Large collection

bman3725 · Jan 13, 2013

I wanted to know if anyone could reccomend a good coin collection buyer. Have a rather large collection drop in my lap and I have no where for it. Any leads will be appreciated

Diver_Down · Jan 14, 2013

Why not put it on eBay? Just be upfront about what you have and take plenty of pictures. Don't make up a story about finding "Grandpa's coin collection". Just list what it is. Start a reasonable price and let the market decide the value.

Mackaydon · Jan 14, 2013

If you simply want to 'cash out', I'd go with Diver Down's suggestion. However, you may also wish to consider this a learning opportunity to the point of knowing the approx. value of each coin--first. To that extent, you can buy a new, one or two year old copy of "A Guide Book of United States Coins" ('The Official Redbook') and learn about what makes a coin valuable and how valuable is your collection. The Redbook prints retail estimated prices only, but does give you a relative price versus other coins. What the coins sell for today can be found on Ebay under Completed Transactions (NOT listings!!)
Don........

dustywallen · Jan 14, 2013

How large are we talking about? What does it all consist of?

bman3725 · Jan 14, 2013

Thanks guys for the info. Im going to look into it more thoroughly for sure. I have a lot of it and its going to be a chore.

The extent of this is from a 60+ year collection. Mercury dimes, walking liberty quarters/halves, buffalo nickels, heck there's every kind of nickel here. This collection alone weighs more than one person can move in one day. I will post a sample when I get a chance. Oh by the way is there something special about 1942 mercury dimes? Other than being silver? There's at least 5 safety deposit boxes full of them then various other years oldest I've found is 1917.
Thanks again guys

Mackaydon · Jan 14, 2013

There is nothing special about the 1942 dime UNLESS it's either a 42D or 42 plain with the '2' stamped over the '1' as in 1941. The other keys dates are 1916D (the year the series began), 1921 plain and D; and the 1926S.
Don.....

bman3725 · Jan 14, 2013

Ok check on all you named what makes those so special? This is very interesting I've been looking through what I have and there's several books I found with buffalo nickels with ALL dates as well as many other coinage

dustywallen · Jan 14, 2013

bman3725 said:
Ok check on all you named what makes those so special? This is very interesting I've been looking through what I have and there's several books I found with buffalo nickels with ALL dates as well as many other coinage

Any lincoln cents?

smokeythecat · Jan 14, 2013

I think you'll get the most our of your collection with the Ebay route, despite their fees. A coin dealer will maybe give you 50% of the book value, if you're lucky. Make sure you do your research by going thru a Red Book, as previously mentioned. After that, I would highly recommend you break up the collection into many lots and sell it that way. it will take a lot longer, but you'll get a lot more for it. Reasoning is more people will have the money to spend in smaller increments. There won't be many who will want thousands of coins, except dealers of course who will want to flip them, and low ball you. Look at similer listings and groupings to what you have on Ebay before you make any decisions and compare to what you have. That way you can make an intelligent decision as on how to proceed. For instance, you might want to sell wheat pennies without key dates by the roll or rolls. Just do your reserach first and try to decide what's best for you and what you'll be happy with. Good luck.

Diver_Down · Jan 14, 2013

Another option to consider is becoming a Charter Member on TNet. It will allow you to sell via the classifieds to others without incurring eBay fees. Certain items you will still want to list on eBay. But if you have rolls of common date 90% silver coinage, you can list it here and get at or close to spot.

bman3725 · Jan 14, 2013

@dustywallen oh yeah plenty
@smokycat thanks for the tip. I've been going through some of this since 4 and im not even close to knocking a dent in it. Im enjoying it with my kids this evening its funny they haven't seen or heard of the majority of it. There's some im baffled by how good of shape they are in. Just now I turned out a card of proof sets of walking liberty quarters MINT condition.....amazing.

