Hi everyone,I am a newbe on this site . I was looking around to find a place to ask questions on where to sell a small collection of Morgan Dollars.I have had them for 10 or so years,I am thinking about selling them on Ebay instead of a Coin shop because I think the shops will want to give me 15-25% less so they can make a profit (which is reasonable of course ) but any suggestions on selling them.I have a set of Dollars 1878-1904 less the 1895 ,with some singles 2-Carson City and some specialty type frosted or white MS63.Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Sean
Sean, welcome and glad you're here. There are several dealers that can help to identify the best ways to sell your collection. Out of curiousity, how many coins make up the collection? More specifically, is it a year set or a date/mint mark set? How are they stored? Do you have an eBay account with a good amount of positive feedback? Hopefully that info will help some other more qualified folks to help you out! Cris
Total coins 40 +/-, (year set) with some singles thrown in MS 60-64,some are graded thru a service in the container? others are in coin wrappers for a lack of a better word.I have never sold anything on Ebay before so no help there. Sean
Using eBay can be a good alternative for many sellers. However, unless a few criteria are met, I doubt you'll do much better on eBay than through a dealer. First of all, if you're looking to get maximum value, ideally the coins are already certified (i.e. slabbed), preferably by PCGS or NGC as those will, all else being equal, generally fetch the highest price since the market has more faith in the stated grade. Though in reality, unless "the market" will pay more than $25 for a PCGS or NGC-graded coin than a raw coin, you're better off financially just getting a good picture of it (see below), grading it accurately, describing it completely and letting the market set the price. Also, selling big ticket items may be difficult with a new eBay account or one with a low feedback rating. If you have a new account with zero feedback, don't count on getting $900-950 on a $1000-valued item (or even the $700-800 a dealer might give you). While some justifiably look at this tactic with some suspicion, you may want to sell a few small-ticket items first to build the feedback rating. Now if you sell nothing but $5 items to build it up and then suddenly sell a $1000 item when your feedback hits double digits, some *will* be suspicious -- and understandably so -- but it's still better than trying to sell it with zero feedback. Finally -- and this is especially true if you have a lot of coins to sell which are of very high value -- invest in good imaging equipment (camera, lighting, et cetera) if you don't have it already. The higher bids you'll get with very good images of your coins will likely more than pay for the equipment if the value of the coins is high enough.
Welcome! I agree with Ziggy29, selling the coins on eBay is going to require an investment in both time and equipment, and in the end you are not likely to do much better than if you sold to a dealer - especially with BU morgan dollars. I would suggest that you utilize the American Numismatic Association's list of dealers and try contact a dealer in your area. You can access the list online at http://anamarket.money.org/.
Yeah, if you value your time, selling on Ebay from scratch is not worth it unless you plan to sell stuff on Ebay regularly. If you sell them as an Ebay newbie, the bids will not be very high, and you have to pay Ebay fees, and hassle with mailing, postage, and possibly bad customers. Your time might be better spent going to several dealers or to coins shows to get multiple offers. I'm sure our very experienced moderators will have some good suggestions as well!
I suppose you could sell them on consignment. (through a third party) Just a thought. Don't know how well that would work out. I've never sold a coin, but I always said that if I did, I would sell to a dealer. That seems like what would work best for me.
Let me offer yet another option. Before making any decision, make a detailed list of what coins you have. Date, mintmark, condition, varieties. After you have done that, have a dealer estimate the value. (DO NOT SELL). After that, post the coins and conditions here on CoinTalk, and all of us here will be better equipped to offer you the best avenue to consider. The advice previously given is very good. Let me add one thought about Ebay. It seems from what little I know about the site, that the vast majority of time, bidders wait for the last possible minute to bid on the coin, in hopes of getting the "deal". With first time sellers, the odds of getting true value for your coins are pretty slim. Now onto dealers. While it is true that dealers often pay less (as we do have to make a profit), often larger dealers will buy it all. That should be considered. Some dates and mintmarks are just too common to bring strong retail in any arena. Larger dealers have the ability to move this material. Just a thought.
