Where to sell

I have a 1998w Platinum proof set and 1991 American eagle gold proof set bought from the mint and kept in the original packaging. A local coin dealer told me he would buy them for one or two percent below the current scrap price. How do I find their actual worth ? Is there a reliable dealer in the New york city vicinity ?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

The big companies like APMEX are paying pretty far below spot for platinum. We certainly are not paying full spot.

 

You can only find out their true worth in an auction market such as Ebay. If it's just you and the dealer, one-on-one, he'll always try to beat the price down below the real value. This isn't the dealer's fault. They have to do this to make enough money to stay in business by maximizing the selling price and minimizing the buying price.

So the coins are probably "worth" at least what the US Mint is selling the current year proofs for. But you'll have to do some work to earn that much in a sale.

 

Thanks to you and the other posters for the education. Ebay seems to produce higher prices , but I am reluctant to try this method of selling . What is the downside of using Ebay ?

 

All bullion goes for under what the FULL melt value is. This is because dealers have to make a profit and with bullion at these levels we spend alot of money to make a little. just yesterday I bought 10 oz of gold and spent 9450. I got paid 9560. We also have to hope the spot prices don't go down or we work for nothing and some times loose money.

Right now I would be very careful with platinum because all refineries are discounting spot by $100 to $150. They are really worried that at any time South Africans could get the power back up and then the price could drop y hundreds of dollars back the the 1600 to 1700 range it was just at a few weeks ago.

 

FEES. I would advise that you sell locally. You may get a small amount more but after you factor in the Ebay and Paypal fees as well as shipping it out and hoping you don't get it back or any of the other issues you might have with the seller it is just easier and quicker to sell it locally.

Also spot could drop $200 which is only a 10% drop by the time the auction ends.

 

They will take a slice of your profit.

 

I assumed that becuase these sets were proof quality and minted in somewat limited quantities they would continue to maintain a value above melt price. Sort of a safety net of price protection. Am I wrong ?

 

Invest in gold: Buy GLD stock
Invest in silver: Buy SLV stock
You pay only $8 commission to buy or sell.
The difference between buy or sell: 0.1% or less depend on volume.

 

There are also maintenance fees in the ETF, so it depends on how long you hold. The maintenance fees will eventually outweigh the costs of buying /selling bullion.

 

Id rather have the bullion in my safe than a page on my computer that says I have bullion in THEIR safe.

 

Bo,

As others have stated, the middle man always takes a cut of the action. Companies are in business to make money and they make money by buying at wholesale and selling at retail.

A dealer can reach a larger market than an individual - thanks to advertising, name recognition and reputation that come with being in business. And a dealer has overhead costs that are paid for with the markup on items so their actual profit is less than the markup on an item.

If you have a car to sell you would not expect a car dealer to pay you full Blue Book because he has to leave room for profit when he sells the car. Sure, you could try to sell the car yourself but, while you might get more than what the dealer offered you, most people expect to pay less for a car when buying from an individual. I would think the same would apply to a bullion coin.

 

The maintenance fees is very small compared to buy or sell on the coins.
I think if you want to collect the coins that I have no objections. But if you want to buy the coins for investment, I would buy GLD or SLV. See the link how they charge the maintenance fees (I say aound 0.4% anually).
http://seekingalpha.com/article/975...ed-design-questionable-investment-slv-gld-iau

 

I hear ya Jack.

 

I agree that you should not trust a third party with your gold, silver etc. However there is a point at which you have to question how safe it is to have more than a nominal amount of gold anywhere in the USA if the shtuff hits the fan, the dollar tumbles, the government spins out of control etc. If you buy from Monex, Kitco etc. they give you the option of their storing your bullion, however who do you think the first places the government would seize gold from would be?

 

I would never expect a dealer or anyone in business not to make a profit. All answers I have received tell me what I have are bullion rather than coins that will ever have any value other than the melt value at the then current price of the metal. If this is the case then I guess I should sell them for what I am offered by a local precious metal scrap company. It's a shame to do so because the proof coins are so handsome,but I would not want to speculate on the future price of the two metals

 

Will the above sets be rarer than later versions including and up to the 2008 versions ?