What do DEALERS want to buy?

Heck of an answer. You have to remember a "coin dealer" is not a universal description. You have many who simply, like Lindedad states, make their money buying cheap from uninformed owners of coins. Other dealers are specialists, who cultivate clients looking for certain coins. Those are better dealers to sell to, since they make money by building their client relationships and can pay better since they know they can move the coin.

I liken it to a car dealer. If you own a 1966 mustang, any car dealer will make you an offer. However, a classic mustang specialist is in the best position to make you a better offer, since he will already know 10 people who would be interested in owning the car.

As to the OP question as to what to own, the best way to answer that is to own what makes you happy. Baseline returns in collecting is happiness. My second thought is you want to own what dealers do not have. You have seen typical dealer inventory, tired old common coins. Its the pretty AU capped bust dimes, or a nice VF rarer style Diocletian, or any nice condition, problem free, coins that when you see them you say "Wow, I have never seen that before". THAT is what you want to own. The reason most dealers do not have them for sale is 1) the owners of these coins do not wish to sell them, and 2) if they ever do get one to sell its gone quickly. These are the coins that hold value best.

Hope that helps a little.

Chris

Edit: Btw I mean this post as no disrespect to dealers. I understand them buying a bunch of stuff they have no idea when they can ever sell leads them to have to pay less for those items. The 2000 partial date buffalos from LD was a perfect illustration. My post was only to differentiate different types of dealers, and why some can pay more for vertain coins than others.

 

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Chris and LostDutchman, sure does answer my question. Thanks!

 

how low does dealers buy? compared to fellow collector? any idea?

 

Don't despair.

It's probably not as bad as you think.

First off coin shops are primarily for buying and not for selling to. I always tell people to sell some coins or they'll get years into the hobby and find out they've got a herd of white elephants. There are virtually no coins that you can be certain of making a profit on even if they rise sharply in price while you own them. It's very easy to find coins really cheap but it's very hard to move them at retail or even at full wholesale in some cases. A collector needs to learn the market and this comes mostly from when you sell. That $50 coin that's really worth $100 isn't such a bargain if you can't find a buyer at $20.

Look at the dealer buy prices. These are found in the back of the coin papers and these are the market makers for less expensive coins. Some of these advertisers are very picky and won't take a coin even if it's a better date and higher grade if it has a problem like a rim ding or old cleaning. Be sure you have an idea of grading standards. A lot of the cheap coins moved by dealers are problem coins the wholesalers don't want.

But these aren't the bottom line in coin valuations they are just the minimum. Nice coins and better dates are just a little harder to sell. Key date coins are easily sold.

The corner shop just wants to dump coins and buy only below wholesale. But they do have good customers (good shops) and if you have coins their customers are seeking then they will stretch to buy them. Keep in mind though their customers want a good deal so they can't offer a lot even on what they can sell. Most coins just have to be shipped to the specialists who'll pay more or sold on eBay. The market is always OK even on the hardest to sell coins but these prices can be low or high depending on the state of the overall market.

Right now what's selling is expensive coins whether rare or high grade. There are still some pockets of strenght in the sorts of coins beginners seek and in traditional "collector coins" like nice bust. Just go with the market and try to remember every dog has its day. Get rid of losers and avoid problem coins unless the price is highly favorable. Collectors need a lot of patience.

 

Depends if they are an ethical dealer or a scumbag. There is no one rule of thumb, it really depends on the dealer. This is why it's always good to go to a few different dealers before deciding who to sell to.

 

This sounds pretty close.

But will add that if you have a very large quantity of something, even if it's common, a dealer might buy it at a favorable price just to ship it to a wholesaler. Of course anyone who has a quantity of something like full date buffs probably already knows the biggest buyer so will ship it himself. A dealer can't easily sell a roll or two of buffs but can ship a hundred rolls with just a little effort.

 

A lot of coins are a waste of time to even offer to a dealer. They won't make fair offers on common low value coins because they get these in in far larger quantities than they can sell at very low prices.

 

GDJMSP, practical advice in the school of hard-knocks.

Wow, that's depressing. So even if I DO bring in something dealers will take, really can't expect much :-(

So to buy something that can be sold, what you're basically saying is for the common, newer coins, go down the list of any coin and pick out the few rare dates that are priced significantly higher than the others? Sounds like a good starting point.

That MS 67 1909 SVDB red was said to be in NGC holder from the 60's or 70's FWIW.

So even though it is "worth" $50, it's actually worth nothing because "nobody" wants it.
Also is there ANY modern(19th century) coin valued at $100-$400 that is really considered valuable or rare? There are the error coins and super high grade MS 69's but that's all I can come up with.

I got inspired by Chris and had a few thoughts:

1) Contrary to Art and Coin TV with Rick Tomaska, I would rather pay double the money for a capped bust dime from AU to UNC than a Franklin grade 68 vs. 69. The differences would be more obvious.
2) I think the really old coins (pre-1840) are RARE and the modern high, high, grade are sort of fabricated rarity. Nothing wrong with buying what you like, but IMHO I saw the small date, etc. craze in the 70's and then they went down. But the old stuff seems more stable. That's why I am cautious about spending $200 on a 1995 double die cent vs. $400+ for the capped bust dime.
3) There is the thought of a bright, shiny, 1909VDB which is common but looks nice vs. a comparable price Indian cent which has less eye appeal. Which would be easier to sell?

​

 

Yes of course. But the kind of people are out there that will offer $200 on a $1,000 coin or small group of coins. And, when you start walking out they say "OK! $300, but that's tops." Always best to get third and fourth opinions. You may be surprised at how wide the range of offers can be for the same coin or coins.

 

That would be a good trick considering NGC didn't open their doors until 1987.

They may not be prices you like but that doesn't mean they aren't fair offers. Common low value coins do come in is large quantities so the only fair offer IS a lowball price because their money is going to be tied up forever, or they're are going to have to blow them out to a wholesaler who is also being offered a whole lot of them as well.

 

Sorry, but every dealer in a brick and mortar carries a ton of overhead. Everyone I have had make an offer on a coin, came in way to low for me to sell. But with an offer to buy, I got a free verification. What's "fair value" to a dealer, might not be "fair value" to an enthusiast. IMHO

gary