You may have seen my previous three hoard posts. Over three weeks I purchased a total of 800 coins for a total of $660. This averages to about $0.83 per coin. Please check the first three posts which have details on each purchase. First: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/200-coins-for-0-73-each-results.357835/ Second: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/mixed-lot-of-300-coins-results.358598/ Third: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/mixed-lot-of-300-coins-results.359402/ This post is a full breakdown of buying large hoard lots including breakdowns of coin types and a financial analysis. Out of 800 coins: Condition: Very Low Grade Cull: 15.4% Low Grade: 22.5% Medium Grade: 29.5% Better Grade: 32.5% Types: Roman Imperial: 87.6% Byzantine: 5.6% Greek: 1.1% Roman Provincial: 3.4% Seleucid: 0.7% Celtic/other: 1.3% Roman Republican: 0.23% Sale Price Averages: Very Low Grade Cull: $0.48 Low Grade: $0.56 Medium Grade: $0.78 Better Grade: $2.78 Byzantine: $0.86 Provincial/other: $2.66 Average sale price: $1.05 Conclusion: If I sold every single coin for the thus-far average sale price of $1.05, I would make $840.00 net. Estimated fees and shipping would bring it down to $700-ish. Estimated total profit margin: $40, or 6% profit. Granted, I did take about 35 coins for my personal collection. Also, there are a few higher-value coins (such as Severus Alexander and Elagabalus provincials) that could fetch a somewhat higher price. Conclusion: Buying hoards is not a cost-effective endeavor. Best-case scenario you make a minor profit. Factor in the extreme amount of time (over 10 hours in my case) of attribution, listing, and selling, then you have lost quite a bit of time and money. Should you do it: NO. Unless you have lots of money on hand and don't have anything else to do. Tags: @Robert Ransom @dougsmit @furryfrog02 @Roman Collector
Interesting breakdown. You did make one error however in your calculation: the average of the sale price is not a weighted average (i.e. the proportion of the subgroups differ). Here is the correct grand total: (the absolute number does not count up to 800 because of rounding in the percentages) Also, note that your Bryzantine and 'other' is not included in this, so the grand total would be higher. *Edit. Under the assumption that the distribution of grades ("very low grade cull", "low grade" etc.) only applies to Roman Imperial, this would be the correct grand total: *Provincial/other: Greek: 1.1%, Roman Provincial: 3.4%, Seleucid: 0.7%, Celtic/other: 1.3%, Roman Republican: 0.23% The weighted average would be $1,116.27/800 ~ $1.40. Finally, it would be interesting to have the sale price per individual coin. Hypothetically, your average sale prices may include a few extreme outliers (suppose someone without knowledge buys a "very low grade cull" for $300 ) - unlikely, but this will of course make the average price difficult to appreciate. A standard error of the mean makes interpretation a bit more easier, and the results somewhat more interpretable.
In response to "Should you do it," if you enjoyed the experience, that is what matters most. I suspect you did and look forward to your next hoard adventure.
Many thanks for correcting my math. I figured something wasn't right but I couldn't put my finger on it.
It depends on the hoard you buy. I’ve made my money back on this one and I still have more than half the coins.
@hotwheelsearl Don't look at this post because you will get the bug again and I wouldn't want you to go through the trial again.
