| Author |
 Replies: 19 / Views: 3,167 |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4337 Posts |
depressing times, mates, depressing times. I need to share with the only group of people that could ever understand the feelings and emotions I have right now  Due to recent financial times, not desperate struggles but certainly requiring an action plan, I dumped what amounts to 20% of my collection from a grey sheet price stand point (not 20% of the number of coins.) It was to a dealer w/ 40 years in business. I bought all of my gold and Seated dimes to him. To give you an idea so you can make me feel better about myself and say I did not act desperate (FYI you can search and see all the actual coins in the CCF archive form   ): 1843-O PCGS XF45 $2.5 - $300 1909-D $5 Indian - Raw and Cleaned - $300 1954 P/D/S Mint Set- $200 1837 LSD PCGS AU53 - $550 1888 (you've all seen it, raw ebay for $95, PCGS just gave MS64) - $285 1876 BG-799 NGC MS64 - $400 <a tad bit of a giveaway I think and first one he went for) and few more for a grand total of $3215 in my pocket. I think he got what will amount to "best day auction/BIN" scenarios for $5000 to $5500. Did I give too much away for too little if that is the case as a non-dealer and just a lover of the coins? Any heart wrenching "I had to sell my coins" stories to share? I offer virtual hugs  to all that participate in this support group topic  |
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1804 Posts |
dsfreeworld You have my thoughts, empathy, and sympathy, I have never had to sell valuable coins, because I have none. I have a very few older coins, but most is only worth melt. I do buy Ikes by the $1,000 bag and have more admiration for them. Any way I send this --- |
|
Valued Member
United States
274 Posts |
I can feel your pain, I just sold off my entire collection to buy a house. The upside is that I now own a home with no mortgage and after a few months of remodeling I will start collecting again.
|
|
Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
Sorry to learn you had to sell off part of your collection.
I've never had to sell a coin but I've been through some very lean times.
Anyway, I've heard that getting 60% is normal so I think you did all right. But I'm just going by the numbers you provided. I don't know enough to evaluate anybody's collection but my own.
The thing is, I think you're smart to do it before things got to the point where you're rushed and quite likely making decisions in a pressure cooker.
It's just hard to part with stuff we're fond of - no matter when or under what circumstances. So, sorry you had to do it.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
yeah.....been there..... done that. Never my "core" collection though.......seem to accumulate a bunch of stuff that does not quite fit.....if I need to I sell it of...
Edited by amida17
08/14/2014 6:17 pm
|
|
Valued Member
United States
304 Posts |
I don't know if this will help or not but here's an alternate way of thinking, none of us truly own the coins in our collections. We are simply admiring them and keeping them safe for the next generation. Remember, you can't take it with you. The most we can hope for is that the next person in line will appreciate it as much as we did.
To paraphrase: 'tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
167 Posts |
I completely agree with bjones.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
968 Posts |
Know how I finance my side business buying and selling to pay for my collection? I basically use up my cash savings, then rack up CC debt (I don't care, I make more than the 15% interest per year on buying/flipping) which means I basically buy, sell the junk, slab the other stuff, then dump half of what I get slabbed to pay for the cost of the stuff I want to keep... although if I had my way, I'd keep all of it. So in reality, I end up dumping 3/4's of my NewP's every 3-4 months and keep what I can. It's a brutal cycle, but it works... On another note, I agree with Bjones... we are only custodians of these coins. They were mostly here before us, they'll be here after us... hopefully with our care and diligence, they can survive as high-grade coins for many generations beyond our own. |
|
Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
I had to sell the bulk of my collection before - It sucked. But I was sure glad I had it to fall back on when it was truly needed.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3843 Posts |
Sorry to learn about your difficulties. I've never had to sell but I'm currently having to cut back my numismatic budget drastically due to some increased expenses. Thank goodness for this forum where we can collect vicariously by admiring others' collectors new additions. You don't have to pocess coins to be a numismatist and sometimes the knowledge is more valuable and rare than the shiny metal disks. Edited by Joe2007
08/15/2014 01:07 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
535 Posts |
I had a kidney transplant 4 years ago and can no longer work. This has put a halt on my collecting as going from a working income to a disability pension significantly reduced my income. After going through savings I have had to sell off a large part of my collection as well. You gotta do what you can to survive.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
10982 Posts |
Quote:
...and few more for a grand total of $3215 in my pocket. I think he got what will amount to "best day auction/BIN" scenarios for $5000 to $5500. Sorry to hear you needed to sell part of your collection. Life happens and most of us have found yourselves in similar situations. I copied the line above to illustrate how I value my collection. Let's use $5000 for a fair market retail and you're at $3215 actual take, that's 3215/5000 = 64.3% of full value at wholesale (the dealer's buy price). That is only ~35% under retail for numismatic coins with the dollar value being $1785 under full retail. I feel that's a good wholesale offer price from a dealer. Not great but very solid and one to be content with if you needed the money. Sure you could have listed them on ebay and perhaps netted over $4000 but that takes time and effort. The coin market is not red not this summer. I think you did okay. |
|
Pillar of the Community
Germany
1849 Posts |
I am very sorry to hear this, dsfreeworld. There is always another day, as they say, and I hope you can continue collecting.
