Are Bulk World Coin Autions Worth It?

You can bet they've been searched for silver, if not dates.

When Yurrup switched over to the €, old coins were returned to the central banks. At the time, I did a calculation of just the coins worth a nickel or less from four of the member nations that would be returned for replacement. It came out to 130,000 tons, or 3000+ semi loads. Even if a dealer were to buy in 10 ton lots, he'd have 14 different denominations, millions of each one.

For complete calculations, search deja for euro central bank group:rec.collecting.coins author:fred author:a. author:murphy

I've been very disappointed in the bulk coin lots I've purchased. Full of British new pennies, euro cents and small denomination coins of very little value. I think all these sellers get the coins from some giant wholesaler somewhere.

I paid way too much for five pounds of coins from what was billed as an estate sale, but it was a nice eclectic mix, although it, too, included several dozen Euro cents, three or four slugs, and one "railroaded" cent (and an '82 USA cent). However, although the seller crowed that he had spotted some 1800's dates, there was nary a 19-century coin; in fact, the oldest was a holed '59 UK penny. Perhaps the most valuable coin was a 10,000-zloty Polish coin - worth perhaps $15 (unfortunately, not the $4,800 it could have been worth at today's exchange rate - danged devaluation, anyway). Since I'd already sent positive feedback immediately after receiving the package, all I could do was to scold the seller when he e-mailed me to invite me to bid on another, similar offering, telling him to be a little more careful with his descriptions. Never heard back from him, of course.

It all depends on what you expect and where you get your coins from. If you don't mind common coins or low-value coins, then it can be great fun to sort through them with a child, if you're just starting out in world coins, it's also a very valuable experience. That being said, though, I would not pay more than $5/lb for world coins, and with rare exception, don't expect silver. The last bulk lot I purchased did have silver, and had 19th century coins, but only a small handful of each. I've bought bulk lots 4 times, and enjoyed going through them with my kids (but I would have enjoyed it alone, too). My experiences:

1) - most expensive lot I purchased, almost 30% were new British pennies, outside of that, mix was decent with about 50% Europe, 50% the rest of the world. About a dozen tokens, and a half dozen US/CDN coins mixed in.

2) - $4/lb, good mix, plenty of French, but not overwhelmingly, excellent mix of Central America and the Caribbean.

3) - same source as #2, but this time it had plenty of Italian, but not overwhelmingly. Mix this time was more broad across the globe. This one had some that I didn't expect to find: Transnistra, Falkland Islands, Kazhakstan, for example.

4) - new source, must have come from the Bundesbank originally, as there were no more than 3 or 4 German coins. This is the one with some silver and some 19th century. I also got a number of coins I didn't have previously, such as a good selection from Yugoslavia and Iceland for example, and the occasional coin from Malta and Cyprus, among a few other not-so-common places. Coins were mostly European, but they weren't limited to recent issues at all. No Euro coins in this batch.

If your expectations aren't too high going in, or you don't mind getting a bunch of common coins while you look for that one strange/unique/exciting coin, then you'll do alright, but pick your dealers carefully, as there are a lot that will stick you with junk. With the exception of my first lot, I've been pretty fortunate, but again, I'm not looking for anything rare or expensive.