1940's Walkers - Sell or melt?

Hi,
I am charged with liquidating an estate. In that estate is a coin collection with about 500+ Walkers from the 1940's. No rare dates or mint errors, just plain vanilla Walkers whose condition would probably be rated Good to Fine. An example is shown below.

I can sell them on USA Coin Book (to keep the costs low). If I received gross proceeds from the auction of, maybe, $13.50, then after commissions, listing fees and mailing ($1.19 for a 1-ounce non-machinable letter) I net about $11.80. I have an account at a commercial smelter who, as of this writing with silver at $32.85 per ounce, will pay me $11.34 per coin.

I have to liquidate the coins. I could sell them on USA Coin Book in lots to reduce the hassle, but I am unsure who is going to want lots of 10, 20 or 50 1940's Walkers.

Melting them seems to be the most direct route, but I am unsure if I have missed something.

1) Have I underestimated the auction value if I sold them through USA Coin Book?
2) Would bidders really want lots of 10 to 50 plain vanilla Walkers?
3) Is there something else that I am not seeing?

Any guidance is most appreciated. Thanks!

 

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Don’t smelt them. Sell them in small lots of 10 or 20. At $11.50 ea. that would be $115 or $230 per lot of 10/20. This would be most sensible for people to afford. Stipulate shipping and insurance is the buyers duty. Patience is the key.
If you get impatient no one wins.

If there are severely damaged coins, like bent, holed or otherwise defaced, then cull them out and use your connection. Use your best judgment.

Smelting deprives everyone of the opportunity of new/young collectors the chance to own these iconic, historic half dollars. Once smelted they are gone forever. I’m guessing many of them are worth selling instead.

 

Oh man... Here I go again.... Being the collector minded fellow that I am, I sure hate to see coins going to the smelter.... But I can appreciate your dilemma. I know that I sure don't have the time available to me to list, sell, and ship 500 coins (good thing that will be my wife and kids problem)..... But I think you may be selling your Walkers just a little short. Yes the 40's era pieces are quite common but the Walkers are considered one of our most eye appealing coins and do bring better than melt even in average grades and four or five bucks a piece adds up quickly..... @AtlantaMan I don't have a better solution for you but yes, I believe your Walkers will bring a little better than melt value.

Edit... I will add this. Some years back I helped a church buddy liquidate his late fathers collection and he too had hundreds of common Walkers. My dealer buddy bought them all sight unseen and while I do not remember the deal made, I do remember it was better than melt.

 

I’d list them as lots of 20 coins, a full roll of 20 with a face value of $10.00 for $225 per roll with free shipping if they buy 3 or more rolls.

 

Many thanks for the quick and valuable guidance. I am convinced, I won't send the Walkers to the smelter. I'll sell them in lots probably on USA Coin Book.

 

Might want to see what your LCS would pay. Probably the quickest, easiest method to get rid of them.