I have been collecting coins off-and-on since I was about 12 years old. Over the years, I've sold a few here and there, but relatively few. As I approach retirement age (assuming that I'll ever be able to afford to retire), I'm thinking about selling off my collection. In the grand scheme of things, it's not like the collection is that big - I'm going to guess several hundred coins (the contents of a small Sentry floor safe). What's the total value? I don't even know. Into the five figures, for sure. But not the high-fives. Probably $20-30k if I had to WAG it. Most of my higher-end coins (certified ones) have been acquired since 2004 or '05 and most of those I've got catalogued. But cataloging the older ones is going to take some effort. But, assuming that I can get them catalogued, what is the best way to liquidate them? Should I try to find someone that is interested in buying the whole shooting match? Is that even going to be possible? It's kind of like guns: I don't want to advertise (i.e., via Craigslist) that there are valuable coins in the house. Also, I'm wondering about Uncle Sam. I know how much I've paid for most of my newer acquisitions. But the vast majority have been eBay purchases and I do not have receipts or any kind of paperwork. And the ones from the early-1970's...forget it. I've spent 40+ years focusing on BUYING coins never having given a bit of thought as to how I would go about SELLING them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
First of all, read this thread - https://www.cointalk.com/threads/he...ted-coin-collection-for-maximum-value.224465/ Most of what needs to be said is said there. Next, if you bought most of your coins since 2004, depending exactly on when you bought them, odds are they aren't worth what they were. The last time the coin market was at this level was 2004.
Start here in CT. Lots of us love to buy coins, myself included There's even a "what's it worth" category where you can get us to tell you what we would be willing to pay for it. Share a few photos and that'll give you a good idea of where you sit. You can also post a WTS (want to sell) listing and see who bites. I'm not a huge fan of eBay selling due to fees and dangers of coins selling for less than they're valued. You can consign them to major auction houses if any are worthy of being sent that way.
Yup. There are dozens of ways to sell coins. Myself? I would buy everything you have down to the last token or piece of script.
Why is this the case, Doug? Is it because the coin collecting base is GROWING because of the Internet as a few people here on CoinTalk insist? Or could it be that the collector base, particularly for mid-market material, is actually shrinking?
Why ? Because the coin market goes up, and DOWN, not just up. And the last time it went up it went too far and too fast. What we've been seeing for the last 9 years now is the correction of that.
I would consider Great Collections. They have low fees. Take care of all pictures, don't even do 1099's if you are worried about the government and will get your better raw keys slabbed at a very reduced cost' around 10 dollars a coin I think. good luck anyhow.
Not like the 80's certified Morgan boom though, right? A dear friend stuck a 12ga. in his mouth and painted his garage wall red over that little bubble burst.
I was in a similar situation a couple years ago. Nearing retirement I wanted to purchase a second home for retirement while I still had a paycheck coming in. A house came up on the market that I liked so to scrape up the money needed I had to liquidate most of my collection quickly. I ended up selling to a local dealer. I wasn't satisfied with what he offered but decided the house and early retirement was more important. If I planned things out better I would have taken the coins to other coin dealers further away and even sent them to auction houses. I've sold certified coins with Great Collections and did well. I've also used Silver City Auctions as well. I guess what I'm saying, if you want top dollar plan ahead.
First, catalog everything. Then decide if any of the raw coins are worth sending to NGC or PCGS. A coin dealer at a shop or show would probably be willing to help with that. Grade the remaining raw ones personally or with help of a dealer or coin club members. Put all the grade info in the catalog. Once, that's done, do the homework of determining value. You'll need an idea of wholesale and retail. If you sell to a dealer, you'll get wholesale. If you become a dealer by selling on eBay, you'll be targeting retail. Put that info in the catalog. More expensive coins (near $1000 and up) should probably go to a major auction house. Remaining coins can be sold to dealers locally or at shows, or the coins can be sold via eBay, or if certified, at Great Collections. It's your conscience regarding whether you want to share capital gains with the government. If you want to avoid capital gains, cash is king, which means selling to dealers locally or at shows. Larger dealers are unlikely to do anonymous cash transactions. Any transaction of $10K or more is supposed to be reported to the government. Likewise multiple small deposits at a bank that may be an attempt to avoid the $10K rule are likely to be reported. This latter event can be disastrous because the IRS may freeze your account until they investigate, which can take months. Whether you intend to report everything on your tax return or not, if you are going to be making multiple small deposits from sales, get an account for it at a different bank from your personal account. You don't want the IRS freezing your personal account if their interest is triggered. Consulting an accountant might be worth it. If you set yourself up as a coin dealer, expenses involved in selling may be deductible (some may be anyway); however, net proceeds may be taxed as ordinary income rather than capital gains. In addition, capital gains from selling collectibles is treated differently than capital gains from real estate or equities. If you know approximately when you purchased coins, but don't have receipts, old Redbooks are available and can be used to estimate value for purchase basis. You may want to spread sales over more than one year to avoid tax bracket creep. Cal
Forgot all about this ! Best advice I can give is you go to talk to an accountant because you'll need one. And yeah, Uncle Sam matters, and it could cost ya lot of money, and maybe more than money, if you don't have an accountant handle it.
On the subject: I have become convinced that there is not ANY ONE venue in which to move a collection. It sure would be nice if there were, but there isn't. Higher end material needs a different sales venue from mid-range, and mid-range needs a different one from lower-end. It takes a combination of sales venues, which is a truth very few people want to hear.
I'd say it really depends on what the collection consists of. From my experience helping people with liquidating collections or going through them to determine value almost every single one has been way overvalued. In fact I think this is why some people think all dealers are crooks because expectations don't match the reality when it comes to 'what coins are actually worth'. There's a pretty big difference between retail and wholesale prices when dealers margins get built in that I think most people never account for. Imo you'd almost always do better selling off your collection yourself whether that be to fellow collectors online, on Ebay, or getting a table at your local show if you can invest the time to do so.
