How to sell mid grade double eagles?

It's time for me to sell a couple double eagles which is turning into a quandary.

The coins are upper AU's and low MS's and graded/slabbed by NGC.

Local coin/gold dealers treat them like bullion offer 5% below spot. And they'll just melt them like any other scrap gold. I hate the thought of this.

Selling them to a 'coin' person is problematic, too. The grades make them less desirable, and with the price of gold being so high, transactions over the internet are getting dicey.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,

Mopy

 

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Last time I sold some gold it was at a coin show not long ago. No muss, no fuss.

 

Use an auction house. They make their money on the premiums. People can be "crazy" with their willingness to bid, so getting them out online where you can possibly have thousands of bidder's eyes on them maximizes your odds of getting a good price for them. I'm on K-Bid and Hibid all the time and rarely if ever, see gold going for spot, and a lot of times going for "what are they thinking?" kind of money. Might be worth a try.

 

The trouble is the auction takes a cut of the gross selling price which leave you worse off, even with a higher price. I’d try my luck at a coin show. The certification has to be worth a premium, but not much of one. Dealer does have to make something, and will be taking a risk that gold could fall. Last I looked it was $3,434 which surprised me. It’s back up.m

 

No, the auction house makes their money off the premium they charge, which is noted up front, typically anywhere from 10-20% and that is applied to the winning bid price. Now yes, you could argue that some people would bid low taking into account the premium that gets added (that's how I do all my accumulating, bidding so the total cost (item, premium, tax, shipping) comes in under spot.) However, I make thousands of bids and actually win very few due to my methodology, so the vast majority of items go for more than 'spot'. And not to argue semantics, but if I go and bid $10 on a 90% franklin and win, I pay the $10 +"x"% premium +the taxes (if any), and the shipping (if any). None of that $10 goes anywhere but to the seller.

 

I've never sold anything but this is not always true. GC charges a 5% seller fee or 0% if it's over $1000. Heritage I can't find anything definitive on their website but forum posts indicate that it all depends on the collection. You might pay them a fee, or they might pay you over 100% of the hammer (i.e. give you a cut of their buyer's fee). The latter came from a post where the collection was $200k and they paid the seller 105%. With Stack's the "commission rate" also depends on the value and size of the collection.

 

Every auction house has different terms. It's best to study those terms and pick the service that is best for you.

 

Nobody is gonna melt them when they're in NGC slabs, more money would be made while they're slabbed especially by NGC! good luck!

 

What years and specific grades are we talking about (though for many Saints or Liberty's, a particular year will be essentially worth bullion unless it has condition rarity) ?

Have you contacted your local coin shop ? What about a coin show ?

 

I have a hard time believing anybody actually melts these. It's already a known weight and purity in an easily transacted unit. Jewelry I can understand.

 

If you list them here on the "For Sale" section at a reasonable price, you'll probably get offers. Cut out the middle man and sell them directly to the coin folks.

Otherwise, as GoldFinger suggested, a local coin shop might be a good option.

 

Unfortunately, the minimal numismatic premium on common-date AU/low MS $20s is gone.

APMEX is selling random year MS61 NGC coins for $3,466.04. 1 oz Random year Maples are $3,508.09 (on sale). 0.9675 vs 1.0 troy oz...

 

The big positive for your coins is that they are certified and therefore genuine. That is important to a collector. The negative is that there are dealers who might be selling raw ones for under melt. There is just no much room over melt left in these pieces.

 

Depends on how long they sit. Line of credit loans were running 7-8% last month. Turn it over or melt it.

 

But what does melting it get you?

 

It's not me it's the dealer who bought them & can't turn them & ties up their working capital. If you sell them to APMEX (et all) or a refiner at least you get cash quick.

 

In today's market, 5% under melt is about the going rate for any common date double eagle graded MS 63 or lower. The fact that it is graded helps for authenticity but does not change the price much (if any) when selling to a dealer (to get a little extra, you would need to sell to another collector, which has its own challenges).

An auction is a bad idea for common gold since you will net less in most cases. People know the melt value and the buyer's fee so often they will bid accordingly. Even if the final all-in price is well over melt, say $3,600 (melt is about 3,337 as of this post), but the auction has a 20% buyer's fee (like Heritage), the net to the seller will be $3,000 ($3,000*1.2 = $3,600). Selling to the dealer for 5% back of melt would net $3,170 ($3,337*.95), which is a much better outcome.

 

I like old math. Thanks.