If I were to sell....

I'll set this up to explain:

I have a mortgage and an established home equity line of credit available to me.

I have about $9K of credit card debt I want to pay off.

I also have some junk silver coins, some US gold bullion in 1 oz and .1 oz, some 1904 MS63 Liberty Gold, and quite a few gold French 20 Franc Roosters and some Netherlands 10 Guilder coins. All of these coins were bought years ago when prices were much lower than now.

I want to dump the credit card debt and preferably not use the line of credit to do it.

My question to you experienced collectors/hoarders:

1. Which coins would you sell first? Why?
2. Where would you go to sell them?

Thanks.

Flatlander

 

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I would sell the gold Roosters and Guilder coins first, followed by the junk silver, and then the US gold bullion (if necessary). Hang onto the old US gold if you can. There is a classified section on this site that you can sell on after you get up to 50 posts. BTW: Good idea to get rid of the CC debt and not use your equity line of credit. Good luck! TC

 

I won't give any financial advice.

If you're interested in "dumping" your gold bullion, get your coins certified (by NGC, for example). Since your foreign coins are pre-1933, if they grade highly, you should get a nice premium over bullion in this insane gold market. if they have average grades or grade only "authentic," at least you'll get bullion+.

Although I agree with much of the anti-slab feelings, when you are trying to sell gold bullion quickly, slabs make the transactions quicker and more profitable.

I won't comment on the junk silver.

g.

 

I disagree with this. Unless the foreign gold is of extremely high grade (65 or better) then you are better off not wasting the grading fees and selling it raw. Dealers make such a small margin on this stuff that grading it is almost always a waste of money. Bullion and generic gold (what you have) is almost always sold most efficiently as it is.

 

Thanks for the responses so far.

The Roosters and Guilders are not graded and not a high grade. I essentially bought them at a small premium over spot.

Except for the MS63 $20 coins, I would consider everything to be at spot value.

I probably have enough of any of my coins to wipe out the debt whether it be junk silver, foreign coins or US gold.

I am trying to understand why I would choose to sell one over the other. I want to hold whatever I can for some
stability into the future given what I see happening in the world economies.

Flatlander

 

I think when he was referring to grading the gold he was touching on the fact that they will sell better when potential buyers know they are not fake coins if the OP was interested in selling them online opposed to in person.

 

The home equity line is actually a good source to tap IF, (and I repeat IF), you do not use the credit card any more than you can pay off each month. The reason is that the interest would be tax deductible whereas the cc interest is not. Too many people pay of cc with home equity then run the cc back up. That is why I advocate that only if you have the discipline to control the cc. More good news is that cc interest is going up, while home equity has ticked down.

I will not say whether it is a good time to sell of any PM. It could be if you wish to not have reportable gains with the new 1099 rules, or if you think they have peaked. It would be bad of course if you think they will continue to climb.

Good luck.

P.S. Of course the suggestion to use the HE line is predicated on the fact that you could use the tax deduction. Ask your accountant if it would be valuable to you in your tax circumstances.

 

I like PMs a lot, but paying off debt is always a very good move, even if in hindsight it turns out not to be the best move. Without knowing anything about your specific situation regarding savings and other investments, job security, health, etc... it is impossible for anyone to give you specific advice. This isn't really the right place for it.

 

I would hold onto the graded US gold if at all possibile. This has the best potential long term if you can hold them. The rest of the stuff mentioned it strictly bullion.

 

Always best to stay out of debt...

 

I appreciate the comments and wasn't looking for financial advice. My goal is to get rid of all debt and want to shed the credit card debt first, hence the question about what others would sell first if they were going to.

My primary question is what coins (junk silver, foreign bullion, numismatic gold or US gold bullion) would others sell first and for what reason? I guess the opposite question would be - what would you desire to hold onto first or what would you liquidate last if you had to.

There's lots of thoughts/concerns/issues behind that question including long-term potential value, ability to liquidate various things in the future depending on politics and the economic conditions in the country and world, any possibility of confiscation, even possible coins for barter in the future, etc.

I've enjoyed some nice gains in the value of these coins since I acquired them years ago. I'm in no hurry to sell them except to possibly get out of some debt.

Thanks again to all for the thoughts.

Flatlander

 

Depends on your outlook of course. I would be a bigger seller of gold than silver at these markets, but with another $2 increase in silver I WILL be a seller. I sold generic gold at a little more than $1100, and I still think it was the right move long term. Another aspect is coin versus bullion. Coin will always be worth a premium versus bullion items, with the roosters and guilders being bullion since so few people collect them. Keep real coins if possible, specifically the $20, and maybe the silver if it is decent, (not worn out 1950's quarters, etc).

Opinions are like you know what, everyone has one. That is mine.

 

I would do what LostDutchman said and sell the lowest quality first and hang onto the coins with the highest numismatic value. If you have to sell everything to the point where you only have one coin left, it should be the best coin that you have.

 

Another thing to consider is after you have determined which gold and silver coins have little to no numismatic value , would be who you sell to and if they will pay you spot for either your gold or silver. I have been successful in establishing spot buying folks specific to gold or silver and they pay spot for even small quantities (less than $100.00 face value). In my limited experience most dealers want to pay under spot for less than $1000.00 face value.

 

These days most foreign gold coins minted in the last 100 years are pretty much melt or very close to melt. The premiums they used to carry when gold was cheaper have evaporated with the big jump in gold.

 

Isn't gold in the neighborhood of its all time high? I think modern bullion is just that, bullion. My $.02.

 

Gold will always be easier to sell if you are in a really tight bind, IMO.

 

Matt, the guy in the avitar, is that who I think it is?

 

Yep

 

Oh you devil....