I plan on liquidating some of my silver "findings/holdings" over the next couple of weeks to continue to fund my coin collection. I have a choice to sell either halves (either kennedy or Frankies (I am leaning against selling the Frankies)) or dimes (mostly roosies, but some mercs). I will get the same amount for face value in either case. Is there any reason to sell one over the other?
I decided I didn't need THAT many 1964 Kennedys, but in general I prefer keeping halves rather than dimes. If you really believe that the dollar will collapse and we'll all be using silver "hard cash" for barter/commerce, dimes are a more convenient increment for everyday purchases. If your coins are heavily worn, dimes lose weight more quickly than halves (a higher proportion of surface area to volume/mass), so $1 face of worn halves will likely retain more silver than $1 face of equally-worn dimes. If silver climbs enough, buyers may start to get picky about this. I chose to sell off some of each (dimes, quarters, halves), because of the proportions in which I held each. I tried to strike a balance between how many of each date I had, and how heavily worn the coins were, selling off the most heavily worn (since the buyer paid by face value). I did get rid of some dateless SLQ slicks (no Type 1).
I sell 90% coins in the following order: Modern Dateless Heavy Rim Damage Heavy marking Within each category, I divest in the following order: Dimes, Quarters, Halves jeffB's comments on surface area per unit mass pretty much sums up the rationale. I buy Morgans/Bullion for spot when available, and I won't buy anything below halves for spot. My reasoning is that most "pre-64" sellers have well circulated coins that have lost 3-8% of their silver content prior to the coins reaching my hands.
