How to dispose of World Coin Collection.

For a while now I have been contemplating disposing my base-metal World coin collection. I have been building this collection for over 20 years but haven’t really added anything to it in the last couple of years. My focus has been on building a 21st Century Mexico type set and a few other specialized series. I also continue to add to my World Silver crown collection.
My hopes were that my grandsons would someday join me in the excitement of collecting world coins. However I don’t see this happening.
At this point I have not had any fire to expand the collection. The main collection at this point is over 120 different countries and over 800 different coins. I have separated a few coins from the collection that I really like and plan to keep for the future. My quandary is how to dispose of the collection. This collection is very organized. I have all the coins in 2X2s in 4 binders. World regions such as Europe, Asia, Far East, etc separate them. Each section has it’s own map and index of the coins. I have an excel spreadsheet which also list each coin with data and comments. I have spent many, many hours working on this over the years. I have come up with a few options for disposal and am asking for opinions.

1) Sell the entire collection intact on eBay or CoinTalk.
2) Sell the individual coins the same way
3) Sell the coins by countries.
4) Sell by themes
5) Just give it to the grandsons anyway.
6) Donate to a local Boy Scout Troupe.
7) Solicit ideas from my fellow CoinTalk members.


So, if you were in my situation, what would you do?

 

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Best - #3
Worst - #1 and #6
Pointless - #4 and #5

Just my opinion

 

That's a tough situation. I feel for you - I don't have grandkids, but my older son has zero interest in my coin collection and it pains me. I have tried several times to get him excited/interested but the spark just isn't there. Maybe this will change in the future, but I don't think it will.

If I were in your situation, I would try to detach myself emotionally from the set and view it as a financial transaction. Rather than worry about the set being purchased in tact as one collection, I would try to maximize the value I could get (either in whole or in parts). That probably means selling it piecemeal. I have been buying coins for the past 30 years and I never buy lots or whole collections. I buy the one coin I need or want. I suspect you will move it quicker that way vs. holding on to the whole set until you find the right buyer (might take a LONG time).

If you visit coin shows or list your coins on ebay, the popular coins (in more demand) will likely sell well. The more common coins may take longer, or maybe never sell - those you can donate to the boy scouts or whomever.

One way to involve your grandkids (if they are old enough) is to have them help you sell the coins on ebay. This involves taking pictures of the coins, typing up the descriptions, posting the info online, etc. At least it would be some way to involve them in the process.

Good luck sir.

 

LIke any decision like this OP, it depends on you really. How much time do you wish to invest in the process? What are YOUR goals? Options 1,5, and 6 minimize your time you have to deal with it. Options 2,3,and 4 most likely will increase your financial profit form the transaction, at the "cost" of your personal time. There is no "right" answer. One dealer I deal with will not touch a coin unless its worth $100. If its not worth $100 on its own, it will be sold as part of a bigger group lot. Other people spend countless hours listing $1 coins on Ebay. Neither is wrong, both just have different values on what their time is worth.

 

At this time I figure I have as much invested in time and material as I do in the actual cost of the coins. I figure that adds some value to the collection. But perhaps only to me. I am not in any real hurry to clear out the collection except maybe put the funds into what I am currently pursuing. It's just kinda sitting there taking up space. I do pull it out from time to time but haven't felt any desire to add to it. I guess that happens to all of us. Our interest shifts to other goals. Just like my U.S Type set. Once I completed it I started to upgrade it but even that is on hold while I work on other projects. I think I let my collections get too broad and diverse. Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind one of these days.

 

You sound like me in a lot of ways. I stopped buying US coins, (mostly), about 12 years ago. Yeah, I just bought an Oregon Trail a week ago, and occasionally will buy a random piece, but its very rare now. Mostly its just sitting there taking up SD space. Yeah, I could sell them but I have regretted most coins I have ever sold, so am now just a hoarder with the hopes one or both of my sons might someday want them.

 

Oh man...sounds like my collection of military trade tokens in 19 years!

