I have a problem: I love collecting world coins, especially from dealers' junk bins. However, after awhile you already have most of the cheap ones, but I'm not in a position to spend a ton of money on coins. I also have what some might say is another problem: When I'm digging through those junk bins, I am incapable of leaving collectible coins behind, whether I need them for my collection or not. But I don't want to be a hoarder and am actually trying to cut down on my overall collection, improving quality and eliminating some of the quantity. So what to do in this situation? For years now I've been listing my extra world coins for sale on eBay. When I buy new coins I'll look if there are any conditional upgrades for the ones I already have and separate the ones that are new, and all the others go in the "sell" pile. Then whenever eBay runs a free listing promotion (sometimes once or twice a month) I'll list as many as I can for sale without paying listing fees. Now generally what we're talking about here is coins that don't have much of a price guide value but that have some collector interest, such as pre-1950s European coins, African coins, some Asian and South American coins. Examples would be like 1920s and 30s French coins or German imperial issues. British shillings and sixpences always sell. Almost all of them are listed at $1.40 buy it now with 90 cents for shipping and 30 cents for each additional item shipped. Overseas shipping is $1.80. Usually I pay 15 cents each for these coins, so I figure I make a profit of roughly $1 on each sale. A lot of people would say this is too much work to make a dollar. In a way it is, but I feel like that dollar is just sitting there waiting for me to take it, and I can't ignore it. And I've become very efficient. I work on listings while watching TV and let the photos speak for themselves instead of trying to describe each coin. So back to how I turned base metal to gold. I haven't really had anything I wanted to buy in recent months, so my money has just been adding up in my Paypal account as I've continued to sell coins. Usually I stick to mostly lower value purchases, but I was inspired by some Cointalk members who posted French and Swiss 20 francs coins, and decided I wanted to get one. So for the price of around $250 each, I recently purchased one of each with my profits from selling junk bin coins. If you figure I sold about 250 coins to pay for each gold coin, and I paid 15 cents each for those coins, then those gold coins cost about $37 each. That's how you can buy valuable coins on a small budget. It just takes some time, knowledge, patience and effort. The French 20 francs arrived today, and the Swiss 20 francs is on the way. Can't wait to see it.
When I retire, I’ll probably do something similar. Good on you for grinding out that beautiful gold coin! Can’t wait to see it. Job well done!
I have sold some common coins . I have traded for better quality coins. I too have shifted to buying some smaller affordable world gold coins.
Takes a lot of work and effort to do this, so I've got to say I'm impressed. That's a really cool story!
I had a french rooster like this once, but sold it during hard times. I really like the design. I can see myself buying 1 of these again soon.
I like the design too. Of course you can get a very similar rooster coin from Madagascar 1943. The other side is different though.
Great work! Your efforts paid off and you got some nice coins! I'd also add that the inexpensive coins you list on eBay very likely have helped many people fill their own sets with coins that might not always be available online. So you are helping many other collectors!
As someone who for years was buying the same type of coins I am now selling, I definitely know there's a place for selling the low value stuff. People want to complete sets, they want to do type sets, birth year sets, etc. Not everyone has a good coin store nearby, and that's why they'll pay a little more than book value to get what they want on demand.
The second coin came today, 1949 Swiss 20 francs. The auction was listed as a random date, so I didn't know what I'd be getting. It's not in as good of a condition as the French 20 francs, and I think I like the French design better. Still, I'm happy with the purchase.
I'm much the same way with digging through the 20 cent bin at the LCS, if it's interesting, I grab it whether or not I need it for my collection. This post gave me a bit of inspiration to pull out the more unusual coins from my bag of duplicates and list them. They're not doing me any good just sitting in a bag. Perhaps I'll eventually work my way to gold too. Nice coins as well! I like Swiss coins because of the longevity of their designs, but you can never go wrong with a French one.
It's interesting when you start selling coins to see what other people value. There are some coins that I like that there is just little to no demand for, and then other ones that I'm not that excited about will sell right away. For example, I really like Portuguese 1 escudo and 50 centavos coins, but they take a long time to sell. And I need to make myself stop buying Netherlands and Belgium coins, because no one wants them.
