A member recently posted about where to buy "unsearched" world coin collections. I have a lot to say about this subject and figured I'd start with talking about buying them on eBay. This is a foreign coin collection I bought on eBay recently for around $14 including shipping and taxes. (My photo below, not seller's) I almost never buy coins on eBay, and there's a reason for it. 99% of these listings on eBay are either common foreign coins, sellers trying to deceive you, or good collections but a very inflated price. I bought this collection shortly after it was listed because I saw one coin I was certain is silver, and some interesting banknotes. Out of all of the coins, two were silver. Not super valuable, but interesting coins. The rest of the coins were common, and I'll sort by country later. I paid a reasonable amount for the collection. Some currency is still usable. Its fun to go through foreign coin collections no matter what though... If you like posts like this, let me know and I'll make more about collections I've got in the past as well as future ones.
In my opinion, eBay is one of the worst places to find "unsearched" coin collections. The only way you can find somewhat of a good deal is by sorting by newly listed and Buy it Now, and you might come across a seller who missed something and snatch it up before someone else does. That's how I bought this one. I have gotten much better collections locally at club auctions or local sales. These collections had piles of foreign silver and other old coins, and I only paid a fraction of what they're worth. Often times I will keep the ones I like for myself and sell the rest for a profit. The beauty of collecting foreign coins is that not many people know about which coins are silver/rare and don't want to deal with learning about them. The problem if finding them for the right price.
You, Sir, know exactly what you're talking about. I love the fact that so many collectors here in the USA have an ingrained distain for almost any coins outside of the USA series. The funny thing is, so many world coins have ended up in American dealers' inventories and collections, and many in very good states of preservation. That provides US with the perfect opportunity to grab that passed over potential revenue! I have been the beneficiary of their prejudice for years. Love it...
One time I remember doing really well on a "collection" of eBay coins was one that was legitimately being sold by a non-collector. It was coins his father had picked up during various travels. I don't remember if the photos were bad or what but for whatever reason it didn't get a lot of bids. I got it for about $7. It turned out to have maybe four or five silver, but the real prize was it was full of early coins from Myanmar, like late 1940s and early 1950s. At the time I don't know if I had any coins from there so it really gave me a nice, instant collection. And for the coins I had doubles of, I sold them back on eBay individually and a few sold for in the range of $15 apiece. Needless to say I was quite pleased. But a deal like that comes once in a great while, and I don't know how it slipped past everyone else because usually someone else notices and bids stuff up.
I had some luck at a local auction house--before they hooked into on of the online platforms. They were a sell everything place and occasionally coins. Whitman folders, circ silver rolls, and sometimes generic US gold. Once in awhile there will be 'foreign lots'. A couple of the local coin guys often showed up and bid for stuff, but I've gotten lucky with the non-US material a few times. Once I spotted a 1804 Bank of England dollar. I think I paid about $50-60 for it. It was cleaned, but not horribly. I let it sit in a box a couple years then threw it in on a freebie submission to NGC. XF details. Consigned it on eBay and it sold for $351. Funny how we remember the wins though. But yep, a basic awareness of a coin type and even cleaned I knew it was better than that. Found a French silver medal there once listed as bronze. Took that home too. I didn't want to see either of those melted! Now, that all said, I have a few bags of coins not worth anything to me and not worth sorting out and listing for sale individually. Someday I'll set up 'grab bags' ensuring that each bag will have at least one un-mentioned silver or coin of more than nominal value. Pictures will be shown. I'll get a little cash and my drawer space back. Someone will get a deal and get to feel like they did some real cherry picking.
I hear a lot of bad things about eBay, but for some of us, without access to a local coin shop, clubs, coin shows, it is the best way to acquire coins. Buying world coins by the pound, you can usually be assured they haven't been gone through. Large dealers pick them up, go through them for the silver, and then dump them. Besides, it's fun to go through something other than American coins. You can learn a lot about the world and history from just looking up each coin to properly identify it. Of the 195 countries (changes often), I have managed to collect a variety of coins from 119 countries. Some worth good money, others, just educational, but all fun for a few bucks.
There's a lot of junk that isn't worth your time on ebay, but if you don't mind digging through it, there are plenty of hidden gems. It looks like you found one.
I was talking mainly from a value perspective that eBay is a bad place to get these coins, but yes, I agree there's lots to learn from any coin.
