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Beginner - how do I sell coins & such? (self.coins)

submitted ago by davethegr8

My grandmother just passed away, and left behind a decent collection of coins. I was wondering what is the best way to find dealers to buy them, or even to sell some myself? Is there anything particular I should know, or look out for?

Thanks :)

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[–]NameCensored 2 points3 points ago

It really depends on the size of the collection. If it is a smaller collection then you should research the cost of each coin and how much it is going for on ebay. If it is a larger collection, say more than 500 coins, then you may want to go to a dealer. If it is an extremely large collection then I would suggest you find a local coin auctioneer who can help you.

Edit: Or you can research them a bit and possibly start collecting on your own.

[–]davethegr8[S] 1 point2 points ago

I'm a programmer/database guy, so I put everything in a database and made a little site. There's just over 1000 things, with some pretty interesting. Uncirculated canadian silver dollars, a roll of 1954 quarters (which also look uncirculated), and so on. Most of it's junk though, ie heavily worn prohibition era dimes.

ninja edit: some stuff I'm going to collect/keep of course. ;)

[–]NameCensored 1 point2 points ago

Awesome.

[–]MxMj 1 point2 points ago

That junk is probably silver and each dime is worth ~$2 http://www.coinflation.com/silver_coin_values.html scroll down for canadian coinage

[–]davethegr8[S] 1 point2 points ago

yep, already written up a fancy melt value script that totals them all. Hundreds in face value become thousands in meltables.

[–]detzelpretzel 1 point2 points ago

What's the site man...what's the site???

[–]davethegr8[S] 1 point2 points ago

Haha, it's http://localhost/estate/coins.php

So no one except me (and people who know my IP and in the same network) can see it.

Why, are you interested? ;)

[–]SatOnMyNutsAgain 1 point2 points ago

Just post a tab delimited dump.

[–]davethegr8[S] 0 points1 point ago

can it be CSV instead? ;)

Once I get a better idea of how to estimate quality, I'll do something like that.

[–]SteamAddict805 0 points1 point ago

Please do!

[–]Doebino 3 points4 points ago

I hate when people do this. Grandma died, SELL ALL THE COINS. I just find it disrespectful to the hobby. I wish someone would leave their coins for me as its huge history and a lot of time spent by a someone. I understand how people aren't interested in the coins but just pawning them off as soon as they're out the door for a quick buck is just.. shitty.

[–]SteamAddict805 1 point2 points ago

Not everyone is interested in numismatics. To each their own.

One day, my grandchildren will inherit my coin collection and will probably sell them off lol. Oh well.

A lot of times, I tell people I collect coins and they just seem really uninterested. I don't get it because coin collecting is awesome, but their loss.

[–]davethegr8[S] 0 points1 point ago

I'm sorry you feel that way... it's hard to describe all the emotions and things I'm going through right now and be verbose and clear enough when writing online. She was very special to me, and really the only way I can work through this is with brevity and honesty.

I understand what you are saying though. Right now, I'm playing all this pretty close to my vest, but I would like to reassure you that I'm not in this for the cash monies. Some others in my family would prefer to just dump everything as easily as possible, ignoring any possible importance the coins might have outside of how much they can be melted for. The reason I'm doing this is to keep that from happening, by learning as much about what she left behind as possible, and then if we decide to sell them we'll be able to do it right and not get screwed. We are also trying to find people that would appreciate some of these more than we could.

And there are things that I won't let get sold. There's one bill in particular that I've already claimed, that is special to me for a few reasons: it's old, it's historically significant, and it matches some other of my interests (art) very closely.

Bottom line, I guess, is that the reason I'm asking on this subreddit is because I have no clue what I'm doing, and it's my hope that I can learn how to do this right.

I'd welcome any advice or other comments you have. Thanks. :)

[–]Doebino 0 points1 point ago

I don't mean to insult or cause any hard feelings. I just see this happen far too often and I don't like it. You might have other reasons, which is fine and I'm sorry I just saw this as the last straw. I really enjoy the hobby myself and to think I spent the past 12 years of my life collecting only to have someone sell them when I'm not around. I just don't like the idea of it. Good luck in your sales I hope you don't get taken advantage of. Post pictures im interested in seeing what you have.

[–]davethegr8[S] 0 points1 point ago

It's alright, no hard feelings. These coins were my grandfather's, and he died 40 years ago. My dad mentioned he has fond memories of filling up penny sets with him before he passed away, so we're getting a chance to do this together and make new memories.

And I think that's the key. If you share your passion with your family, they're more likely to appreciate your collection, keep it up when it becomes their collection.

[–]whiskeyboots 1 point2 points ago

i'd possibly be interested in purchasing some from you depending on what you have...

identifying what you have and the quality of such would be my first move....generic books and online sites that can help with that...

[–]davethegr8[S] 1 point2 points ago

Noted, I'll come back here and post once I've got a better idea of qualities.

[–]whiskeyboots 1 point2 points ago

go slow with your evaluations...many people will take advantage of someone who knows very little, as i'm sure you realize...good luck! and if you have anything you'd like me to look at i'd be glad to check out some pics!

[–]davethegr8[S] 0 points1 point ago

That's what I'm most cautious of. I've found quite a few dealers in my area, and I'm going to go talk to some of them. Some of the coins will need to be graded I think, so I've got an emphasis that can help me work through doing that.

Out of curiosity, what are the kinds of things you're interested in? Maybe I can take pics of a few and post them.

[–]whiskeyboots 0 points1 point ago

cc morgans mostly...

[–]Jewishjay 1 point2 points ago

You should learn about the coins and, then if you decide to sell, eBay.

[–]davethegr8[S] 0 points1 point ago

That's pretty much the plan, though ebay can be a pain sometimes, so in some ways I'd prefer to avoid it.

[–]Jewishjay 0 points1 point ago

But the highest profit is there. IF you know what you have. eBay is a great place to sell coins, and a terrible place to buy coins.

[–]SteamAddict805 1 point2 points ago

EBay isn't so bad if the seller will accept returns (if it's counterfeit you can return it) and you only pay what you bid... so don't overbid!

I've gotten a ton of junk silver jfks on eBay for well under spot.

Be patient and you can find great deals on eBay. Try searching for misspelled auctions like "silve coins" to find low traffic auctions. Ultimately .. one needs to be cautious. EBay is full of predators and profiteers.

[–]davethegr8[S] 0 points1 point ago

good to know, thanks

[–]toro420phelpsit 0 points1 point ago

I'd be really interested in buying some of them, if you want to pm me and send some pics that would be awesome! I've got my heart set on a few coins if I can find them!

[–]WorkDodge 0 points1 point ago

How are you at taking pictures?

With a good quality picture of the obverse (front) and reverse (back) of a coin a fairly accurate grade can be determined by an experienced numismatist. Over at coincommunity.com they have areas in their forum where people can post pictures of coins and the community will grade them to the best of their ability. That might be a good start. You could also request detailed reasoning behind their given grades to help you learn.

[–]davethegr8[S] 0 points1 point ago

Awesome, thanks for the advice. I've got a quality SLR that I'm planning on using, though I'm considering buying an actual macro lens to get better detail. The site I mentioned earlier actually shows the images along with year, mint, demonimation, and basic notes, so I can put that up somewhere and refer directly to it.

[–]Code347 2 points3 points ago

/r/Coins4sale

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