Me, I would start listing the coins on eBay and putting up a link here.

 

Nothing wrong with that, but I would list four coins at a time, from a single country, as a test strategy.

 

yes, you have to factor in the costs of selling to be sure.........any coin selling for less than $2 will probably cost you money in time/effort and fees. Group the less expensive coins, by country/denomination, not by theme (this is really only important to you) and sell the better ones individually or as single coins or small select groups. Or.........hang on to them, because once they are gone, they are gone for good.

 

Lost Dutchman made this post a few mins ago. Worth looking into:

"I'm always needing inventory. If you have a coin or coins you are looking to sell... feel free to send me a PM with what you are looking to get rid of. I'll do my best to make you an offer. I am a good buyer of US and world coins and US currency, Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium.
I can provide references of folks I have done business with on the forum. Give us a shot.

Thanks!"

http://www.cointalk.com/threads/unwanted-coins-by-the-piece-or-collection.247244/

 

It sounds like your collection is really nice, but most people probably would want to do their own thing with it. If I bought your coins I'd probably take everything out and organize it the way I do things. That's just how collectors are. If you're going to sell them, either sell them individually on eBay if they are more valuable or in lots if they are less valuable. I've tried selling lots by country or just a random group of coins and I don't know if one is really better than the other. You might find someone who wants a bunch of French coins, but someone else wants a big variety.

 

I wish they were worth $25 each. That would not present a problem is how to dispose. More the .25 variety. I do have several worth $10-$50 but those are kept separate. This is the base metal collection. I would doubt that the entire collection would retail at $500. I got on a World circulation collection kick several years ago. Thinking I would collect at least 1 coin from each country. Guess what? the world got bigger. I branched off into World Silver Crowns and still collect those. From there I became interested in my Mexico type set and then to 20 Centavos and on and on and on. I guess you could say I have collections within collections.

 

Do you have many Uncs?

These might be worth more than you figure.

 

No one wants to hear that a 25 cent coin with an hour of research, placed in a flip/2x2/envelope with full ID is still a 25 cent coin and will sell for 25 cents minus handling. Handling to some dealers might be over 25 cents. I'd separate out anything worth over $10 and sell the rest as a single lot (probably to a dealer in world coins who has a pickout pot). A favorite dealer of mine has a pot of such coins at shows and allows kids to take one coin from it just for stopping by and showing interest. I looked in the pot and saw a one euro piece. That was not an accident but a way of rewarding YN's who paid attention.

I have the same problem but all the coins are ancients and several hundred of them are worth less than $10. The easy answer is to die and make it your grandsons' problem. They will not be offended by the cash value even if $100. You will be.

 

Pretty much what I have already done. Keep to best, and sell the rest. Still a nice collection. I don't plan on dying real soon and leaving a problem for anyone. Except maybe the wife.

 

The only thing I'd disagree on is selling the commons to a dealer. Any shop I've been to will give you a few cents for a handful. You can get more selling them online. Any coin older than 1950 or so can sell for a dollar even if it is common. If they're from the 1980s or 90s you will have more trouble. Put those in a big group and sell together.

 

Agreed. Most dealers consider cheap foreign minors as a time-killing, space-filling nuisance.

 

Unless you need the money, I'd advise not selling them. Just put them away for now.

eBay style selling takes a long time and there is much aggravation involved in dealing with buyers.
You might consider giving it to a friends child/grandchild or another relative who is definitely interested in collecting coins or collections of anything historical or of some value.
My own anecdotal evidence suggests that many people here in the US are not really interested in history. Historical items such as coins only mean something if there is a significant monetary value to them.

I've seen the following scenario many a times in coin shops.
Example: "These coins were my father's/grandfather's who recently passed away (ie: last week). How much are they worth?"

 

True enough - that's been posted HERE several times this year. But I notice more and more CT-er's apparently bailing out of coins because they need the money, whether they take a loss on something bought (or inherited) last week - or not.