Hi All, I am seeking some of your insight. I have been collecting Proofs all individually and putting them into albums. They have either been broken out of original proof sets or I have obtained them one by one by other means. I have created two albums that span 50 years. 1955 to 2015 as you can see in the picture. What would be the best option if/when I decide to sell. Sell the complete album collection? Group them into years, or just individually? Is the complete album set have good marketability? I may continue the collection and move to 1950 and earlier and stay current in the 2000's. I would appreciate any feedback? Thank you
Usually not, for a couple of reasons. One the expense, few are willing to lay out that much. Two, mots who are collecting them already have at least some or sometimes even most of what you will be offering - and they have no interest in buying duplicates. And a 3rd reason, those few who might be interested will only want to cherry pick your set but even then they'll usually want high quality pics of each individual coin to even decide if they are interested - and you're probably not going to have those pics. Then there's one more thing, astute collectors know that albums are one of the poorest/worst storage choices there are for coins. Again, for a couple of reasons. One, it's all but impossible to get a coin into an album without touching the face of the coin, and that means possible marks, hairlines, and/or fingerprints. And two, the likelihood of toning that not all want on their coins.
I doubt that you'll be able to find a buyer for the entire album. Realistically although you should be able to find buyers for the older proofs and any 1970 or earlier Cam/Dcam's. Overall it's likely you're going to have a tough time even selling the modern ones. Not that they can't be sold but the price is going to have to be right (i.e. low enough) and you're going to have to find the exact right buyer, which could take a very long time.
Oh he could probably find a buyer for the whole album, just probably not at the value he might think it is worth. A dealer would total up what he would be willing to offer for just the best pieces (allowing for his profit margin) and offer pretty much that for the whole album, the rest of the coins just coming along for the ride.
I appreciate the great insight! I kind of figured as much, but I was contemplating continuing on and complete the two albums ( including the state quarters). I might as well right? Down the road though, when I sell, Should I separate the 1950's and 1960's into 1 album and market it that way? What are your thoughts? Again, I appreciate your comments and wise perspectives!
Lemme ask you a point blank question, what are your expectations in a monetary sense ? Are you expecting to get more than what you paid for them, what you paid for them, or some fraction of what you paid for them ? I'm asking that because your answer would probably have an impact on how you decide to go about selling them. Ya see, by selling them in album form, even the 50's and 60's coins, about the best you can expect is some fraction of whatever you paid. And that's based on assuming that you only paid fair market price at whatever time you bought them. And if you paid higher than fair market price, and that's what most do actually, then your fraction gets smaller. So do ya see what I mean ? If you want to get the most you can out of your coins you're going to have to sell them 1 at a time. Or maybe, stress maybe, single year sets. But doing that requires a lot of time and work, and of course you will also have to pay seller's fees. All of which will eat into and reduce whatever it is you expect to get out of these coins. Now maybe you'll be different, maybe you had no illusions going in. But the sad fact is about 95% collectors lose money if and when they sell their collections. By the time it's all said and done it's not unusual for you to only get about 50% of whatever it cost you. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less - but that's reality. And sometimes, when a collector faces that reality, he decides not to sell the coins at all. Others will just except it and move on.
