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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Publius2, post: 25262969, member: 105571&quot;]I decided a couple of months ago to unload three raw, mid-grade Indian Cents that I had picked up when I first started collecting and that are decidedly not worth grading.&nbsp; So, I experimented with putting them in my Local Coin Club auction which we hold at every meeting, twice a month.&nbsp; I decided to put only one coin at a time in each auction understanding that there would be a limited market with only the collectors at the meeting, between 40 and 50 people typically and some if not most uninterested in this material.&nbsp; It also would give our Young Numismatist members a shot at better dates at prices they can afford.</p><p><br /></p><p>The first one up was a decent, original VF 1862.&nbsp; Net to me $36.&nbsp; The next meeting I put up a nice, original XF 1879 which netted me $46.&nbsp; A little less than Greysheet for each one but OK considering that my marketing costs were zero.&nbsp; I started each bidding at $1 and got spirited bidding each time.</p><p><br /></p><p>Next week I&#039;ll put up a decent VG 1908-S if there are enough people at the meeting to make me think that there might be sufficient interest.&nbsp; Again, I&#039;ll start bidding at $1.</p><p><br /></p><p>Another piece of my strategy is to try to get a bidding spot that is close to the start of the auction but not at the start.&nbsp; Spot #4 is where I&#039;ve had my items both auctions and seems about right.&nbsp; That&#039;s enough time to get people&#039;s juices flowing but not so far into the auction that people have spent their money already or have gotten bored.&nbsp;&nbsp; Also Spot #4 on the auction grid tablecloth is right up front so that makes it easy to grab people&#039;s attention when they&#039;re browsing the offerings. </p><p><br /></p><p>Why start at $1?&nbsp; At every auction I see items, particularly bullion items, with a starting price at or slightly above or below spot.&nbsp; There&#039;s very little interest in these items and I think it is partly or maybe completely psychological.&nbsp; There&#039;s just little to no opportunity to get a &quot;deal&quot; when the bidding is starting at the intrinsic value.&nbsp; But bullion items that start well below spot get a lot of bidding.&nbsp; You&#039;d think owners would notice and adjust their marketing but, no, they just can&#039;t seem to overcome the fear of a loss.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>There&#039;s also a potential danger in starting at $1 and it is also psychological.&nbsp; Bidders may ask themselves:&nbsp; &quot;What&#039;s wrong with this coin if the owner puts such a low value on it?&quot;&nbsp; But I think this danger is small.</p><p><br /></p><p>Well, that&#039;s my story so far on unloading raw coins.&nbsp; Could I find a means and a venue that might get me more gross compensation?&nbsp; Maybe but I&#039;d also have trouble and operations costs - shipping, insurance, EBay fees, &amp; etc.- that would reduce net compensation.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have a few raw MS Indian cents and some better value slabbed coins (1909-S VF IHC, 1839 AU-50 half dime and the like) that are excess to my collecting interests but are probably unsuitable for the LCC auction.&nbsp; I think I may get a table at our Local Coin Club monthly coin show to market this material.&nbsp; I just haven&#039;t decided if I&#039;ve got enough material to make it worth while.&nbsp; I may also consider consigning with a local dealer at this show to market my coins and maybe even sharing his table for a price.</p><p><br /></p><p>And this is why I don&#039;t buy raw coins anymore unless it&#039;s really something special and genuinely rare.&nbsp;&nbsp; If it&#039;s a pain for me to market common raw coins at a reasonable price, what will it be like for my heirs?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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