How to Sell a Coin Collection

I recently had a reader ask about how to sell a couple collections (stamps and matchbooks), so I thought this piece on how to sell a coin collection would round out my "collection" of "how to sell a collection" pieces. ;-)

Anyway, the Wall Street Journal comes up with a great answer for how to sell a coin collection: it depends. I know, really helpful.

Thankfully the advice doesn't stop there. Here's an overview of the two main options they offer:

If you're trying to unload a coin collection quickly and you're willing to leave some (potential) profit on the table, a coin dealer is your best bet. But if you think your coins are worth at least several thousand dollars and you're willing to work with an auction house to try to beat the wholesale price, you might get a larger return on your sale through an auction.

They go on to give a few details -- those of you interested can click through and see their suggestions.

I'd suggest you do a little pre-work before you go to a dealer or auction house. Ask friends who are coin collectors and are knowledgeable on the subject (in other words, "real" collectors, not pretend ones) what they think the value of your coins are in advance. Then when you approach a dealer or auction house, you at least have a decent feel for what the coins could be worth.

As another option for selling your coins, your collector friends may want to buy them. This is why I'd always ask a few friends to give you their estimates on the value of your coins -- just want to make sure one person doesn't try to low-ball you. ;-)

When I mentioned that I was thinking of selling my coin collection, I had a few friends contact me about them. I gave them each a list of what I had and they all came back with the same conclusion -- my coins weren't worth much. Bummer.

So maybe you're not the nerdy type who has hundreds of coin-collecting friends -- what do you do in that case? Maybe ask your friends and family if they know of any coin collectors. If you get some good references, you can then ask them for estimates. If you don't get any, then you may be at the mercy of a coin dealer -- though you could always go to several dealers and take the best offer.

Anything I'm missing? If any of you have some better advice on this subject, I'd love to hear it.

Comments

[Hank]

I had a lot of luck listing my baseball card collection years ago in the newspaper's classified section. The more eyes you can get to look at your collection, the more likely someone might value it higher than another person.

[Frank]

I used to work for an antiques dealer.

He would actually buy his stamps at estate sales and auctions and then pay me to list them on eBay.

It was part-time for me and I got paid $20-25/hour. He was pulling in $5,000+ a week, profit margins varied.

He seemed to believe on his vast experience that eBay was his best option to get his moenys worth.

[FMF]

Frank --

Were these stamp collections (valuable because they were old/rare) or simply regular stamps he bought at less than face value?

[poor boomer]

More suggestions:

Catalog your holdings by country, denomination (dime, quarter, etc), type (e.g. Morgan dollar or Peace dollar), and grade. Grading can be tricky for "uncirculated" or "mint state" coins, but is usually straightforward for circulated coins - this is important because tiny differences in grade can bring large differences in price. (Fortunately, with most circulated coins, small grade differences make little difference in price, and it's generally only rare or uncirculated coins where large price swings hinge on adjacent grades.) Once you know what you have, look at completed listings on eBay to see what similar coins have sold for recently. For example, if you have an 1877 Indian Head cent, that is easy to look up and you'll get a variety of prices.

1) Visit your local coin club. (A list is available online through the American Numismatic Association's website - money.org) Most local coin clubs meet monthly, on a weekday (M-Th) evening in the nth (could be 1st through 4th) week of the month (e.g. on second Tuesdays). If you attend, plan to arrive approx a half hour or so before the scheduled start time. Members often arrive early to show off coins or to buy, sell, and trade. A membership may be required to sell coins there; these typically run $5-$10 per year. You'll probably find a couple dozen or so guys over 50 - few women or under-50. You don't even have to go there to sell - you'll get plenty of free appraisals and opinions just for showing up. Coin collectors often have narrow specializations, but if you have something a specialist wants, they will pay more than a dealer.

2) Attend a coin show (many do not have an admission fee). Lists of upcoming coin shows are available online (e.g. coinshows.com or the ANA website) and in numismatic media; particularly the tabloid-sized weekly newspapers Coin World (coinworld.com) and Numismatic News (numismaticnews.net). At a coin show, it's especially important to know what your coins are worth and to come armed with an asking price. (If asked for an offer, dealers will at best lowball you. Dealers often sell/buy with other dealers at shows, and it is customary to first present an asking price.) Dealers come to shows with want lists for their customers, so you might get lucky and have just the coin that the dealer has a buyer for RIGHT NOW.

3) List your coin on eBay, or have someone list it for you. A good picture (obverse and reverse) is valuable here, since the grade and appearance ("eye appeal") of the coin are very important in valuation. If you've done your research (see above), you'll have a pretty good idea what your coin will bring.

4) If you have some exotic one-of-a-kind major rarity, a major auction house might be the best way to go. Their fees are steep (for both buyer and seller) but they have the ability to attract and vet the super bidders so you don't have to worry about a Non Paying Bidder.

In most cases today, eBay will probably be your best option if you have the all-important good pics to post with your listing. Few coins sneak through at bargain prices. (I've tried to buy bargains.)

One more thing - as the OP suggests, the overwhelming majority of coins out there aren't worth much. The overwhelming majority are not rare, and the overwhelming majority are circulated. Most will be "common" dates whose value can be reduced to a "type" and a grade, e.g. a "Good" (which is actually a very low grade) 1896 Barber quarter is probably worth about as much as a Good 1903 Barber quarter, which is to say, about $3, more or less. There ARE a few scarce dates in any coin series, but it's very unlikely you'll have one.

[Frank]

FMF -- They were mostly EFO's (Errors, Freaks, and Oddities)

He had mostly USA, Confederate States, Australian States, and German Zeppelin stamps/postcards.

I do not recall ever listing just a normal stamp he bought at under face value. (Average stamp I listed would probably be around $300 and be from around 1920... again... average)

[andy]

I tried selling my stamp collection on ebay and craigslist last year. I had some stamps from the 1950's as well so thought I would get some decent money. Unfortnately the best offer I got was about $50. A few less zero's than I thought. Market pricing - love it or hate it, your stuff is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it.

[John]

Hi,I am an coin collector beginner, and I often have some coins that I hasn't swap with other collectors. This advice are very helpfull for me.

[Silver Dollar Finder]

Any collector who is thinking of selling his/her coins can look up the values on websites like Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS).

The tough part about valuing coins is grading them. Coins are graded on a 1 to 70 scale, with 4 being "good", meaning a coin with a rim, readable date, and general outline of the major features on the coin. Grades 60 through 70, referred to as MS-60 to MS-70 (the MS means Mint State), are for uncirculated coins, that is those without any wear from circulation, but possibly scratches or bag marks.

Circulated coins can be graded to a general range even by collectors without much experience by reading the descriptions of the grades and looking for key points of wear, typically on high points of the coin. If the coins are in an uncirculated grade (Mint State - MS-60 to MS-70), it becomes much more difficult as small differences in coin condition can mean a 3-fold or sometimes 10-fold difference in value. Even professionals often disagree on the exact grade of an uncirculated coin. Higher value coins, especially uncirculated ones, are often graded by professional grading services, like PCGS, NGC, and ANACS. These services then seal the coins in hard plastic, tamper-proof holders to guarantee authenticity.

Most collections will not be worth enough for a professional auction house to be viable - fees alone would consume the entire value. However, there are plenty of dealers. Also, collectors can try listing coins on eBay - just a few at a time at first until they get a feel for the market. If they do so, they should make sure to take good pictures.

[John De Argint]

I'd rather sell the few coins I own on ebay as the coin dealer where I live tried to offer me peanuts for 70 silver coins I wanted to unload. At least on ebay you can set a reserve price, but the selling fees eat into your profits.