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 Replies: 33 / Views: 5,778 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
591 Posts |
I sent an inquiry to my local coin shop to see how much he would offer on the following 19 Barber quarters. He replied with the following: " these are common dates which sell as common quarters. I would pay $50 for the group." I was under the impression that coin dealers would offer around greysheet prices, which in this case is around 3 times his offer. His offer is just a hair under melt value. Any insights on selling coins to a local coin shop would be greatly appreciated. I'm confused as to why these are only worth melt value to him, as he would presumably sell these with a numismatic mark-up, so why not buy with (some) numismatic mark-up too (e.g., greysheet)? I should add that I've yet to really try to sell any of the coins I currently have, but responses like this make me wonder if I should jump ship from this hobby altogether. Thankfully I bought these coins below retail, but really, I can only sell to a dealer for melt value? Maybe this is a typical experience, and that is why folks mainly sell on ebay or on CCF (directly to other collectors). Thank you. 1894-S G6 1897 G4 1898 G4 1899 G4 1903 AG3/G4 1904 G4 1907 G6 1907-O G4 1908-D G4 1909 VG8 1909-D G6 1910 G6 1911 F12 (cleaned obv) 1912 G6 1914 G6 1914-D VG8 1915 VG8 1915-D VG8 1916-D G6 Edited by one_fine_dime
01/23/2019 4:16 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1747 Posts |
being in retail is not an easy business especially on stuff like coins. I am not 100% sure what the discount is from trends would be grey sheet pricing but perhaps the owner already has stock of those coins? perhaps this stock is dead stock, meaning nobody is coming in asking for them. Remember a coin is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Also I am not familiar with the rarity of the coins you have but if they are truly common date coins in lower end conditions, then the demand for these is not high. Don't besmudge the owners rep just because his offer was low. Your inquiry was unsolicited, there was no context, and I am again assuming you have no actual relationship with the owner. If this is an actual shop, why don't you take the 19 coins you have in, ask if he has any Barber quarters, if not let him look at yours and maybe you will find the offer is better. Remember this is not personal, this is business, his business. The negotiations are a conversation not a snowball fight. Just because you don't like his first offer, you could come back to him and say I know the grey sheet should be this, and quote the price. but offer him slightly less than that as a counter offer. See what he says. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
I'm confused as to why these are only worth melt value to him, as he would presumably sell these with a numismatic mark-up, so why not buy with (some) numismatic mark-up too (e.g., greysheet)? There's a million different reasons. Some are legitimate like he has no buyers for them, he has to many already and so on and some are more nefarious like they want a huge margin or think you don't know better. Simply having a shop doesn't make someone honest and there are plenty of shops out there that will try and squeeze people they think don't know any better. That said dealers are generally a really bad place to sell common things besides popular bullion. There's a reason why ebay got as popular as it did where you can sell to an end user Also trying to sell a group like that will generally bring lower prices than smaller groups. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
747 Posts |
Demand has a lot to do with it from what I've seen from my local dealer. Most coins (morgans) I've taken in he told me I would get more $$ by selling them on e-bay or shows Did not even want them for melt. I asked them about franlin proofs, he handed me a bag full and said help yourself, I'll make you a deal just to sell them. Asked about them about kennedy 40% proofs, he chuckled and said he wish he did not have any, can't move them. Could just be this area but they said not many here are collecting any longer, the younger folks just not interested. Good luck moving yours.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1023 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
ace covered a lot of this but Simple business 101: The greysheet is supposed to be a dealer to dealer wholesale sheet. You are not a dealer. Typically coins are retailed above Ask price, and purchased from non-dealers at below bid price. So take the bid price and back off about 10 to 15% and that is probably about the maximum you can expect to be offered. (not sure what that is, I haven't used a greysheet in over 30 years) On ebay the coins you describe are selling for around $5 which means after fees the seller is getting about $4.35. Usually ebay sales end up a little higher than what a dealer will pay, that's why so many collectors go that route to sell their coins. Next you have to realize that to stay I business a dealer has to keep his material turning. Coins in inventory represent capital that is frozen and not churning to produce income. Low grade common date Barber quarters are not going to be fast movers. There aren't a lot of Barber quarter collectors, and there are a lot of common date pieces around. So that means they are likely to sit in inventory for awhile. So in order to make up for that the buying price has to be even lower. At melt he knows he is safe because if he needs to he can blow then back out again at melt or a little above any time he needs to. But if he pays a numismatic premium he than has to recover that which may mean having to wholesale them to another dealer (bid if he is lucky.) Then you have to consider what does he already have in inventory? If he already has some, or even several, of these he is not going to need more because that means just that much longer before he can turn them and free up his capital. In that case the offering price goes down even more. Being a brick and morter coin shop is NOT and easy life. in order to survive you have to purchase low, but you are constantly dealing with collectors who don't understand and who think you are trying to rip them off by not offering Ask or even Bid for their coins. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
747 Posts |
