Where in the EU can I sell Gold coins directly?

I have been trying to sell 3 Gold coins (the first one one is a duplicate, the second one will become a duplicate when I win one in better condition at an auction next month, and the third one is a modern (1926) coin that I have decided I would rather sell and spend that money on an ancient coin) here in Croatia, and so far that hasn't gone well (I have received (and rejected) offers that were based on karats per gram, not their numismatic value, and it would be insane to sell them based on that), so I would like to know where in the European Union (the closest EU countries to me are Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Austria and Germany) can I go and sell directly for example a Gold Mohur of Shah Jahan for a good price? Also, I want the money to be wired to my bank account, not a cash payment (in general I prefer cash, but since 99,9% of the coins I win at auctions and buy directly from coin dealers are won and bought outside of Zagreb, paying for them with cash is not an option).

In case anyone suggests consigning them to an auction, I have already received offers for that from coin auction houses in Croatia, Austria and the USA, but I would prefer a direct sale in the near future, so that I can spend that money at the 3 big coin auctions in the USA in January (CNG's Triton XXVIII, SBG's NYINC Showcase Auction and Stephen Album Rare Coins Auction 51).

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

If it helps, these are the Gold coins in question:

 

I think the wire part could be a hard sell. It might be different in Europe, but in the US that tends to raise red flags. The most common payment is likely paypal followed by some other online option (zelle, cashapp, venmo, etc).

Do you have a version of eBay? That would be something to try if direct sales aren't getting any interest and consigning to an auction house is off the table.

 

Why? Because I don't want to carry thousands of euros in cash needlessly from Munich to Zagreb and then waste my time by going to a bank to deposit them? It would be a red flag for me if they didn't find wiring the money acceptable, plus Croatia has very dumb laws regarding bank deposits, which is another (actually the main) reason I want the money to be wired, because then it will be in the system who the money is from and what it is for, so nobody will be able to bother me about it later.

There is no Croatian version of eBay, but I do have an account there and could sell the coins on the international version of eBay, this has occurred to me, but at least one problem is that yesterday I found out that Croatia Post, DHL Express, FedEx, UPS and DPD all have coins under "prohibited items" here in Croatia! Therefore I am not really sure how to send the coins...

While I would much prefer a direct sale, consignment is not off the table, I have offers from auction houses in Croatia, Austria and the USA, and the American one has already agreed for me to consign the coins to them if I don't sell the coins directly before the Numismata coin fair in Munich in March 2025 and I go there to consign the coins to their representatives, the Croatian one (which is owned by a coin dealer from Italy) has offered to consign the coins without any taking commission from me, so I would get the full hammer price for each coin, while they would get 20% from the buyer.

 

Bank wires between people just aren't common and there is usually no recourse if something goes wrong (although the odds of something going wrong go down if it is an in person transaction). PayPal offers buyer and seller protection (there are some downsides but many people tend to accept it).

Based on everything you have written, going with one of those auction houses sounds like your best option as it doesn't look like there are any better options.

 

I constantly wire money to coin dealers, so I don't see why it would be a problem the other way around (and I have no problem with them checking my references first if we haven't already done business before), especially since all of this would be done in person and bank wire transfers in Europe can be done with your bank's smartphone application.

Actually, there is some potentially good news, an art gallery owner here in Zagreb has expressed an interest in buying my coins, it remains to be seen whether or not we can agree on the price, but the interest is there.

 

That didn't work out either, so I have decided to give up trying to sell the coins directly here in Croatia (it is blatantly obvious that I am the only serious collector here, and I don't want to even comment on what I think of the local numismatics companies after all of this), and to go to Germany or Austria next year and either sell them or consign them there (probably with Stephen Album Rare Coins at the Numismata Munich coin fair in March).

 

I went to the Numismata coin fair in Munich today and successfully consigned all 15 coins I brought to the coin fair.

 

The auction is online, so if anyone wants to bid on my coins, you can do so here:

https://www.sarc.auction/ACHAIMENID...420-375-BC-AV-daric-8-35g-Sardes-F-_i56387779

https://www.sarc.auction/QAJAR-Agha...an-2-83g-Isfahan-AH1203-1203-AU-UNC_i56388250

https://www.sarc.auction/MUGHAL-Shah-Jahan-I-1628-1658-AV-mohur-10-91g-MM-year-15-AU-UNC_i56388397

https://www.sarc.auction/FRANCE-Napoleon-III-1852-1870-AV-100-francs-1864-A-UNC_i56388566

https://www.sarc.auction/HAMBURG-Free-Hanseatic-City-AV-20-mark-1913-J-UNC_i56388594

https://www.sarc.auction/PERU-Republic-AV-1-5-libra-1923-AU-UNC_i56388852

https://www.sarc.auction/INDONESIA-...-century-AV-1-4-massa-8-ratti-0-61g_i56390745

https://www.sarc.auction/POLAND-Republic-AV-20-zlotych-1925-w-NGC-MS63_i56388727

https://www.sarc.auction/CZECHOSLOVAKIA-Republic-AV-dukat-1926-UNC_i56388548

 

Also, if anyone here lives in Italy feel free to bid on the the coin I have consigned with an Italian coin auction house: https://nomisma-aste.bidinside.com/en/lot/22452/-macedonia-dominazione-romana-158-150-/