Hi Guys, I haven't posted for a while. I asked some questions a few months ago and got some wonderful responses. CoinTalk people must be the friendliest on the planet. Anyway, in those earlier posts, I talked about some coins my grandfather left me. I loved him very much, but I'm not the coin aficionado he was. They simply sit in a box in my closet. As he was an antique dealer by trade, I have quite a few other things to remember him by and, frankly, I need the money (sorry to say, but true... anyone who has been a victim of this economy can relate). Anyway, I thought about selling them myself, one by one, but with two small kids, that's unrealistic. So, I visited a local coin dealer. He offered me $980 for the lot and I want to be sure that's fair (trust me, I don't begrudge the man a profit, but if it's a 500% profit that would upset me, if you know what I mean). The man seemed quite nice and says he does half a mil to a million a month in coins. He said he'd probably have the whole lot out of his hands in a month for about $1,070. When I said that's not much of a profit, he said making 1% on a million dollar volume is fine for him. I realize there are lots of different grades and things, so I'm not asking for an in-depth analysis. But if there are any experts out there who could scan the list and give me a gut reaction... seems fair or run the other way... I would appreciate it. Thanks all!' (See list below.) P.S. If I wanted to keep one or two for sentiment which would you suggest? Tube of 20 Franklin halves 1955 P Tube of 20 Franklin halves 1957 Two 1921 Mercury dimes 1889 50cent Silver piece from Spain (1/2 million minted) 1949 P Franklin half AU 1951 S Franklin half 1949 S Franklin half 1918 S Standing Liberty EF 1918 P Standing LIberty VF 1918 S Standing Liberty 1918 D Standing Liberty VF Two 1920 P Standing Liberty 1927 S Standing Liberty 1928 P Standing Liberty Two 1929 P Standing Liberty 1930 P Standing Liberty Two 1930 S Standing Liberty 1932 P Quarter 1936 P Quarter 1936 D Quarter 1955 D Quarter Walking Liberties, 1921, 1934, 1934S, 1935, three 1937, two 1938, three 1939, 1939D BU, 1940, five 1941, 1941 Unc, 1942, three 1943, two 1945, 1944, 1946, 1947 Indian head nickel 1938 Can't remember what these are called the dollar with the lady's head and spiky crown 1922, 1924,1935P AU, And, dollar with the lady's head with wreath: four 1880, 1883 S, 1884, two 1896, 1897U, two 1921, Nickels: 1942 D, two 1950D BU, 1950D, Lincoln pennies: two 1909 VDB Unc, 1910S, 1911S, 1912S, 1913S, 1931 P AU, Indian head pennies: 1882, two 1889, 1898, two 1901, 1904, 1905 Two MS California Gold Tokens 1/4 1853 and 1/2 1858 Thank you again!
What condition are the 1921 Merc dimes in? Those are key dates and can be worth some real money in higher grades. I'd ask someone you trust to grade those, or you could post a photo. Same with the 1883S morgan dollar, "lady's head with wreath" Other than that, it's almost impossible to make an accurate assessment of the value of your collection without knowing the condition of your coins. Condition of coins directly impacts their value and price.
Yeah if possible post pics of the collection. It would help you greatly here. Heck you might even get a few offers if you wanted to sell them on here first. Also with morgans & peace dollars you have to look out for VAM's. I dont know much about them but many here can.
you are getting low balled on the coins he is giving you the price of the silver alone. I would find a local coin club and have them give you a value you are getting ripped off. Ice
If the 1883-S Morgan is in uncirculated condition (MS), it could be worth about 3/4ths of what that dealer offered you. Are the two tubes of Franklin half dollars circulated or uncirculated? If they are low-grade circulated, their melt value alone is about $250. Right there, you have two items that could be worth what he is offering for everything. We'd really need more information and photos, but I wouldn't rush into a sale with that dealer until you learn more about what you have. Personally, I wouldn't buy his story about how much he sells monthly and how much he makes off of it. It just doesn't "ring true" that a dealer would divulge that kind of information about his business to a complete stranger. It sounds too much like a pressure tactic to get you to sell, and his "numbers" probably aren't true if that is the case. Chris
Shop around. Take it to 5-7 dealers before you even think about selling. I would think that collection is definitely worth a bit more than $1k, though. Post some pics here, as others said, you may get offers on the coins from members here, and most people here with a decent amount of posts are rather trustworthy. BTW, he definitely isn't moving a million dollars in merch for a 1% markup... that's only $10k. His markup is probably closer to 25% or so.
I completely agree what he told you was smoke and mirrors. I feel his offer, depending on the condition of your coins, is way too low.
Agreed. Shop around more - sounds like you have a nice little collection there and would probably do better putting it up on Ebay even with the fees.
Or even put pictures together and post it in open forum here. You could say best offer posted on the thread in the next 5 days or something. Unless that is against the rules.
If he really said "making 1% on a million dollar volume is fine for him" then I wouldn't trust him. That's just stupid talk. You might do better to separate some of the better date coins that others have mentioned, out from the rest and deal with those separately. Especially so if those better date coins are in uncirculated condition. The more common date ones, particularly if they're well circulated, I'd be ok with taking melt on them. In that case you just want to educate yourself what each is worth for its weight in bullion. And, do shop around.
It certainly isn't against any rules that I am aware of, and that's exactly how I plan to sell most of my dad's ancients that he wants to get rid of.
Actually, it is against the rules to conduct business in a discussion thread. If you want to sell, you can post in the proper section.
Welcome back young lady! The gold tokens in mint state condition could be worth the most if they're actually genuine. Someone suggested you go to a nearby coin club and see what they say. At most coin clubs you could even become a member after a couple of vistits and sell your coins at auction, that's how my coin club works. Anyways, best to run from that dealer!! Fast!! Good luck!!
Yep, the Classifieds is actually new. My attempt to solve some of the issues that people were having with the Open section. So far, some people seem to be enjoying it. Give it a try!
Quick question for you, my idea was to just roll with it and list the best offer for each coin I'm gonna be selling, kind of auction style. If the offer is topped, I'd go in and change it to the new highest offer. Can you edit your posts in the classifieds after you've posted something? If you can't, that means I'll have to come up with something different.
It may say "Classifieds" section, but you can list it as an auction. Just select auction when you create the listing.
You may want to have a minimum bid though, I don't know if there's enough bidders to make sure you get fair market value if you started the bid too low. It's all very new and I'm sure most members haven't seen it yet.
I was planning on listing over multiple forums as to draw as many bidders as possible... Hence the need to edit the post. Also, you might want to split all of this off to another topic somewhere, as we've kinda sidetracked this thread, haha.