I lost my 29-year job 4 years ago due partially to illness. At that time I was fully expecting to have to sell off some of my collection to finance
pressing financial needs. I am glad it never came to that as I became self-employed and although stressful, it has allowed me to earn enough to pay the bills. There is always another day.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2815 Posts |
I had to cut back quite a bit on buying coins, and I've discovered that I actually enjoy the hobby more this way. I started 2014 with a bang- buying coins every other day. When I added up what I had spent from January through the end of February it was a little depressing. I had to do a reset. It was a good move. The hobby felt more like a financial burden at the beginning of the year. Now I am where I need to be. I always say, "let this hobby remain a hobby". I had to remind myself of my own advice.
Edited by Darth Morgan
08/15/2014 10:33 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
9792 Posts |
I sold off my beloved Two Cent Piece collection to help my Dad (when he was alive) pay for hospital and medical bills that insurance wouldn't cover. My coins were all MS66BN except the small motto and 1867 DDO both (MS64RB) all certified by PCGS or NGC. My proofs were all MS64 or better except the 1873 open and closed and I never had the small motto in proof. I am still collecting the two centers - however now I'm into the die varieties and try to do a die marriage set in Fine or better. It's always tough to sell off coins due to a financial reason, if I had been able to keep my coins for 5-7 more years I probably would have more than doubled my prices from when I sold them, as it was I didn't make all that much profit as I had not had the coins very long, a few I did really well on, but many had been purchased in the previous two years before selling, and one should plan on holding coins at least 10-15 years before realizing a substantial profit. Hope you can recover and get your dime collection back on track DSFreeworld, you've shared some amazing pieces with us over the past couple of years. "Buy the Book Before You Buy the Coin" - Aaron R. Feldman - "And read it" - Me 2013! ANA Life Member #3288 in good standing since 1981, ANS, Early American Coppers Member (EAC), Colonial Coin Collectors Club member (C4), Conder Token Collector Club member (CTCC), Civil War Token Society (CWTS) member, Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC) & Numismatic Bibliomania Society member (NBS), USMex, Member in good standing, 2¢ variety collector. See my want page: http://goccf.com/t/140440 |
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
4337 Posts |
Thanks for the words of encouragement everyone. BH - I agree. I shorted myself $800 - $1,000 after fees but for that sacrifice I uploaded nothing, did not have to worry about a bad auction beat, ship/insure, hassle etc... I feel that was worth it to be handed 32x100 bills on the spot. West - thanks man. I will recoup and thankfully it was only a handful of dimes and ones that are easily replaceable should I ever want to own them again. I held onto the majority of my registry set and none of my MS PL Dimes left my possession and I will hopefully not have to worry about pricing those for another 7 years when kids go to college. Like a couple of posters have stated, I had the pleasure and honor of Temporary Custodian of some lovely coins and real historic pieces of American Numismatics. In loving memory (TAPS Plays):       |
| |
Replies: 19 / Views: 3,167 |
Posted 08/14/2014 6:14 pm
