Selling a Coin Collection

[BOZ]

hello!

My wife's step-father is gravely ill and is not expected to live much longer (but this thread is not about that).

He asked my mother-in-law to sell his coin collection, and she asked me for help on how to do this. I told her i didn't know much about it, but i said i'd do what i could. she said there are some very old coins in there, some over 100 years old, and that there is likely a lot of value. i haven't seen any of the coins, don't know the dates or types (but she said there's a wide range), but i want to know if anyone knows how to go about selling a collection. how would i go about getting them appraised, how would i find a collector or would i be better going to a coin shop, or whatever.

any help would be appreciated! i'll try to find out exactly what sort of coins she has as soon as i can, if that would help.

 

[Shemeska]

hello!

My wife's step-father is gravely ill and is not expected to live much longer (but this thread is not about that).

He asked my mother-in-law to sell his coin collection, and she asked me for help on how to do this. I told her i didn't know much about it, but i said i'd do what i could. she said there are some very old coins in there, some over 100 years old, and that there is likely a lot of value. i haven't seen any of the coins, don't know the dates or types (but she said there's a wide range), but i want to know if anyone knows how to go about selling a collection. how would i go about getting them appraised, how would i find a collector or would i be better going to a coin shop, or whatever.

any help would be appreciated! i'll try to find out exactly what sort of coins she has as soon as i can, if that would help.

Going to a brick and morter coin shop is going to get you one of two things: an honest dealer who will do a good job appraising it, and probably offer to buy portions of it from you, or you'll get someone that utterly lowballs you the moment they sense you don't know anything about the collection.

As a general guide, buying the most recent edition of the Whitman guide (the "Red Book") should give you an idea of what you have, though you won't have the experience to really grade the coins yourself. I'd advise you to do this and catalog the collection before stepping foot into a coin shop.

And don't try to sell them by lot in an auction house or estate sale, nor for the love of God do not sell them to anyone buying/selling coins from the bed of a pickup truck at a county or state fair.

I collected coins as a kid, and have been picking it back up now that I'm out of school and have a job.

 

[BOZ]

Going to a brick and morter coin shop is going to get you one of two things: an honest dealer who will do a good job appraising it, and probably offer to buy portions of it from you, or you'll get someone that utterly lowballs you the moment they sense you don't know anything about the collection.

that's pretty much what i'd expect. so the word of the day is shop around? i remember there being a number of such shops in downtown Chicago when i went to school there.

As a general guide, buying the most recent edition of the Whitman guide (the "Red Book") should give you an idea of what you have, though you won't have the experience to really grade the coins yourself. I'd advise you to do this and catalog the collection before stepping foot into a coin shop.

where/how would i get such a book?

 

[Shemeska]

where/how would i get such a book?

Amazon, or most chain bookstores should carry it.


[probably unintentionally rude]
And of course you could always offer first dibs to Enworlders if they inquired about specific coins or sets of coins once you had a chance to make a list of what all is there to check the query against? [/probably unintentionally rude]

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A good library will likely have a copy of it, though it will probably be a few years old. Still, you're trying to get an estimate of value, not evaluating the coins yourself.

You might also see if there are any local clubs to get more info, either for actual potential purchasers or the 411 on who is a reputable coin dealer.

You may also be able to sell them at a collector show. I don't do coins, but I do do gems. Over the years, I've bought and sold stuff at travelling gem shows with generally favorable results. Of course, you might have to wait a while for one to come to your town...

BTW- after you get a good appraisal & depending upon your tax bracket, you might also consider donating them to charity instead of selling them- you'll get full book value to take as a tax credit rather than some middling sale value that depends on your local market (check with your tax professional or computer program for more details).

 

[Treebore]

Selling coins is a lot like selling gem stones. (Danny, I need to tell you about some awesome stones i have recently bought).

If you want anywhere near top dollar your going to have to do your research and take your time selling them off. If you need the money quick your going to take a loss, 70% or more.

Either way do your research. Grading really old coins isn't that hard, because all of them have been in circulation at the very least. Just make sure you don't have any of the "holy grails", such as the 1943 (?) Copper penny. Only 200 exist and are worth tons. Sell something like that at a specialty auction via someone like Sotheby's.

If you want top dollar its going to take years to sell off. Otherwise if your looking to sell quickly be happy if you get 30% of book or better.

Sorry, but that is the reality of selling off a collection. Only true "holy grail" coins will get you anything like top dollar, and you'll do best through a top auction house if you have those kinds of coins. That is because they may actually be worth far more than book to two or more collectors at that auction. They will set the real book value.


Good luck.

 

[Balgus]

A good place to start is ebay. Put a really high reserve price on it. If it gets hit - sell it, you made what you wanted. If it doesnt, you get a fairly good idea of what people are willign to pay for it... or at least a starting point.

For a small fee, you get a market appraisal of the coin collection.

 

[BOZ]

ABTW- after you get a good appraisal & depending upon your tax bracket, you might also consider donating them to charity instead of selling them- you'll get full book value to take as a tax credit rather than some middling sale value that depends on your local market (check with your tax professional or computer program for more details).

thanks, she might be interested in that. i'll mention it.

what is the full title of the Whitman guide? is it a periodical, and if so how often does it come out?


BTW, he passed away about a week ago now. my M-i-L hasn't mentioned the coin collection since then, and i'll wait for her to bring it up again, but at least now i have some good info to start with. the memorial is next saturday, so i don't expect to be dealing with this again for at least a few weeks, maybe months, who knows.

 

[BOZ]

[probably unintentionally rude]
And of course you could always offer first dibs to Enworlders if they inquired about specific coins or sets of coins once you had a chance to make a list of what all is there to check the query against? [/probably unintentionally rude]

if you're a collector, i'll see if she would consider that. she may just want to dump the whole thing at once. again, i don't know how many coins there are, how old they are, etc., and i can't really say anything until i do.

 

[Shemeska]

what is the full title of the Whitman guide? is it a periodical, and if so how often does it come out?

http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Book-Un...taf_title_featured?ie=UTF8&tag=tellafriend-20

Hopefully the link works. And it's published once a year, either hardback or spiral bound.