matter what will always price things to me at "ask"...and I just say thanks and go on. Becoming a regular buyer/seller with a heavy dealer can be very beneficial in the long run. Long story short; to be a player in the game you have to know the game.
