Appraisal question...

I (we) have a reasonably large coin collection and we unfortunately need to
sell it. How should we go about getting an appraisal or do I even need to
have them apprised? Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Steven

"Steven Fritch" wrote:
I (we) have a reasonably large coin collection and we unfortunately need
to
sell it. How should we go about getting an appraisal or do I even need to
have them apprised? Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

If you're committed to selling, Steven, you don't need an independent (paid)
appraisal. For the most part, the people qualified to do this sort of thing
would be candidates to buy all or a portion of the collection. I also
wouldn't advice paying for referrals, either.

To determine the best method of sale, the nature of the collection and your
primary objectives are key. I'll assume for now that you personally have
little coin expertise:

Is the collection primarily investment-grade coins (rare and/or very choice
specimens, especially 100+ year-old coins); proof and mint sets and
commemoratives; hoards of circulated silver and/or wheat cents; or
other/combination? Some representative pictures and/or scans posted to a web
site or the newsgroup alt.pictures.binary.numismatic might help get you
better advice.

Are you trying to maximize price realized, or speed/convenience? And in what
city/region is the collection located?

--Chris

Thank you for your reply. We are committed to selling the coins. As to the
age of the coins, they range from ten year old proof sets, to 100+ year old
coins. I guess we would like to sell the collection as a whole. We live in
the San Francisco Bay area.

Steven


"Chris S" wrote in message
...
"Steven Fritch" wrote:
I (we) have a reasonably large coin collection and we unfortunately need
to
sell it. How should we go about getting an appraisal or do I even need
to
have them apprised? Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

If you're committed to selling, Steven, you don't need an independent
(paid)
appraisal. For the most part, the people qualified to do this sort of
thing
would be candidates to buy all or a portion of the collection. I also
wouldn't advice paying for referrals, either.

To determine the best method of sale, the nature of the collection and
your
primary objectives are key. I'll assume for now that you personally have
little coin expertise:

Is the collection primarily investment-grade coins (rare and/or very
choice
specimens, especially 100+ year-old coins); proof and mint sets and
commemoratives; hoards of circulated silver and/or wheat cents; or
other/combination? Some representative pictures and/or scans posted to a
web
site or the newsgroup alt.pictures.binary.numismatic might help get you
better advice.

Are you trying to maximize price realized, or speed/convenience? And in
what
city/region is the collection located?

--Chris

"Steven Fritch" wrote in message
news
Thank you for your reply. We are committed to selling the coins. As to
the
age of the coins, they range from ten year old proof sets, to 100+ year
old
coins. I guess we would like to sell the collection as a whole. We live
in
the San Francisco Bay area.

Steven


"Chris S" wrote in message
...
"Steven Fritch" wrote:
I (we) have a reasonably large coin collection and we unfortunately
need
to
sell it. How should we go about getting an appraisal or do I even
need
to
have them apprised? Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

If you're committed to selling, Steven, you don't need an independent
(paid)
appraisal. For the most part, the people qualified to do this sort of
thing
would be candidates to buy all or a portion of the collection. I also
wouldn't advice paying for referrals, either.

To determine the best method of sale, the nature of the collection and
your
primary objectives are key. I'll assume for now that you personally have
little coin expertise:

Is the collection primarily investment-grade coins (rare and/or very
choice
specimens, especially 100+ year-old coins); proof and mint sets and
commemoratives; hoards of circulated silver and/or wheat cents; or
other/combination? Some representative pictures and/or scans posted to a
web
site or the newsgroup alt.pictures.binary.numismatic might help get you
better advice.

Are you trying to maximize price realized, or speed/convenience? And in
what
city/region is the collection located?

--Chris

Best advice is to buy a coin book. I assume these would be US coins, the
best book would be the Whitman Official Red Book US coins. These can be
bought at the major book stores. This is just so that you can see which
coins are rarities and which are common. The prices shown are full retail
and dealers will pay from 40 to 60 percent. Next is to take the collection
to a few dealers sorted to the denominations (all the 5c together, all the
10c together, etc) and get an offer for the lot. Common silver coins are
usually bought for their scrap silver value depending on the daily price for
silver bullion.

