Picked up this nice 1891 Crown for practically nothing at a local estate/tag sale. Really like it. I love big chunky silver coins.
That's a great buy even if you paid only silver value. This is a exact reason I go to the monthly flea market in my area. Treasure hunting is super fun.
off-topic - it's actually Unfrozen Cavemen Lawyer from early 1990s SNL. I use this avatar in most other forums I frequent through the interwebs.
Quick question... Do you find a lot of coins at estate sales? I have never seen them there before, but see a lot of people (eBay for example) who buy coins from estate sales.
On ebay a lot of things SAY they are estate sale liquidations, but i don't know how many actually are. I wouldn't say I see a lot of coins at estate sales when I go, but it's always worth a look, you never know what deals you may find.
Nice get, I had a good buddy of mine find a us 1/10 oz. eagle at a yard sale junk box for a buck. Not bad. How can you not love a nice old crown?
I've been going to a lot of estate sales over the past 3 months or so, and if you're not there a day early to get a number, or you don't have an "in" with the person running the sale, you're most likely not going to get any of the good stuff. I've arrived plenty early many times, just to find out the guy right before me walked off with the entire coin collection. Disappointed, I purchase a few old Hot Wheels and license plates, then hit up any banks in the area for old bills. There is the off chance that a previous collector missed something, however. I went to a sale just last Friday that advertised a lot of coins. I arrived 15 minutes after the sale started because of work and traffic. The people running the sale told me that someone right before me bought all the silver half dollars they had (Bens and Walkers) at 15x face!!! I couldn't believe they paid that much, because I'm pretty sure they were all commons from the pictures I saw. Anyway, the guy left all the good coins...older Liberty Head Nickels, two Walkers (1916 & 1919 in G-VG), 9 large cents, silver proof sets, 1981 proof sets (that I check for Type 2s), and a bunch of Seated Liberty Dimes, among other stuff. I put together and bought almost everything left for around $380, and scored a silver Tiffany & Co. chain bracelet for the wife for $20. So sometimes it works out! =)
This is what I was wondering, if you need to get there immediately. To me, it seems like the obvious valuables should go fast but maybe other people just don't think about those as valuables. Like you'd always hear stories about people throwing out old baseball cards even when they were really big.
Yeah, from what I see, not only do you have to be there hours before the sale starts, but in some cases, the day before!