Some of you may have run across the youtube video I made. Anyhow, out of the coins I inherited from my grandpa there is a small hoard of mercury dimes. Except for the 2 over 1, most are common dates are grade about F-VF. The current value of each of the mercs seems to be between 4-6 dollars. I have been seriously debating what to do with these coins. It would be great if I could sell like half of them, and put them into my favorite coins (Bust/Barber Quarter, Bust/Barber Half). I would also like to continue saving for my dream "1795 flowing hair half." I guess my question is how could I get maximum optimization on my mercury dimes? What would you do, or what has worked in the past with selling mid grade mercs? I was thinking about selling on ebay in groups of 5-10. I'd like to hold on to atleast half for future investment purposes. My worry is that if I part with them now, than the value per merc could be about 10 dollars in 5-10 years, and I would have an opportunity cost of a few thousand dollars. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. ~Jason
Tough call especially if they have any sentimental value. You may consider finding someone with the coin or coins you want and see if you can work out a trade. Selling on eBay takes time and you will incur fees that will cut into your profits. TC
I would think that if Gramps was thinking to them as collectables he would have upgraed over time so treat them like he did as bullion and hold or sell depends on where you think the silver value will go. BTW eBaying bullion is a 15% loss factor up to $50.00 so why go there unless your willing to go higher value groups to cut fees. Almost all of the furums have some sort of Buy, Sell, Trade venue to deal at closer to spot just as dealing at a Coin shop would. Also dealing with a local shop might make trading them into something you want to collect possible.
Thanks. I wondered the same thing about why he would hold on to that many mercs. I can vaguely recall when I was very young playing an antique slot machine. I remember it was a 10 c machine, that fed out mercury dimes. I'm guessing that is where they all came from. Sorry Andy, the last time I tried to PM you, my message box was messed up. I am still interested. Let me try again.
My Grandfather gave me and my brother his entire collection.....and he's still alive at 97. I've talked to him about the collection several times and he ALWAYS tells me to sell them and get the money. If I would have inherited these after his death, I would have ended up keeping everything for sentimental reasons. I'm glad he is still alive because I have sold a lot of the stuff I'm not interested in.....and I'll be selling more so I can focus on what I like collecting. My suggestion is to sell the stuff you don't collect and use the money to buy what you do collect. As a collector, I'm pretty certain your Grandfather would tell you to sell them too.
Yes, the value could go up in that time, or it could go way down. Even if it's up whats to stop you from saying, well, what if it goes up to where they're worth $20 in another 10 years? Then you'll likely hold them forever. Even if you sell at 50 cents each it's pure profit for you now and you could put it to work buying what you want. I had the same situation when my grandmother gave me an old collection that was my grandfather's brothers. I had about $400 face value in dimes and about 60 Morgans. I kept what I needed for my sets and to have a little reminder of family that had them before me, and sold the rest. But, I used every bit of that money to further my collection as I felt that was the only proper use of that money. I could have waited for silver to get to $49 dollars instead of the $12 it was at the time quite a few years ago, but that would have meant sitting on a pile of coins that wasnt working for me. In other words, if you sell high you might make more, but when you use that money to buy more coins you're buying high, so you're not coming out ahead anywhere. Guy
If I were you I'd sell them on here in lots of 5,10,15,20 etc at whatever melt is that day plus shipping. You won't incur any ebay fees that way.cody
I guess the decision should be if you care about them. When my parents gave me their collectibles which included coins. They told me to sell them only if I needed money desperately. And by the way, I just bought a few at $5 each at a store. They are going cheap on ebay and then factor in the fees as others said you won't be making much.
