Do the majority of LCS buy Ancient coins?

Whenever I go into an LCS with American coins (coins with at least some numismatic value) I always get an offer. Sometimes it’s fair sometimes it’s not. But it gives me the assurance that at least there is a market if I ever need to sell.

But what about Ancient coins?

If someone walked into an LCS with a graded coin from Ancient Greece or Rome do the majority of dealers you’ve dealt with make an offer?

Or do most of them have no real knowledge & no blue book or grey sheet and refuse to buy?

Just curious.

 

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My guess would be no, unless the prices are so incredibly low that the purchase would be, as my grandmother used to say, “a dead give-away.” Unlike American coins, there is no “Gray-sheet” for ancient coins. Most local coin store owners wouldn’t know a Caracalla from a Colegula.

There also the counterfeit factor. I have heard dealers who specialized in U.S. coins tell me stories of how they got stuck with fake ancient coins. Even certification might not rest their concerns.

 

Well I mean I know that NGC & PCGS don't "guarantee" anything with Ancients other than grade..

But wouldn't having a coin graded by either of those companies at least prove that it was most likely real?

Unlike a raw coin where the dealer has only his own experience, or lack of it, at least an NGC/PCGS slab proves that the graders at those companies think it's most likely real.

Afterall they wouldn't slab a coin that they believed was obviously fake.

Like if I made a homemade fake aureus of Julius Caesar and submitted it there's no way they would slab it even if they don't guarantee authenticity. They do try their best to weed out the fakes.

 

Many of these dealers don’t have the expertise or the customers to resell these coins. The best they could do would be re-sell the coins to specialist dealers. It’s not worth their while to tie up the money.

I know that when I was a dealer, I would not have bought ancient coins because I knew nothing about them then.

 

My guy is a US dealer. A while back somebody had brought him a stack of ancients. He has no idea what to do with them so he effectively hides them in his displays. I think it bothers him that he is just clueless about ancients though he is as educated as anyone on US coins. He has a program where he gives kids coins for good report cards. I am betting my bottom dollar that next week when school lets out... Those ancients will be gone and be in a youngsters collection!

 

Fair enough.

I'm guessing you'd still pay for the PMs though right?

Like a gold aureus is still 7-8 grams of gold regardless of what form it's in ancient coin or otherwise.

But anyone who sold an ancient Roman aureus for melt value kind of proves its fake by that alone since it would be insanely stupid to do with a real one.

 

I'm guessing they must be some of the cheaper Ancient coins?

I was kind of talking about the expensive stuff like the Roman gold aureus, Persian gold daric, Greek gold stater etc.,

Stuff like this definitely shouldn't be given away! xD

 

If you're an LCS owner you will have to consider the following before buying ancients from a walk in.

1. Is it real? Encapsulation helps of course.
2. Can I resell it? If there's no market, there's no point.
3. How much is a fair offer? If I don't know, how can I state a price?

Ancients will likely be accepted more readily at specialist dealers. But you have slabbed coins right? Why not ask your local dealer and find out for yourself?

 

I might buy it, if I was 100% sure it was gold, but chances are I won’t. My approach was to send them to the right dealer and not make ridiculous low ball offers.

I had a good, regular customer offer me a really ugly, certified U.S. commemorative coin. The coin, which was black as coal, had probably gone bad in the holder. I told him I didn’t like it and that he should take it to someone else. He insisted that I buy it, so I made him an offer that was below the ultra cheep, “Blue Sheet” price. He took it. I wholesaled the coin to another dealer for a tiny mark-up to rid myself of it. I did not offer it to my retail customers.

 

I think you'd almost always be better off putting it on eBay as a no-reserve auction than direct selling to a dealer, especially if you have it slabbed.

 

I would avoid US and World coin dealers who know nothing about ancients. Rather I would sell to an auction house like CNG or LEU and others. I already have received a snail mail letter from CNG offering to buy my collection for a fair price. So when (if ever) the time comes to sell I will contact them. I also have a letter in my estate file with instructions for my heirs on how to liquidate the collection should I suddenly pass on. Similarly I already have written a draft of my obituary just in case. Hopefully it will not be needed for another 30-35 years or so.

 

Interesting. What percentage of retail would you say they are offering?

 

There are a couple of options. They are willing to send a managing director to your address to analyze the collection and make a wholesale offer to purchase it in its entirety, or you have the option of sending it to them for review by Fed Ex. There also is a consignment model. I'm not sure about percentages, but I would guess it would probably be 50% or so of what they could sell it for.

 

!?!?! ><

 

...gam3rBlake...you were a pie eating dude....now you're a charming lQQkin' gal.....congrats on a very successful operation!

 

In a market this hot I would want about 75% if I had a good collection I wanted to liquidate (coins worth thousands, that is). Of course, I do not have such a collection!

 

What do those acronyms LSC and PM stand for?

 

Local coin shop, presumably. Not sure about PM.

 

Precious metal I think.

 

Does your local coin shop have ancients in stock? If so, they might make a more reasonable offer. If not, they'd just be wholesaling it elsewhere as they presumably don't have customers for it.