bman3725 · Jan 14, 2013

Mercury dimes 2 rolls

waseeker · Jan 14, 2013

you could certainly go the ebay way but it will take a lot of time and also the fees/returns, etc. will take time. My recommendations would be as follows:
1. As someone mentioned above, by a Red Book. It will give you lots of information about the different types of coins minted by the US.
2. Sort the coins by denomination, then within denomination by type.
3. Using the red book, determine which dates/mint marks are the key and/or semi-key dates. (They will be the expensive ones in almost all grades).
4. Search your coins for any of these key and/or semi-key dates. (someone mentioned the 1942/1 and 1942/1D Mercury dimes. The 1942/1 error is pretty obvious, but for the D mint mark the over date is not as obvious.)
5. Make a list of all of the key dates and semi-key dates you have.
6. Make a list of everything else.
7. It looks like you live in Alabama so see if you can find a coin dealer in your area. I'm sure the larger cities like Birmingham or Montgomery will have one.
8. Ask them to do an appraisal of your collection for insurance purposes. Tell them you don't want to sell, you just want an appraisal.
9. Decide if you want to sell or keep the collection.
10. If you decide to sell there are many avenues. eBay has been mentioned. Local coin shops are an option. There are also several large national dealers that will buy your collection or auction it for you. It comes down to whether you want the hassle of breaking it up into small lots to sell on eBay over an extended period of time. Or sell all or most of it at one time to a single dealer. The larger the collection you have the more they will be willing to pay on a per cent of value because they will make their money on volume.
11. If you decide to keep all or part of it, find a secure way to store it.

But above all else try to read and learn as much as you can about what you have and the potential value it may have so you don't get ripped off.

Finally make sure you are careful about who you let know about the collection and where it is stored. We don't want to read about your collection being stolen.

PM me if you want additional information.

bman3725 · Jan 14, 2013

Thanks so much guys I have sent my eldest child on a mission to the local bookstore mega chain to buy the Red book. Im gonna be busy for a while I guess. Im not going to get rid of it all I want to keep what I can I just don't have the room for it all.

waseeker · Jan 14, 2013

then by all means identify and keep the key and semi-key coins. They aren't making any more of them and the price for them keeps going up

dejapooh · Jan 15, 2013

I would expect that if you ask for an appraisal from a coin dealer, you can expect to pay for it. I do coin appraisals on occasion, and I charge $50 a hour and up.

waseeker said:
you could certainly go the ebay way but it will take a lot of time and also the fees/returns, etc. will take time. My recommendations would be as follows:
1. As someone mentioned above, by a Red Book. It will give you lots of information about the different types of coins minted by the US.
2. Sort the coins by denomination, then within denomination by type.
3. Using the red book, determine which dates/mint marks are the key and/or semi-key dates. (They will be the expensive ones in almost all grades).
4. Search your coins for any of these key and/or semi-key dates. (someone mentioned the 1942/1 and 1942/1D Mercury dimes. The 1942/1 error is pretty obvious, but for the D mint mark the over date is not as obvious.)
5. Make a list of all of the key dates and semi-key dates you have.
6. Make a list of everything else.
7. It looks like you live in Alabama so see if you can find a coin dealer in your area. I'm sure the larger cities like Birmingham or Montgomery will have one.
8. Ask them to do an appraisal of your collection for insurance purposes. Tell them you don't want to sell, you just want an appraisal.
9. Decide if you want to sell or keep the collection.
10. If you decide to sell there are many avenues. eBay has been mentioned. Local coin shops are an option. There are also several large national dealers that will buy your collection or auction it for you. It comes down to whether you want the hassle of breaking it up into small lots to sell on eBay over an extended period of time. Or sell all or most of it at one time to a single dealer. The larger the collection you have the more they will be willing to pay on a per cent of value because they will make their money on volume.
11. If you decide to keep all or part of it, find a secure way to store it.

But above all else try to read and learn as much as you can about what you have and the potential value it may have so you don't get ripped off.

Finally make sure you are careful about who you let know about the collection and where it is stored. We don't want to read about your collection being stolen.

PM me if you want additional information.

Diggin-N-Dumps · Jan 15, 2013

Diver_Down said:
Why not put it on eBay? Just be upfront about what you have and take plenty of pictures. Don't make up a story about finding "Grandpa's coin collection". Just list what it is. Start a reasonable price and let the market decide the value.

Haha...sometimes I love just reading those BS stories....then going to there feedback, and seeing the same story repeated about 30 different times, I remember there was a woman that would sell her "grandpas mason jars full of coins" and of course she never went thru them, you only got to see what was on the outside of the jar

bman3725 · Jan 15, 2013

go to my feedback page and look it isnt posted 30 or so times. further more ive only posted ONE pic of the collection and it wasn't of any mason jars

dustywallen · Jan 15, 2013

bman3725 said:
Mercury dimes 2 rolls

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=725839"/>

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=725840"/>

2 rolls or 5 boxes?