Hi guys -- I have accumulated a pile of old pre-1964 American silver coins and, in an effort to cut down my collection and make it more manageable, I want to liquidate some of it. What is the best bang for my buck? I narrowed it down to a few possibilities: 1. Post it on here. 2. Put it on Ebay. 3. Take it to a pawn shop. 4. Take it to a dealer. 5. Put it on Craigslist. 6. Take it to a "Cash for Gold" place for melting. None of what I would part with has numismatic value. They are primarily '64 Kennedys, Franklins, silver Roosies and Washingtons, and maybe a handful of Barber coinage (yuck, who likes Barbers anyway). They would all grade really, really bad, maybe less than VG-10 for all by the Kennedys and EF-40 for the Kennedys. Any ideas? I'm looking for cash money, not really trades, store credit, etc etc.
1) Probably your best bet for the best return on the sale 2) you'll sell it but may take a bath on the fees and shipping 3) Worst idea 4) There are dealers out there that will pay well, close to spot. In any case you'll most likely walk out with cash in hand same-day 5) Next worst idea to a pawn shop. Plus, you gotta deal with the crazies 6) Most of these are rip-offs, you'll get a better payout from a dealer usually. These folks prey on the uninformed, and you're lucky in most cases to get 40-60% of real value YMMV, but this has been my experience so far.
Yikes, I was hoping the cash for gold places would pay at least 90% of spot, especially since they probably has a rediculous amount of metal to take to the melter. Any other opinions?
Junk Morgan and Peace dollars are the only ones I would consider selling on eBay. Sometimes they get bid up like crazy. I've sold a couple common ones for 10-15 over spot. EX- looking at a worn, roughed up 1882 Morgan on ebay going for 29+1.99 shipping with 30 minutes to go. Spot is 24.79 for a morgan.
Prime Mover's assessment is pretty accurate. I wouldn't say craigslist is the 2nd worst option, but I suppose much depends on where you live and what kind of experiences you've had. For my own selfish interests, I'd say put them up for sale here. If you're dealing with well established members, you could probably accept PayPal gift, which doesn't charge any fees. For less established members, have them foot the bill for using normal PayPal, which at least offers some limited recourse for you in the event someone tries to scam you. Another option is to let people in your network of friends and family know you have some silver coins that you are going to sell, but are letting them have first dibs. ETA: If you sell them to someone where you have to ship them, don't buy the insurance from USPS. I've never had to file a claim for coins, but I recently learned that while they're more than happy to sell you insurance on them, even if you declare them as silver coins, their insurance will not cover them if they're lost or stolen in transit. One of these days when I have the time, I'll check out UPS and FedEx to see if their insurance covers them. Even if it does, I'll still probably ship through USPS because it's hard to beat the price of the flat rate boxes.
Good question - I've been asking myself the same question. I hope we get a bunch of people to post their experience and suggestions.
If they use a credit card, yes. But they can also choose to pass that fee on to the recipient. I don't think there are any fees if it's coming from your PayPal balance or your bank account, but I could be wrong. The thing to remember with PayPal gift, once you send the money, it's gone. Any dispute the sender and recipient may have is between them and PayPal won't get involved. ETA: From the PayPal web site:
I have a friend who has a GREAT relationship with a cash for gold place, they pay melt, if you want, I can give you the name of the cash for gold and you can contact them yourself, btw, how much do you have, rolls and rolls? Or coins and coins
Silver on ebay usually goes for at least melt - but then the fees, shipping etc Those cash for gold places do not even give melt, substantially less from what I heard, at least for gold. coin dealers or jewelers may pay close to melt
I would NOT take it to a pawn shop. I would only take it to a local coin dealer if I had a good relationship with him. I think eBay is pretty good, because while the fees are high people are willing to overpay for stuff there. There is a trick to selling stuff on eBay. I have found I sell stuff successfully when I start the price at a penny and let the bidding work up. I even cover the shipping. That has a psychological effect of building interest.
I've had good results with Craigslist for selling junk and culls. Typically, get a little over (2%) spot.
At coin shows I have gotten a dollar or two over spot (about 4-10% over) on junk Morgan and Peace dollars. I believe even Apmex is paying over spot right now. Like someone wrote above, people pay WAY above spot on eBay for junk Morgan and Peace dollars. On eBay you will at least get spot, even after the fees. Maybe an advantage to selling here is that you don't have to ship to different people if you have one big buyer. Also, Craigslist is risky in high-crime parts of the country. People literally shoot others here over Craigslist items.
As has been already mentioned, sell the Morgan and Peace dollars on eBay. You'd be amazed what some people will pay for common date Morgan and Peace dollars, even in heavliy circulated condition. I've sold quite a few, and usually make over spot even with the feebay and paypal fees added in. It can be a fair amount of work to package and ship individual coins if you've got a large volume to sell, but I think you'll come out ahead of where you would if you take them to a dealer. For the other junk silver, I'd sell it on ebay as well, put it into lots of 5, 10 or even 20 coins. You'll usually get around spot after you subtract the fees. Selling them in lots will save you a lot of work over selling and shipping individual coins. The one thing eBay gives you over the other venues is exposure. Don't set a reserve, just list it and let the open bidding begin. For bullion it will always sell close to spot. In this market, usually a bit over.
I would say either post it here,or break into smaller lots and sell on ebay. Here would be my first choice,due to the fees envolved with ebay. Any of the other options you posted,and you will surely get hosed.
As a hint, some of these places offer to pay you 30% more than their usual price. Now how close to melt do you think they are?
