Selling my collection

Another option would be to rent a table at a coin show and sell your coins there.

 

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As already stated, unless you have something "special" that will drive bidding on a specific coin, then this is probably the worst advice anyone can give. In fact, it is possible that neither heritage or sacks would accept the entire collection.

Lehigh is probably doing it right imo... use ebay and liquidate over time to maximize your return.

If you really "must" sell all of it in one large batch, then get ready for a bath, no kiss, no roses, and no calls after a dealer has his way with you.

Anyway, you may be able to push or even make a profit doing it like Lehigh... expect 20%-50% loss if all in one batch sale to a dealer, and potentially even worse from an auction house (again, depending on content).

I'd really recommend you PM Lehigh for advice selling over time.. and recommend you PM Doug regarding advice specific to selling an entire "LARGE" collection all at once.

 

I sold some of my collection and used a combination of personal sales to other collectors, consignment to a couple dealers, and the special stuff went to two auction. I use Goldberg auctions because they have a great large cent following and I used the EAC auction as it's a targeted auction.

I did best on coins I could sell on my own to other collectors as I did not pay a fee. Other than that, the fees were all around 15%. The dealers I used ranged between 10 and 15%, and the auction houses gave me pretty much what they hammer for, but they charge a 15% buyers fee, EAC auction was a little cheaper and the proceeds go to the club.

 

I agree.

To be fair, selling it as one lump sum to a dealer is basically wholesaling it to him. He will have costs to market these coins, and will take some time to sell them and get his money back. He is doing you a service by buying all at once, a service he is rightfully entitled to profit from.

 

Join a local coin club that hosts a show every year and buy a table or two. Some coin clubs even have cases that you can rent or use for free. Since you want to sell a lot of your coins, price them to sell. Some dealers will come to you before the doors open and want to buy from you. They will pay higher at this time than when you would you take the coins to their shop or table on another occasion. They are buying coins there that they need for their inventory. Make money but make it real and you will do well.

 

If you want to maximize the value of the collection there is no getting around the requirement for putting work into the sale of the collection. This may mean that you have to take good images, provide decent descriptions and sell the items on ebay, but in that case you could possibly sink enormous amounts of time into the sale. Alternatively, selling to a local dealer can be very quick, but if you have not done quite a bit of homework prior to the sale you may end up selling for too little. However, you would put much less effort into the sale. If the material is "stuff" that isn't individually rare or valuable and also isn't bullion then you may want to get an estimate from a local dealer or two and sell to the one you feel most comfortable dealing with. The bullion is much easier valued and you would not necessarily need this to be appraised. Good luck.

 

Thank you, I live in central CT.

 

You are getting close to the required 10 posts to list items for sale in the "For Sale/Wanted" section here. :yes:

 

Yes, I have received a lot of good advise, this seems like a good community, I just need some time to do my due diligence so that I can reduce the regret factor as much as possible. Thanks again,

 

Welcome to the forum Ericar. Instead of going to a coin dealer why don't you just post a couple of pics of your best and most valuable? That way we can help you with guesstimate pricing. :thumb:

Personally I don't take my coins to coin shops or coin dealers at coin shows. The problem with a coin shop is the guy has to make money so he's probably gonna lowball you. That has been my experience. It seems like you get fair offers on gold but anything else you're gonna get pawnshop offers. As far as coin show dealers, there's usually a huge ego trying to come at you from all sides with ridiculous offers of trading. Like part money and part trade. Some dealers think people are stupid and desperate to sell coins so be prepared to get a ridiculous offer.

 

Thanks for the welcome, I am going to be working on the collection the rest of the week and I'll take and post a few pics.

 

Ericar, i would like to mention members of a local or county coin club. Deals are usually more secure, closer to fair value and no problems with secure delivery. If you aren't a member of a local club, you might consider joining. My adult son joined mine and I feel a lot better about leaving whatever to him to sell or continue as he has their support available.

Jim

 

Thanks Jim, First I have heard mention of coin clubs, I'll have to see if there are any in my area.

 

In selling mercury dimes I went to 3 LCS. One, highly recommended, offered $1.70, the next $2.00 and the last $2.25. Needless to say the last got my business and treated me fairly on other, more valuable, coins, as well. I went to all 3 shops in one day, so the price of silver wasn't a significant variable.

Good luck.

 

Good to know, thank you.