I have attended Estate Auctions for years, it’s almost a second hobby for me. Last year the State shut down the auction circuit for 3-4 months. Before the shut down I could generally buy Junk Silver or Pre-33 Generic Gold in a range of 2-4% below/above Spot. Those days long gone! Ever since they re-opened in the Fall, prices have been steadily going up. Today’s auction was just plain crazy. Junk Silver went from 80-100% over Spot. Pre-33 Generic Gold ($10’s and $20’s) was going for a steady 40% over spot. All raw coins. All common dates. Most of the estate auctions around here have a generous offering of coins. Today’s had 800 silver dimes, 200 silver quarters, 40 half dollars, 40 silver dollars, 15 pre-33 gold coins. Before the shut down, 6-8 bidders was normal crowd. Now every auction 15-20 bidders. Mint Sets and Proof Sets, that 2 years ago would barely get a bid, are now getting $12-$15. Wheat cents went for 8¢ each. Slick Indian cents went for $3.00 each. I think its time to round up all my widgets and drek and consign them to the next Estate Auction.
Why not...just about every seller on eBay does...they're always advertising/selling coins "from an Estate Sale" But that's good...my entire collection is going up on the block locally in late Oct so hope the prices remain high(er).
When I last worked in a bricks and mortar coin shop, local auctioneers came around regularly to buy items to salt into their "estate auctions" - cull Morgans & type coins, junk silver, cheap proof sets, silver certificates, etc. I imagine it's the same everywhere.
The Estate Sales around here have nothing but junk. More like big garage sales. The people who run these sales remove anything of value or interest prior to the sale. Then they sell that stuff somewhere else. I quit going to them because of that.
Interesting lot in an online estate auction -- possible raw 1953-S Franklin FBL. Photos aren't the best, but good enough to indicate possible FBL. Coin is obviously high grade. Current bids relatively low, if in fact, is an actual 53-S FBL.
When I lived in Washington State I always attended a biweekly auction. The owner of the auction always went down to the LCS and bought coins to auction off for himself. I knew what he paid and on a few occasions I was able to buy something for less than he paid. The problem was the buyers took their coin auction wins to the LCS and were met with disappointing facts. They thought the coin guys were nuts and they continued to buy at the auction.
You just never know about estate auctions. I used to chase them just to see what might be there. It was fun. I went to one years ago and there were about 80 bidders. There was so much UNC silver, I watched thousands of UNC Franklins only bring 75% of melt.
“How much x face were they asking for the 90%?” 1964 Kennedy’s sold for 16.00 each, Slick Walkers and Ben’s brought 16.50 each. Dimes brought 3.00 to 3.50 each. I thought going into the Auction they would go much closer to melt since they had 800 dimes. Mostly all Roosevelt dimes with a few Merc’s mixed in. The crowd was obviously hungry for silver.
I still hit them up from time to time. As @Inspector43 said, lot of junk these days. But, ya never know...
Epilogue: I just bought the coin. With Buyer's Premium, it costs $1100. Risky buy, as there may be portions of the bell lines that are not continuous and couldn't be seen in the photos. I'll post follow-on results after I get the coin, and decide whether it's worth sending to PCGS or NGC for grading as an FBL.
The Estate Sales where the home is open to the public and everything has a price on it, are now being run by professionals. Nothing left but the junk the family has no interest in. I don't go anymore.
I agree with your first sentence, but not necessarily with your second. Most of the estate sales I've been to have been at larger homes where the residents are older and trying to down-size. The folks have been empty-nesters for some years, free to travel, with disposable income, and have made a lot of purchases and have filled up their "empty nests" with those purchases. Now they're ready to settle down to live out the rest of their lives and want to unclutter and simplify. For the most part, these older couples have moved to a smaller(2 or 3 bedroom) apartment, condo or town home, with little or no outdoor maintenance. With a smaller home and no yard work, the large garage and almost everything in it becomes surplus, thus some great deals on yard tools, yard art, patio furniture, BBQ grills, etc, become available. The man of the house usually has a wide range of both power and hand tools that they most likely will not be using any more, plus all the stuff he has collected over the years. The relatives probably have their own. Inside, a lot of these folks have 2 or 3 of everything, ranging from very old, to slightly out-dated, to currently used. Coffee makers, waffle irons, crock pots, etc.. Typically, the wife has filled the kitchen and dining room with collections of housewares, china and decorative porcelains.The rest of the house will have numerous pieces of furniture that won't be getting moved to the new place, along with wall art and floor rugs that also won't be moved. Then there are all the "smalls" that won't get moved. I mean, an estate sale is usually a treasure trove of other people's stuff that is usually quite interesting and sometimes even valuable, however, as you pointed out, nowadays they are being run by professionals whose job it is to get the best(highest) price for everything, which is why I don't go to them like I used to. I used to be signed up for alerts about all upcoming sales, but now I'm down to only one. Since I'm very limited for space, I'm very selective about when and what I buy. For example, my last estate sale purchase was over a year ago and it was two .22 rifles.
I agree with most of what you said. But, the estate sales I see are in a rural county and we usually know that the owner has passed. Most people know the one or two professionals that handle the estates. Not much sense getting involved.
