Hi all - For nearly a year I've been researching a large coin collection that I inherited and have now begun selling some items. Started out with zero knowledge, but with help from Google and sites like this I've become comfortable and more confident in what I’m doing. With that being said, however, I still honestly don't know all that much and I want to be sure I don't make any foolish decisions in the selling phase. It was never my intention for the collection to be a long term asset, although I have made a nice little sub-collection for myself that will stay in the family. Everything else will find new, loving homes amongst you passionate collectors. A general question – I know it’s almost silly to ask with you not knowing what I have, but regardless, besides rare coins, what would I be most wise to save and sell in the future? Is the coin market bad for anything in particular at the moment, or good for, for that matter? A more specific question – Silver…Would it be wise to keep coins such as Morgans in the event the silver price were to inch its way back up, or is their value somewhat redundant in those regards? To put it differently – Would the value of an 1885 dollar coin in good condition be impacted by a couple dollar increase of silver? Should I have no qualms selling them at any point because there is a standard price? There is a lot of au-unc pre-64 coins and junk silver…I know the coins in poor condition are pretty much just worth their weight, but how much more value (above silver weight) do the au-unc coins have that are somewhat abundant from the '50s/'60s? After typing this out and reading it I realize it’s maybe more of an investment question than perhaps a numismatic one, but maybe someone has some wisdom they could bestow upon me...Thanks!
Some of your questions may be answered by asking your alternative uses for capital; that's not quite the same as asking if you "need" money. The coins can always be sold at some price, and we are just now beginning to break out of a two year slump in the prices of precious metals. In general, I would not hesitate to sell off "cheap" coins, but if you sell high-priced items, and a year from now the money's spent and you wonder where it went, this will drag you down mentally for years to come. I think the coin market is resilient enough to maintain itself through moderate inflation. If you have some other hobby that you are extremely knowledgeable about, and you find a once-in-a-lifetime buying opportunity in your specialty, then there's much more reason to sell coins. That's what I mean by alternative uses for capital. The final criteria would be interest rates. You sell coins, you put the money in the bank, it earns somewhere south of 2%, while real inflation substantially exceeds two percent. You hold the silver, and it only has to rise about 50 cents per ounce to make your 2%. Yes, it could revisit its lows, but you ask yourself, why are China (and Russia) buying enormous quantities of precious metals? What do they know (or think) that we don't? They know the U.S. is bankrupt, and prefer gold in hand over paper dollars in a spreadsheet. Sorry, I have not quite answered the heart of your question, above, but let this be a springboard to supplement others' numismatic viewpoints.
I might also add that summertime is not the best time to sell coins. (Except foreign, that seems to be moving quickly right now...) I might wait until the weather gets a bit colder (and people are forced to stay inside more) to sell. I'd say this: take the time it takes to do it right. Take good photos (especially for quality coins), make sure you know what you're selling, and study how others are selling their coins and being successful at it. There are a few people on here who will list your coins on eBay (I'm not the only one) and will also keep an eye out for varieties and high-grade coins, if you find you don't have the time to do it right. As far as what coins you should keep... People always say keep what you like. Keep what you enjoy looking at. Don't particularly stress about whether you think something will increase in value or not. I have a tiny hoard of coins I hope will go up in value, but if they don't, no big deal. I almost always try to keep the best quality coins I can afford to keep...because they are few and far between (and getting harder to find.) Also, make sure you advertise the coins you are selling here! Hope that helps...
Thanks for the replies fellas. In response to uses of gained capital - A large amount will go toward a business startup of mine...a risky investment for sure, but I like my chances more than I like banks. And I completely agree with keeping coins that I'm attracted to...the small collection I'm keeping for myself is full of neat and intriguing items that I wouldn't want to part with, despite value. Interesting about the seasonal aspect of selling...I've always refrained from selling anything before or directly after major holidays, but never really figured the summer would be slow. Makes sense with vacations, etc. What are some of the best venues for selling? I've used ebay for years for unrelated auctions, and have sold a number of coins already through them...I like the wide audience but not the 13%. Thought about craigslist but haven't used it yet...seems like a lot of negative variables. What else is tried and true?