To the original poster -- I just realized you're from Houston. I'm local here, too. I'd love to hear what you have -- I might be interested in buying some of it. PM me if you'd like to discuss it more.
ND makes a good point as usual. Many dealers would be interested in buying everything. Don't let anyone cherrypick the collection and only buy the best pieces. Here in FL I pride myself on buying EVERYTHING that is put in front of me. Sometimes people want to keep this coin or that piece of currency and that's fine. But I offer on the whole lot, unlike some other local dealers. My advice would be to find some local dealers through the ANA site posted above and go from there. Ebay would work too if you're patient and have money to buy lots of Bayer aspirin...trust me on that one.
Took the advice to go to a coin shop here in Houston ,US Coin.They checked them out as to grade,problem is they were about 30-40% below Red Book value ,which I understand everybody needs to make a profit but that is a little low. (PM sent to Ziggy) Sean
S.P. Harper - There is something you may not be aware of - the values listed in the Red Book are far from accuarte or realistic. Quite often they are way high - other times they are way low. While the Red Book is full of many pieces of essential information regarding US coins - values is NOT one of them. Even if you do not end up selling your coins on ebay - ebay can be a very valuable resource when it comes to determining accurate values for a given coin or coins. All you need to do is check through the realized prices for the coins you have. Here is a link you can use for that purpose - Realized Prices Now because the way you grade your coins may be different from the way those on ebay grade theirs - not unusual - I would suggest comparing the pics of the coins on ebay to your coins. If you think your coin is MS62 and the ebay coin is listed as MS64 - but they look the same to you - this will give a more accurate idea of the value.
GDJMSP -Thanks I will look Sean UPDATE:List of Coins- 1878S-MS60---------------------1893O-VF 1879--MS63---------------------1894O-VF 1880O-AU50---------------------1896O-AU50 1881--MS63---------------------1897S-AU60 1882--AU50---------------------1898-MS64 1883--XF-----------------------1899O-MS63 1884O-MS63--------------------1900-MS64 1885O-MS63--------------------1901O-MS63 1886--MS62--------------------1902-AU55 1887--MS63--------------------1903-MS60 1888--MS62--------------------1904-AU53 1889--MS62--------------------1921-MS61 1890--MS62--------------------1891CC-EF 1891--MS62--------------------1883CC-MS63 1892O-AU50--------------------- And a few more DMPL or frosted MS63. Thanks for the help Sean
If the conditions are as you have listed.....the bid price for the list is around $1300.....Although most dealers will not pay that for these common dates...Usually about 10-15% back of Bid... You have a couple of goodies though.... The 93O, 96O, and the CC's are the best of the lot. Grading also is not chisled into stone...no matter what the Certification Graders say...It is up to the Buyer and the Seller to determine the condition of the coin... Good luck...
Selling coins in Houston : confused: Sean, You might check with ebay and paypal regarding their fees to have a comparison before you offer your coins to a local dealer. Last year I did well on ebay (actually a friend who is more computer savy than I sold the coins for me) and sold several coins with reasonable fees paid to ebay. I understand that ebay and paypal are charging much higher fees. I am in a similar situation, I also live in Houston and am liquidating some Proof Walkers. I don't have a clue which dealers will give me a fair price or if I should go the ebay route.Any help would be appreciated. Wilbur
Harper, My reply to your question regarding the sale of your Morgan collection was my first attempt to use this site. I hope that my reply went to the appropriate place. Can you or others on this site recommend any local (Houston) dealers with whom you have sold coins to or would otherwise recommend? THANKS! And good luck with your Morgans If I can be of help with your ebay questions feel free to email me. However, I am not a buyer or collector of Morgans.
If you look at the post by cdcda, a link is provided for ANA member dealers. Just look for Texas and you should find someone that can help you
have you got scans of the coins i would like to see whats important for diffrent grades to give myself an idea
