How do I sell my Coin Collection?

Posted By Team iBizExpert On January 17, 2022 07:59 AM Hits: 72

So, you want to sell the coins you've been collecting for a long time, or you inherited a collection and don't know anything about them but want to sell them. You want to make sure you get a fair price when you sell anything. Sounds easy enough, doesn't it? When it's time to sell your collection of coins, the offers you get can be very different. The tips below will help you get an offer that is fair and reasonable. I will talk more about what it means to be "reasonable" in a bit. Like people in any other job, there are thousands of coin dealers. From small businesses run by a single person to huge companies that buy and sell millions of dollars worth of coins every year. We also have a few bad apples, just like other jobs and fields. If you follow the general advice in this article, you should be able to get more out of your collection. So here we go!

First, you need to know what you already have. Why? How can you know if you are getting a fair price if you don't know what you have? I'm not saying that you need to count all of your wheat cents if you have a lot of them. In fact, you might not want to do it. At best, there aren't many chances of finding a key coin. But you should know how much money you have. How? Just compare them. A pound of wheat costs about 148 pennies. The same rule can be used for other common coins like Roosevelt Dimes and Washington quarters from before 1965, for which you may only find a bullion price. You might want to count the number of each piece in the rest of your collection. Make sure you have a full list of everything you own.

Now it's time to talk to a dealer. Not yet, no. How can you tell if you're getting a good one? You need to do some research before you talk to a dealer. Does the dealer belong to any groups or clubs, like the ANA or the BBB? How long has he or she run a business? What do people say about them? Before you make that call, check out a few dealers. Also, just because they put an ad in a popular magazine for coin collectors does not mean they are honest. I know of one dealer who advertises in a major magazine and sells cleaned coins as BU/Unc originals. Most collectors who are just starting out wouldn't know the difference.

After doing some research, it's time to get in touch with the dealer. There are many ways to do this. You can call them or, if you're shy, you can send them an email. In your email, say who you are and that you want to sell a collection. Include the inventory you filled out in the email. Some dealers won't want your collection, which may surprise a lot of people. Many dealers only sell certain types or series of coins, or they may just have too many coins. If you have a normal collection of common coins, you may be disappointed to find out that most, if not all, of the big coin dealers don't want to deal with you. Sorting the common collections takes too much time, and the margins are too small. Don't worry, it's not too late. There are a lot of smaller shops that would love to buy your collection. Many of these dealers only sell through the mail, and you may only be able to reach them through email or a PO Box. Even though these people may look sketchy, you can usually trust them. As before, talk to the dealer and ask if they are interested. If they aren't, just move on to the next dealer. If so, ask them for a list of their "buy prices." Many dealers will put out a list of the prices they will pay for different coins.

After a lot of hard work, you now have a few offers. You don't even come close to getting what you were hoping for. Remember what I said above about making an offer that is "reasonable"? Here are some hard facts. People who sell coins do so to make money. Even though many of us chose this job because we love it, we still have to pay for our homes, cars, kids' college, etc., just like everyone else. People often look at the most recent issue of Coin Prices magazine to get an idea of how much their collection is worth. Coin Prices is a magazine that tells you how much you can expect to pay a dealer for a particular coin, not how much you can expect to get paid. Markups can be anywhere from 20 to 50 percent or even more for small coins like wheat cents. I already said that some dealers might not want what you have. Also, most dealers, if not all, keep the right to change the offer after seeing the collection. If you think all of your Morgan Dollars are BU but they are actually AU, this would make a huge difference in price. Grading is a very personal thing. Also, a dealer may spend a lot of time looking over larger, more varied collections to make sure they are priced fairly.

What should we do? Take the best deal and run away? Maybe, maybe not. If you got this as a gift and you don't care about it, you can sell it and never look back. If this is what you've saved for 50 years, this may hurt. You can keep talking to different dealers and wait until one gives you a better deal. You can always put your collection up for auction if you think it should be worth more. Some of the fees that the big auction houses charge might not make it worth it. You can also try eBay, but if you don't have a lot of positive feedback, many buyers won't bid on your items. You can also find people on eBay who will sell your collection for you in exchange for a cut of the money they make. This sometimes goes well and sometimes doesn't.

Let's say, for now, that you get a fair offer and decide to sell. Also, this offer should be in writing and sent by mail or email. Often, the buyer lives in a different city or state. Before seeing the collection, no one will send you a check. Some buyers will come to you if your collection is worth many, many thousands of dollars. If not, you can send the collection to the buyer by mail, which is a very good idea. Yes, you're right, by mail. You may say, "Wait, that sounds dangerous." It can be, but you won't have any problems if you take care. First, make sure the collection is well-packaged. Make sure that there are NO LOOSE COINS that can be heard. The sound of coins jingling is like music to the ears of a thief. So make sure they are well and tightly wrapped. The USPS is a pretty safe way to send something through the mail. Most of the time, you should use USPS Priority Mail. You can usually get free boxes from the post office in your area. Most of the time, you'll want to use the Flat Rate options because you can ship up to 70 pounds for less than $10 (without insurance), but you can also ask your local post office clerk about other options. For your own safety, you MUST pay for delivery confirmation and insurance on your package. Put an itemised list in your package. Most dealers will like this, since they will be able to check that the shipment matches the list. If everything goes well, you should get a check soon.