Advice on selling gold Austrian coins in New York?

I'm a newbie hoping I might get lucky with some suggestions here.
I have a few gold Austrian coins I was hoping to sell. The most notable is a 4-ducat piece from 1900. I ventured to a big coin show here earlier in the year, but got misled with some not-exactly-real-offers. Now I was hoping to try and sell them locally, but although there are a lot of people claiming to be for numismatists, they're really only buying for the melt-down value of the gold.
I've also tried to track down local coin collector groups, with no success. They seem very secretive and unresponsive. On top of that, I'm avoiding internet transactions. I'm happy to post on Craigslist and let anyone meet in person to see the coins, but I don't do Ebay and such.
Any suggestions?

 

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Many Austrian gold coins were restruck after the date n the coins, I don't know if these were any of those.

If they are, then they are basically bullion.

 

1900 if not a restrike coin must be able to grade high or above MS 65
otherwise like above it spot gold price for this.
Ngc or Pcgs are top two grading services for this.

 

Restrike Austrian gold is a tough sell. You would be lucky to get spot for them.

 

They would have to in a MS 66+
grade otherwise like above spot gold price is all their worth.
Photo may help but don't think they will. But post them it could be useful for a trade or a buyer????

 

I'm happy to post on Craigslist and let anyone meet in person to see the coins

ccarroll
I dont think this would be a good idea. You never know WHO will show and with what intentions . They are gold coin . Get spot gold price for them may be the safest way . Just my opinion .Good luck with them.

Post some pictures we might be able to help

 

I agree..pics would be vey helpful in this situation. Also, the messages you are receiving are correct...WHY would you want to meet a stranger with a gold coin in your pocket. I am afraid to say...this world is not as save as it once was. JMHO.

 

You're right that CL deals require caution. I've done pretty well, though - in fact, met some interesting people. And for anything expensive, I'd do it some place safe, like a library or museum that had a guard. It's partly because I never want anyone to be unhappy about buying anything for me, so I want them to see the item in person. (I know I've had bad luck with things I've bought, even in person, by not testing or inquiring fully!) Making things worse, I'm very low-tech, and am not really able to take pictures.
And, sorry, I don't know what MS66+ means. As I said, I'm a newbie!

 

You've been around these parts since November 2011 and you're still wet behind the ears?

 

Yes, I'm afraid so. I'm not a serious, dedicated scholar. I'm just someone who inherited a few coins, trying to sort through them. I think I was originally asking about American half-dollars.

Love the phrase "wet behind the ears," though.

 

I might possibly have an image. Okay, I'm experimenting with trying to post it...

 

DO NOT sell this coin for gold spot price (~$531 at current prices), you will be getting totally ripped off if you did. Based on your picture it appears to be uncirculated or at least very close to it, but the picture is not very clear. Raw, uncertified, it's worth around DOUBLE melt value, or in the range of $1,000. If you get it certified and it grades MS63-MS-64 you're looking at $1,300-$1,500 and more if it grades higher.
Kind of surprised people are telling you it's only worth melt value

 

The MS numbers refer to coin quality. You can find a beginner's guide to grading at http://coins.about.com/od/coingrading/qt/coin_grading101.htm.
IMHO grades 65 and above are just minor differences in degree of perfection, and hardly relevant for most historical coins (I'm sure one of the monitors will jump on me for this heresy). Perhaps more interesting for dedicated collectors of American coins only -- they've only been around for about 270 years.
A better picture would help, I get what I think are fine results with an Olympus VG-130 pocket camera resting on a drill press.
Though of course profis with a bigger camera can do better.
FYI my 6th edition Standard Catalog lists the 1900 4 Dukat at
Very Fine- $450, Extremely Fine-800, Uncirculated-1350, and Brilliant Uncirculated-1600. That was with an assumed gold price of $950-1000 an ounce.

 

Sell it on E-Bay but don't sell it on E-Bay. Put it on E-Bay and put a reserve of say $3,000. See what happens. Start it at $0.99. Post it in U.S. Gold Buillion and Austria. THe other alternative is take it to Heritage or Stacks/Bowers in NYC,NY since you mentioned New York.

JPL

 

I so dearly wish that your encouraging words were true! But unfortunately, I've had three people separately tell me that my coin would be best described as "very fine." I'm being offered between $400-$500 by dealers (including Stacks), most of whom aren't particularly interested.

The oddest thing, to me, was that when I was at the coin show, it was the European dealers who were most interested - the opposite of what I expected. I figured the Americans would be most interested because the coins would be slightly rarer here. But no.

I don't do Ebay, but I'm surprised it's not easier to find collectors here in New York.

 

Your picture may not be the best, but it's pretty to easy to areas that would be worn if the coin was a grade of Very Fine, which are sharp on your coin. And considering that one of these sold a couple years ago at $300 above melt value for a coin that was bent... and that dealers and Stacks offered you less than current melt value for it.
This makes me suspicious of your entire thread. None of the things you are saying make any sense.

 

Sorry, Numismatic - I'm trying to be clear, but I don't know the language. What part doesn't make sense?

So far, the offers I've gotten are mostly approximately melt (I think), and they've been pretty consistent, so I don't think anyone in particular is trying to rip me off. Now, it is possible that some of the offers have been from guys claiming they're specialists, but really aren't. But the legit guys just aren't interested. One guy who runs auctions in California said he thought I could do much better with him, but - apart from my not being too crazy about sending it off to California and being stuck with whatever fees are involved - I couldn't tell whether that was just a come-on, or he really thought I'd do very well with him.

 

I understand your concerns...and seeing that this is an older post; I would send it off to NGC or PCGS and then sell it on E-bay. This takes all the questions out of the equation and I bet you will do just fine. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks, Jason, but as it happens, I don't do Ebay.

Also, thanks, GDJMSP. A couple of people floated a $1000 price - but the trick would be finding a buyer.

I was just looking at one of the numismatic magazines - Coin World, I think. I was contemplating running a classified ad. Does that seem dumb? Looks like the only classifieds are by companies, not individuals.

I put out a little local request asking for help taking pictures, but no one answered. I'm wondering if maybe I could get a better scan if the background were dark velvet instead of white paper.