CraigsList is a minefield of scammers, hackers, and jerks. However, it's free, and has unlimited space for text, as well as up to 24 images. I've sold several thousand dollars worth of junk (relatively few coins) since moving to Columbus in 2005, which happens to be one of the most active CraigsLists in the world, literally hundreds of new ads under "Collectibles" every day. I currently have about 20 ads running. There is a LOT more to know about CraigsList, but no room for details here. You do NOT let CraigsList responders come to your house the first time, or in the rare case of repeat business, even the second time. Meet at McDonald's or some such public place, with a buddy sitting a few tables away. Cash only, of course. All sales FINAL, of course. Seller does not respond to "offers," of course. You will get plenty of insults, rude comments, and nutcases, but that's part of the game; if you're resilient and thick-skinned, it's hard to beat unlimited FREE. Probably half of your responses will be bogus, mainly from Chinese and Eastern Europeans trying to get your email address, which they can sell for 7c to 10c. I'd get a new Gmail account, to be used ONLY for CraigsList; emails are now coded anyway, but it's a good idea to be able to pitch an entire account overnight. CraigsList doesn't work very well in small cities and towns. Columbus is the 30th largest city (or was) in the U.S., with a metro area over 1.5 million. You can pull up the Columbus ads to see the system at its prime. In the past year, the number of bullion ads has skyrocketed, and surprisingly, some of them are pretty good deals; I met my primary supplier on CraigsList, and he is a straight-arrow guy who has become a very good friend of mine. Beware of responses from someone who "wants to buy your item," but never mentions exactly what it is, in his email. This is once again a generic response, trying to get your email address. It looks like a buyer for sure, but...it ain't. I have only been flagged twice since Christmas, and that's pretty good, in view of how many ads I customarily run. I have had as many as 40 at one time, and the moderators don't seem to care. There's no explicit limit in the guidelines. That's a few of the points to consider. Incidentally, keep in mind that a criminal can follow you home from McDonald's and learn your address. If you're single and meeting at McDonald's with his partner, guess what? It's "safe" for a ten minute burglary, depending. Ebay is by no means a "training ground" for CraigsList. But that's why you're paying over 10% (that's still CHEAP, for the size of the clientele and the broad reach). I do not recommend CraigsList for coins until you have plenty of good experience selling junk and dealing with proles. I see desperation sellers on both CT and CraigsList, but that will change (growing numbers on CL) as economic conditions deteriorate.
The coin market is much like any other market, as a whole it goes up and it goes down. And yes, within that whole there are often specific series of coins that go up and down, and that broken down into even more specific sub-groups also go up and down. The question you are asking would require an extremely detailed analysis to answer that only a very few would even be qualified to provide. So what can the average collector do ? The answer to that is pretty simple, you look for the overall trends in the more popular areas of the market. And that gives you an idea of what is going on. The easiest place to do that is here - http://www.pcgs.com/prices/frame.aspx?type=coinindex&filename=index - Go to that page, scroll down a bit and you'll see links that will provide you with graphs for the more popular areas of the coin market. That will give you a rough idea of what is going on right now. Without knowing the specific dates/mints, and the specific grades for each, of the coins you own, there is really no way to answer that. In purely general terms Morgans are as common as dirt and a great many of them have little if any numismatic value, depending on their grades of course. And numismatic value is defined as the value over and above that of the silver content of the coins. Common date Morgans, even those graded as high as MS63, (and all lower than that of course), often sell for a small premium over and above melt. Now that was not always true, but it is true today because the price of silver is where it is. If the price of silver should go up, then the coins would correspondingly go up. If it should drop, some will drop with it, others will stay roughly where they are. Again, the answer to this varies greatly depending on date/mint/condition. But as a general rule most coins from that time period will only be worth a small premium over melt. Those of higher MS grades, with higher defined as 65 and up in most cases, will be worth more. Of course with any of what I have written above there are going to be exceptions, but exceptions do not disprove the rule. Now even with everything I have said you still aren't going to know very much unless you know common from scarce and are capable of at least rudimentary grading. And as mentioned already you also have to know what venues you should use to try and sell your coins as well as good marketing techniques. And doing this will require a great deal, and I mean a great deal, of time, effort, and work. Given all of this about the best advice I or anyone else can give you would be for you to find a trusted and respected dealer and just sell the coins to him/her outright. Not what you wanted to hear I know, but it is the truth.
