How do you get the best price for a coin?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by GregH, Oct 28, 2015.

  1. fish4uinmd

    fish4uinmd Well-Known Member

    I like to purchase slabbed coins...it varies from coin to coin and what you are buying, but I use this formula...(it's a secret so don't tell anyone else)...PCGS or NGC price guide x .70 (sometimes .65) should get you in the CDN ball park. It has worked well for me with Walking Liberties. Of course, buying a copy of the latest CDN greysheet works well too.
     
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  3. tigerthecat

    tigerthecat New Member

    I avoid retail coin dealers altogether when I purchase silver. I have been pretty happy with some auctions that I'm a part of. But, not all of them are a for sure thing. When you are out to buy a specific coin you need for your collection you might have little chose but to buy from a dealer. Learning how to bargain prices would be my advice. There are books on the subject that you can get. Good Luck!
     
  4. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    You guys know this is the ancients section:cool:;):D
     
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  5. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    I think it's ok if they wander in and look at the wears. JUST DON'T TOUCH! Joking of course.
     
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  6. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    Ya. No fingerprints on the coins 'cause it will lessen the eye appeal and may not get a star. :arghh:

    Wait...:penguin:
     
  7. GregH

    GregH Well-Known Member

    What actually is a 'CDN greysheet' or a 'Walking Liberty'? I didn't understand a word lol
     
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  8. Davobenz

    Davobenz Member

    When it comes to selling, perhaps I may have some problem in getting the best price for my collection due to lack of recent selling experience.

    I sold my first collection way back in 1976 on consignment through a dealer.
    I have continually maintained good contact with him since that time, and have since built another collection, much larger than the first. The first collection included four ancient gold coins in a collection of about 100 ancient coins, and an Australian gold silver and bronze type set comprising 17 gold coins, the bronze and silver coins of the rarest date for type.


    Since 1976, I have collected World coins ancient to about 1950, and have about 200 coins, all cultures over 1,000 years old, mostly lower grades, but with a few gold coins in this period. Also have quite a few lower grade hammered and milled coins of lesser denomination since 1000 A.D., but with a small number of larger silver and smaller gold (including Indian and Islamic), to represent the period 1000 A.D. to modern times. Current collection numbers around 1,500 coins.

    My problem is that I have never sold any coin since then! That means total lack of current selling experience.
    I have however, had some unsolicited approaches from an auctioneer friend of mine to sell my current collection. The problem here is that if you sell, by definition, you are not continuing to actually build your collection. A bit like cutting off your nose despite your face!
     
  9. swamp yankee

    swamp yankee Well-Known Member

    Every barter transaction worldwide has these "low ball" types feeling you out to see if they can get something for cheep,you'll have quite a few when selling anything.Ignore them or it will get to you and move on. Best of luck!
     
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  10. red_spork

    red_spork Triumvir monetalis

    You can still sell and build your collection. I'm in the process of doing that right now actually, selling off coins that either don't fit my collecting focus or that are lower grade than I would prefer to have in my collection. So far I have had mixed success, selling a handful at profit and a few at small losses, overall breaking even, but I'm not in a huge rush to sell so I'm not too worried.
     
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  11. GregH

    GregH Well-Known Member

    So I started looking at these auctions. Silly question - why do people bid days in advance? All that could possibly achieve is inflating the price for everyone.
     
  12. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    Even though I prefer to place my bids at the last moment, I can think of a few reasons...

    a) bidder is not going to be around/awake/sober when the auction is live
    b) bidder can't trust himself to go above his max bid in the heat of a 'live' auction and so places his max bid in advance and leaves it at that
    c) bidder wants to 'mark his territory'
    d) bidder believes that the starting price is all that a coin is worth and not one increment more and wants to be the one to place that bid

    I'm sure there are others here who can think of more reasons.
     
  13. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    After losing a coin due to an auction house server crash yesterday, I'll add

    e) bidder doesn't want to risk having technical problems, or the auction house having technical problems

    I usually wait to bid in the final seconds for timed-closure auctions. For live auctions, I wait until the lot is on the block. It's risky since I often have power outages or internet lapses.
     
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  14. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    Yeah, that's kind of like an unpleasant rite of passage that keeps happening again and again... :yuck:
     
  15. GregH

    GregH Well-Known Member

    It's always been my strategy in eBay auctions to bid at the very end.

    I'm confused about some of the auction house 'estimates' - i saw a Julius Nepos tremissis estimate at 125 EUR. Holed, and scratched, otherwise ok - but no way would it sell for that low.
     
  16. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    I'd much rather have them set ridiculously low estimates than "retail" estimates. Regardless, I always check various archives and Vcoins to get an idea of a coin's value before determining how much I'm willing to spend. Well... almost always :D. Occasionally I find a last-minute target and do something stupid.
     
  17. GregH

    GregH Well-Known Member

    Yes, I did some checking myself. I came home to bid at 2:30am Saturday morning, but found the bidding was already at vcoins retail level for the lots i was watching, so I decided not to bid this time.

    I find this new avenue of coin acquisition completely overwhelming. Especially for a really disorganised person. I'm trying to get more organised with a spreadsheet schedule.
     
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  18. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    Z-Bro is 100% correct in "my" case ...... in a gallant attempt to prevent Late-Night stevex from emptying his bank account, I will post my maximum bid and then merely "look away" ... but this is only a strategy on coins that I have little chance to win (this is merely an attempt to score the coin at an acceptable price)

    NOTE => however, if I think I have a good chance of scoring a coin in my cost wheel-house, then I will do exactly what you guys mentioned => I will wait in the wings (with my bid already typed-in) and then once it hits 5 seconds remaining, I'll launch my missile!! (yah, I like to call this my Trap-door Spider)

    [​IMG]

    ... either way => it is a sweet feeling when you receive a "congrats, you've won"

    :rolleyes:
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2015
  19. GregH

    GregH Well-Known Member

    Another thing - I'm amazed at all the obstacles some auction houses create for themselves: long registration forms, references to be provided, and some reduce their pool of bidders by not accepting convenient international payment methods like Paypal. One auction house i found requires an up-front deposit before you even bid - which is a PITA, so I didn't bother to register. It's like they're living in the 80s. Do they not want customers?
     
  20. GregH

    GregH Well-Known Member

    I mean, supposing I want to sell my rare coin collection on consignment - I want to go to the auction house that gives me access to the largest number of bidders. It seems to me to be bad business to provide disincentives for customers to participate in auctions.
     
  21. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    I have only come across one or two auction houses which required an up-front deposit or credit card. It gave me pause to although I think I registered anyway.

    One auction house required more than a credit card-- they wanted rather detailed and personal financial history! It may have been a function of the credit limit being requested though (this story is from a friend).
     
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