Hope this helps

Kyle.

"Steven Fritch" wrote in message
news
Thank you for your reply. We are committed to selling the coins. As to
the
age of the coins, they range from ten year old proof sets, to 100+ year
old
coins. I guess we would like to sell the collection as a whole. We live
in
the San Francisco Bay area.

Steven


"Chris S" wrote in message
...
"Steven Fritch" wrote:
I (we) have a reasonably large coin collection and we unfortunately
need
to
sell it. How should we go about getting an appraisal or do I even
need
to
have them apprised? Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

If you're committed to selling, Steven, you don't need an independent
(paid)
appraisal. For the most part, the people qualified to do this sort of
thing
would be candidates to buy all or a portion of the collection. I also
wouldn't advice paying for referrals, either.

To determine the best method of sale, the nature of the collection and
your
primary objectives are key. I'll assume for now that you personally have
little coin expertise:

Is the collection primarily investment-grade coins (rare and/or very
choice
specimens, especially 100+ year-old coins); proof and mint sets and
commemoratives; hoards of circulated silver and/or wheat cents; or
other/combination? Some representative pictures and/or scans posted to a
web
site or the newsgroup alt.pictures.binary.numismatic might help get you
better advice.

Are you trying to maximize price realized, or speed/convenience? And in
what
city/region is the collection located?

--Chris

"Kyle Mutcher" wrote:
Best advice is to buy a coin book. I assume these would be US coins, the
best book would be the Whitman Official Red Book US coins. These can be
bought at the major book stores. This is just so that you can see which
coins are rarities and which are common. The prices shown are full retail
and dealers will pay from 40 to 60 percent. Next is to take the collection
to a few dealers sorted to the denominations (all the 5c together, all the
10c together, etc) and get an offer for the lot. Common silver coins are
usually bought for their scrap silver value depending on the daily price
for
silver bullion.

This all makes sense. You may also want to check out eBay's Collections and
Lots section to sense of what's going on in that marketplace:
http://tinyurl.com/2wq5o

Some people here on rcc may know some reputable dealers in/around SF.
Alternatively, you could call the ANA: www.money.org.

Finally, I wouldn't hesitate to ask specific questions here on rcc, up to
and including such things as, "I posted a scan (to
alt.pictures.binary.numismatic or a personal web page) of a coin that the
Red Book suggests is worth a lot--am I correct?" The knowledge and insight
here never cease to amaze me.

Good luck!

--Chris

Kyle and Chris provide good advice. If you provide a list of what you have and
can post pictures on APBN or a separate webpage, some of us may make an offer.
Even everybody is looking for a deal, I find most RCC-ers do offer fair prices
to the uninformed (not an insult here).

Jerry

"Chris S" offers:

"Kyle Mutcher" wrote:
Best advice is to buy a coin book. I assume these would be US coins, the
best book would be the Whitman Official Red Book US coins. These can be
bought at the major book stores. This is just so that you can see which
coins are rarities and which are common. The prices shown are full retail
and dealers will pay from 40 to 60 percent. Next is to take the collection
to a few dealers sorted to the denominations (all the 5c together, all the
10c together, etc) and get an offer for the lot. Common silver coins are
usually bought for their scrap silver value depending on the daily price
for
silver bullion.

This all makes sense. You may also want to check out eBay's Collections and
Lots section to sense of what's going on in that marketplace:
http://tinyurl.com/2wq5o

Some people here on rcc may know some reputable dealers in/around SF.
Alternatively, you could call the ANA: www.money.org.

Finally, I wouldn't hesitate to ask specific questions here on rcc, up to
and including such things as, "I posted a scan (to
alt.pictures.binary.numismatic or a personal web page) of a coin that the
Red Book suggests is worth a lot--am I correct?" The knowledge and insight
here never cease to amaze me.

Good luck!

--Chris