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Are they slabbed? If your asking me, only a few proofs were and I bought those. The rest were in air-tites and cardboard flips but nothing special, lower grade in my opinion. Edited by NDBirdman
01/23/2019 6:26 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3479 Posts |
Being that they a low grade that dealer would probably just flip them to a wholesale buyer the next time one comes to town. Those wholesalers do a lot of leg work by traveling around to coin shops and buying up inventory that coin shops can't sell. That dealer would probably end up doing the same if they don't sell. I have a wholesaler that I buy bulk low-grade Barber half dollars from for $7. I also have another wholesaler that I buy bulk low-grade braided/coronet large cent combos from for $10 and $14. But I have to buy a minimum of 10 at a time. Also time is a factor. Your coins are raw and have not been professionally graded. You can't expect him to go through them and spend a half hour of his time to confirm or go back and forth with you on grades on low ticked items. That's just the way the business works. How much did you pay for them? |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
591 Posts |
I paid $100 a few years ago when I was (more) naive about my collecting goals, and what coins are more typically considered "valuable". Good insights here, all these comments make a lot if sense. I need to better understand what a brick&mortar store would presumably pay greysheet (or higher) on...only relatively high grade key dates, or what?! I'm currently collecting XF and better pre-1934 branch mint Mercury dimes. Trying to be a more focused, knowledgeable, and discerning buyer. I wanted to liquidate some of these other coins in my collection for that purpose. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3479 Posts |
It sounds like you're on the right track. He's asking a tad bit under melt(52.63). If you want to move them fast and move on, take his offer. He's probably doing you a favor. If you have the time to spend taking pictures and trying to sell them individually then do that. Quote:
I need to better understand what a brick&mortar store would presumably pay greysheet (or higher) on...only relatively high grade key dates, or what?! The only real answer is whatever he wants. If you're going to buy these and think you're going to break even selling these to a brick and morter in a year, think again. You need to know how long you plan to hold them. I think the best bet with the grading range you're looking at would be TPG slabbed coins from ebay. I'm not sure how available xf graded Mercury dimes are. I don't collect them. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
591 Posts |
No doubt MikeF! My current collection goals include holding the collection for 20-30 yrs. But why only already slabbed coins, is that just for future resale (ease of liquidation)?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3479 Posts |
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But why only already slabbed coins, is that just for future resale (ease of liquidation)? Liquidation is part of it. The main reason is so that you don't end up buying counterfeits or problem coins that will frustrated you further. It's not easy buying coins from pictures and with all the potential different problems a coin can have, it's inevitable that you will buy a few unbeknownst to you. It's also common that sellers are very generous when grading their own coins to sell. If you buy graded coins you eliminate those potential problems and can focus on buying coins with the best eye appeal. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
591 Posts |
That's a fair assessment MikeF. But I've been sticking to raw coins thus far mainly due to availabilty and pricing. There are far more raw coins available and many of these are original, in the grades I'm looking for, and not over-priced. Slabbed coins I see on ebay often have poor eye appeal or are over priced (ie far above greysheet). I feel I've made a few good purchases at or under greysheet that would certainly pass muster with a TPG. Also, I can see submitting a few of them in 25-30 yrs from now if/when I decide to sell and it being quite rewarding to see how my own grade assessments compare with the professionals' opinion. Don't others do this too? I never take a seller's word on a coin's grade (does anyone?)...if I can't discern originality and grade from the photos, I usually skip it (after asking for better ones). Also, I consider greysheet as being more or less market pricing because that is generally what I see slabbed coins go for (on average) based on the PCGS auction history data. I'm not looking to pay Red Book, numismedia FMV, or CPG prices unless the coin is really stunning, as that already puts me back when I try to recoup costs in 20-30 yrs. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
The best coins don't sell at greysheet or under unless you get lucky. Greysheet is a dealer price guide, average to below average coins will trade around there. When people sell a coin far below greysheet there is usually a reason. Being overly focused on that now almost never pays off in the future. The 16 D, 21 D, and 26 S dimes probably won't work out with the greysheet or under price mentality for XF or better grades
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Pillar of the Community
United States
591 Posts |
Well, to your comment basebal21, the data doesn't necessarily support that presumption (at least for 1926-S). I do a lot of data analysis for my job, so I worked up this plot a while back to compare pricing for the 1926-S. Of course, this doesn't capture such factors as eye appeal, but for many grades, the average of the auction data is actually pretty similar or even lower than greysheet!  Edited by one_fine_dime
01/23/2019 9:57 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
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Well, to your comment basebal21, the data doesn't necessarily support that presumption (at least for 1926-S). I do a lot of data analysis for my job, so I worked up this plot a while back to compare pricing for the 1926-S. Of course, this doesn't capture such factors as eye appeal, but for many grades, the average of the auction data is actually pretty similar or even lower than greysheet! You just proved my point. Key word the AVERAGE Premium coins cost more |
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Replies: 33 / Views: 5,778 |
Posted 01/23/2019 5:37 pm
