Found Collection

Dealers' catalog prices look good, but how much would they pay? Would
they pay more for a complete collection than for the same items offered
individually?

Prices on eBay (completed auctions) vary widely, so selling without a
reserve could be a big gamble.

What's the best way to liquidate these assets?

Perce

Complete collections in Harris/Whitman folders don't normally bring a
whole lot unless they're in high grades and all of the keys are
included.  And with that thought in mind, if they were in high grades
with all keys, they'd most likely be in a Dansco or Intercept Shield
album.

If you want the highest value, I'd suggest doing completed auctions
searches on ebay and other auction sites (e.g., Yahoo) and take the
average value as to what you could expect if you were to list them.
Above all, don't look for MS-65 CC Morgans (which can bring as much as
four figures or more) and expect your beat-up, severely cleaned 1921 to
bring that same amount.  Compare your coins to the dates, mint marks
and condition of those sold and use those values.

If you just want to get rid of everything as quickly as possible, take
them to your local coin dealers and see what they would offer.  Realize
that if you go in blind, you'll probably get lowballed, so it pays to
do your homework.

If you choose to list them on ebay (or another site), avoid "Estate" or
"Inherited" anywhere.  For most of us, it's a red flag.  Also, even
though it's fine to say so here on RCC, I'd avoid making the statement
"I'm not a coin collector" in your auction.  I mention this because a
lot of non-collectors with inherited coins see old coins that really
aren't worth a whole lot and then think dealers and potential buyers
are out to "screw them over" with low bids.  Just be factual that you
have a nice 1982-S Proof Set, for example.  Provide clear pictures of
the obverse and reverse of anything you auction.  Mentioning the grade
is helpful, if you know how to grade.  If not, the Red Book gives a
basic idea of what to look for in determining the grade.

If you like (and I like to offer this suggestion), do a "FS: Proof,
Mint, Commemorative, and Miscellaneous Coins" post, list what you have,
and provide a realistic price or a *best offer*.  Some of us do buy
from other posters, and there's a lot less hassle and expenses than
dealing with online auctions.

Hope this helps.

Jerry

So I, at least, am pretty sure about what I have.

Perce

-
dw

Most things that I sell are common, so I often have to consider how
much I can afford to lose if the auction doesn't attract bids. If I
know something will sell, I do a true auction. The less likely the coin
is to sell, the higher my opening bid is, relative to the book value of
the coin. I'd rather an item not sell than to give it away to a very
low bid.

Anita

I would say that basically if you take good photos of the coins and
put them on ebay with a semi-accurate grade, you will get about what
they are worth.

The best way would be to get them accurately graded by someone; maybe
a local coin hobbyist would help you to do that?

Then you can look them up in RECENT (like this month) coin guides
(magazines and on the net, like at pcgs.com, I think it is) and get an
idea what they are worth.

Then list them ACCURATELY and with GOOD PHOTOS on ebay and you will
likely get more than with a dealer buying them from you.

However the above is time consuming so it depends on how much time you
want to spend on this...

If you don't mind getting about 20-40% less for them, but spending a
lot less time and trouble, then just go to the nearest big city and
show them to as many coin buyers as you can and take the best offer at
the end of the day.

Jonathan_ATC

If I have a set of coins with a catalog price of $15, for which a local
dealer might give me, say $5 (I'm guessing because I don't know what
kind of profit they expect to make), why do I want to mess with listing
it on ebay, then having to take it to the Post Office, and perhaps
getting only $2 for it (less eBay's fees)? -- unless I set the initial
price (as somebody else suggested earlier) at some acceptable minimum.

Perce

Jonathan_ATC

Jonathan_ATC