The month of February I'll be offering a money-making tip every weekday. Here's the one for today:
Make money by collecting coins.
There are several ways -- though none of them particularly "good" ways -- to make money by collecting coins. Some ideas:
1. Look for coins with "mistakes." These regularly sell for above face value, sometimes waaaaay above face value.
2. Focus on one set of coins and take specific steps that could earn you some extra cash.
3. Do it the long, old-fashioned way: learn, study, collect, and sell coins over time.
This idea falls into my suggestion of making money from your hobby. I think you have to love collecting coins first, then if you can make a bit of money at it you're very, very happy. But even if you don't, you'll still enjoy the hobby.
Anyone out there collect coins for profit? If so, please share your stories with us!
I'd like to add that, while pretty rare these days, checking your dimes and quarters for dates from 1964 and earlier can net you a little cash as well. A pre-1965 dime is currently worth $1.01 and a pre-1965 quarter is worth $2.53 purely on it's silver content. An easy way to check a small stack of change is to look at the edges; if you see a copper band, it's not silver, but if you see just silver or (sometimes) black in the grooves, then check the date. I've done this for years and have collected about $5 in silver change that is worth about $70.
Posted by: Rod Ferguson | February 24, 2009 at 04:49 PM
I used to sell antiques on eBay for profit for a collector.
He mainly sold stamps, postcards, and coins.
The most profitable of the three were the stamps.... with some of the ones we listed fetching over $4,000 a piece. He listed in multiple categories for the stamps (Confederate States, Australian States, EFO's [Errors, Freaks, and Oddities], German Zeppelins, etc). The coins we did not list many of... but some of the better ones he would get a few hundred for. They usually had some printing press problem where the coin was printed halfway or one side was blank.
He learned how to judge value by working for an auction brokerage in his younger days. Then he met someone at the brokerage that took a liking to him and hired him as their buyer. After years of experience he quit to do some other things. Now he just goes to estate sales all day and buys "grandpas old stamp collection" for cheap and picks through for the few stamps that have value.
Most is trash, but there is the rare gem.
Posted by: My Life ROI | February 24, 2009 at 04:56 PM
I'm a collector and I have a couple of things to say.
First, DO NOT SELL COINS FOR SILVER CONTENT. Those coins are pieces of history and have far more intrinsic value than any nugget of melted silver ever will. If you are planning on selling simply for the silver content, which almost always gets them melted down, contact me first. I would like to have a crack at buying them off of you (which would probably be worth more to you anyway).
Secondly, if you want to make money from coins you have to spend money and lots of it in order to get inventory necessary to truly make a go of it. Rumor has it that most if not all of the valuable coins have already been pulled out of circulation. Only those found via metal detectors are out there now which means that you will be paying MUCH higher than face value on any coin if you want to turn around and sell it for profit.
Posted by: rdub98 | February 24, 2009 at 05:16 PM
Thank you for that information, that is very helpful and i cant wait to put it to use keep the post going.
thank you
Derrick
Posted by: Build Your Own Webpage | February 24, 2009 at 08:34 PM
I sold all of my $20 St. Gaudens coins to a dealer and Pamp Suisse 1 oz. bullion bars to an Indian co-worker when spot gold hit $950 last year. That's a gain of 40% from when I purchased them. All I have left are Mexican $2.50 pesos coins in slabs.
I also sold 100 pounds of old processors and memory chips to someone who melted them for the gold content. It didn't cost me anything to acquire, as my old company was tossing them in the dumpster. I dove right in and made a nice profit.
A bummer was that my silver bracelets from Mexico were of low grade silver, not even worth melting, according to a metals dealer. Now I have worthless bracelets with a scratch where he took a sample for the chemical test. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.
Posted by: Broke Wall Streeter | February 25, 2009 at 12:54 PM
Fortunately, $20 St-Gaudens pieces retain numismatic value above gold content, so these are not being melted.
To make money selling coins, you need a supply of cheaper coins. It is very difficult to buy coins on eBay that you can resell for a higher price, and I recommend not even trying it.
I've seen some people advertise on Craigslist to buy coins; this is free to try.
Error coins (coins with "mistakes") are often localized in distribution and unless you happen to live in just the right area, it's very unlikely you'll ever find one.
Posted by: poor boomer | February 26, 2009 at 05:09 PM
Hey Rdub98, I have some coins i was going tosell for silver. Let me know if you want them.
Posted by: Levon Costa | January 12, 2012 at 10:36 AM