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Cool story Barneyb71, let us know more about the deal. I had a similar situation with a sweet lady that runs the church thrift store. She knew I like to collect coins and showed me this 1924 Peace Dollar she had for years. It was an oil patch gift from Hughes Tool Company. Unfortunately, it's in rough condition. Because I don't really knowing valuations of silver dollars (other than silver content currently worth ~$13.50), I offered her $21 since that's what a local collector was asking for each coin in a bin full of worn Morgan and Peace Dollars. She would only take $20. My question is how do ya'll handle these situations where somebody you know is offering to sell you less than premium coins. Is there a general rule like "Silver spot price plus a percentage"?
My comments below are just opinions as I haven't bought any coin collections from people I know, but here are the questions I would ask myself if I was in this situation.
Question 1) How much would you be willing to pay if you were buying the coin(s) from someone you don't know?
The answer is the minimum you should offer.
Question 2) What is the minimum amount you would sell the coin(s) for if the coin(s) were yours?
The answer is the maximum you should offer.
Question 3) How badly do you want the coin(s)? Are they for your personal collection or to resell?
The more you want them for your personal collection, the closer to the maximum you should be willing to offer since it is from someone you know.
When I buy collectibles for my personal collection, I try to stay at or below the price I think I can sell them for later when either I get a nicer one or just decide to sell. Yes, I like to still make a little bit when I sell stuff, but if I only break even on some of those types of purchases (especially if buying from a friend) I am okay with that as my reason for buying it in the first place was to keep it for myself and not for profit.
Now if I am buying a collectible only because I plan to resell it, then the price has to be low enough to make it worthwhile. If it is something that will sell quickly and easily for a small profit than being closer to your intended sale price is okay. If it will likely sit for a long time such that you will need to hold it in "inventory" for longer, you will probably want to go closer to your minimum. How close to either extreme you are willing to go is a personal decision and one you can figure out if you do a lot of buying and selling. Also remember there may be expenses trying to sell. Perhaps you need to buy flips to put the coins in or you are going to sell over ebay and pay a fee to sell.
In addition there are other considerations to make such as what your relationship to the seller is and what you want the relationship to be after the sale. If it's someone you are close to and you are buying the coin(s) for your own collection, just make an honest offer as to what you think is fair. If buying the coins(s) to make a little profit and you want to make sure not to harm the relationship, just be up front about your intentions so they aren't hurt if they find out that you sold them later at a higher price. If buying to resell, you can decide to also disclose what you think you'll be selling them for and that you need to buy them for less than that so you can make a little profit. How much to disclose would depend on the situation.
All told, there are many variables, but unless you are intentionally over paying to help out a friend, my basic rules would be to keep your offer under your minimum sell price and higher than the price you'd pay a stranger for the same coin(s). Any number in the middle will be based on your judgment of what you think is fair for the situation and your intentions.
