Selling coin collections

My brother is "getting up in years" and is interested in selling some of his coins. He wants to use the money he gets from his collection to help with moving into an "independent living" community. Currently I am going through some of his collections and trying to get a value on the coins.

He has completed the two-album collection of Morgan dollars with the exception of the 1885 proof coin. Some of the coins in that collection are certified, but most are not. There are lots of BU's and AU's in that collection.

Here is my question..... Would he get more money by selling the collection as a whole, or by selling the coins in the collection individually? Thanks for your advice.

 

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You are going to get lots of replies and opinions, but most will probably be along the lines of "You will get more money for the coins individually, but it will be a lot of trouble and time to sell them." Perhaps seek the middle way, sell the really high priced ones individually and do the rest as a lot to a dealer. Get quotes from more than one dealer.

 

Thanks. Those are some good ideas. Because he has a limited income, I am trying to help him get as much as he can from his collections.

 

kentucky right

 

I really liked Kentucky's strategy. I would also do some seriously research on these coins before going to a dealer, which sounds like you are. Good luck!

 

Like most things, this is subject to The Law Of Diminishing Returns. How much is your time worth to get an extra 1%...2%...etc.

 

Go with Kentucky.

 

Same here.

 

Good advice and I'd certainly heed this very last part the most. You may also consider consigning the coins to a seller who will virtually do most the work for you; for a cut obviously. I know you said some coins are certified and some aren't but any keys or semi keys that are able to be certified if they are high enough grade it would probably be worth it to have them certified before selling versus selling them raw.

 

Good advice from Kentucky. Also if you do consignment find someone locally who is actively selling coins. Something along the lines of 20% of net proceeds would seem like a more than fair deal.
But of course it's fun doing it yourself and there is a lot of resources out there on Morgan's for you.

 

I would definitely spend ~$5 and buy a current "Greysheet" price list.

 

It much depends on the quality and hence the value of the individual coins. Say, for example, he has an 1893 S certified PCGS AU 58. I would consider putting the coin in an auction. Even with the "juice" or consignment fees, the exposure can realize a much higher price. There are so many variables that it is very tough to advise without knowing more about the collection.

 

Sell it individually on Amazon. I just sold the attached for $65.00.

 

Its true what you have been told.
My first instinct would be to tell you to sell off the high grade/keys individually, then auction the rest as a partial set. Thing is, there are a LOT of keys in a Morgan set.
If its that complete, and high grade, you might want to take it to an auction house

 

Imho, amazon is not a good choice to sell coins. No nearly enough people looking there. Ebay, Heritage for better coins, check dealers. Best of luck to you!

 

It a nutshell, Superzimm has the best answer

 

All good advice. I'd add one additional suggestion. Check with your brother. He collected them and probably has some opinions on how you might proceed and likely even which coin dealers in your area he might trust for estimates, consignment etc.

 

Just did the same thing.... had 400 coins/sets, sold the most expensive 60-70 myself, so I got top dollar on 80% the value of the collection.

 

Thanks for all the advice! The dealer my brother had worked with in the past died a few years back. He (brother) does not know any of the other dealers in the area. I plan to check on that. As for places to sell, I would not use Amazon.