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 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,280 |
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Valued Member
United States
81 Posts |
Rescently my cousin died and before that a friend of mine back in 2001. Both of these guys left two women that don't know a thing about coin collecting. One of the girls have a safe deposit box full of stuff they have no idea what it is worth, many coing back in the 1800's. She told me this week that she is in need of a new car and would like to sell the coins. I would guess there is a lot of girls in the same boat as these two are, their husbands die and they are stuck with coins they know nothing about.
If these were your wives what would you do. I am sure there are people just looking to take these two girls for a good ride all the way to their bank.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
WOW !..... sorry to hear about the deaths...  Yeah....there are a lot of people in that boat. If there is a lot here, then I'd say she needs to have an appraisal done. If it isn't too much, then post up some pics and we could all help right here. She can also get some coin books and look up some values.....though the values listed would probably be high typically. The RedBook would help a lot. It'd give you high figures, but a "ballpark" of what any particular coin is worth. Taking them to a "coin dealer" to sell, wouldn't be high on my list.....because a "dealer" will only give her "bluebook" value and she'd be losing a lot of money. ebay could be another option. Knowing nothing about coins......she'll need trustworthy help to sell them. And a trustworthy "buyer" with a fair price offer. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
Once you have 50 posts..... and if this is an option for you...... you can sell them individually right here though .....  A little bit at a time, like maybe 15 coins a week or so. Get a good digital camera and post the pics up right here on CCF. Edited by eaglefoot
08/30/2008 2:51 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1231 Posts |
I'm sorry for your loss. Since you are a collector, you could help them to determine the value of the collection. If you or her are near any reputable dealers, get an appraisal from them. There might be a fee for the appraisal. If possible you could post pictures here on the site and the members will give you a fairly accurate and fair idea of the coins value. As eaglefoot mentioned you could sell them hear after you reach the requirements. You could also try your luck with ebay as a last resort |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Sounds like your in the middle of a situation. There are several things you could do or recommend. 1. Tell them to take all the coins to a coin store for and estimate. This is really not to smart since they would be offered pennies on the dollar for the coins. 2. You could tell them to look up a coin show and do the same. Again, this is almost as bad. Dealers will offer rock bottom prices. 3. You could really get involved and purchase a Red Book. Then sit down with them and ATTEMPT to explain that the prices listed in that book are a minimum of 30% over what they are worth for selling. 4. You could offer to do the looking up and do the selling either here or at a coin show. 5. you could look up coin clubs in your area and recommend they go there and attempt to sell the coins. 6. If you have the money you could offer to buy them all The biggest problem from what I've seen over the years is regardless of what you tell them now or later, anything that goes wrong is your fault. If they sell them and find out they were robbed, it's your fault. If you offer to buy them, and again they suspect they are worth more, your a crook. The problem is the more you get involved and the less they know about coins, the more chances that no matter what you do you may become a bad guy. Your theading on dangerous ground with relatives and close friends when it comes to money. You could end up loosing friends and becoming a horror story for the rest of the family. My suggestion is to purchase a Red Book, a grey sheet, print out any coin prices from the internet and give them to them. Try explaining how to read them and drop out of the entire mess. Although I know nothing of your family and friends and they may be OK with anything you do, buy in the past I've seen way to many problems with situations like this. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
G'day, no matter who does it, all possible solutions fall into two categories: the easy ways: give it to a dealer; take it to a show; put in on ebay as an accumulation - and you'll get paid quickly; not much effort; and you'll realize a fraction of the potential. the hard ways: read the books; do research; take good pics; sell the coins singly, or in small, well-chosen sets, on CCF, ebay, or whatever - takes longer; more input; and vastly more cash than the easy ways. Like most areas of life, reward is proportional to effort. Peter in Oz |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
628 Posts |
My wife has the complete list of all our valuable coins, including grade, TPG, etc. She'll use this if she needs to sell without me. I think this will help a lot. |
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Valued Member
United States
67 Posts |
My wife would be in the same boat too. In reference to another post she considers me a "coin nerd" and has no interest in the hobby. I suppose the least some of us could do that may find ourselves in this very situation is to throw an old RedBook in the safe deposit box or maybe just the important pages if space is an issue. |
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Moderator
 United States
188001 Posts |
Lots of good advice here! As for my situation, the boy gets everything. |
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Valued Member
United States
198 Posts |
I put written instructions in the safe on where to take the collection and to liquidated it if and ONLY if no one in the family has any interest in it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1691 Posts |
Our sympathy to you and yours... spouses should always be mindful of their responsibility of providing documentation of all their assets for the surviving spouse and that means collectors should keep accurate records of their inventory. Selling to a local coin club or the Coin Community auction would make a lot of smaller collectors very happy...there's also ebay and online auction sites like Heritage, David Lawrence, and Teletrade...best of luck to you! PS I agree with justcarl not go to dealers (who will generally give you less than 50 cents on the dollar). Edited by atlashealth
09/10/2008 6:07 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19935 Posts |
Sorry for your losses. Quote:
Your theading on dangerous ground with relatives and close friends when it comes to money. You could end up loosing friends and becoming a horror story for the rest of the family.
That is sage advice. Having been through this myself, nothing can ruin a family like money. It brings out the absolute worst in people. The relatives you'd never expect to turn into greedy fools will do so in a heartbeat. Be very careful. |
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Valued Member
United States
77 Posts |
Sorry for the losses.
Now I have put thought into this kind of situation of "what if" something happens to me. What would my wife do with all my coins and paper money.
Well I have made an excel file that lists everything I have collected since I was a teenager. Everything is well organized by date and denomination in currency boxes, and coin tubes. I do price my stuff, but I dont go overboard in pricing my items, just to give her an idea of what to expect to get from the items.
The word document will give my wife instructions on what to do with all of this and how to go about selling once I'm long gone if she really needed the money.
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Valued Member
United States
80 Posts |
I'm sorry for your loss. Sounds like you had some interests in common. Being a wife, my husband and I have spoken some about this and we really haven't gotten anywhere. But for your problem, it is after the fact. I would have her look up some of the receipts, or ask her if she knows of someone he traded with, bought from, sold to, etc. Let this person be her mentor through this situation. If this is you . . . and she just wants to sell the whole collection quickly because she needs the money, I would go ahead and get it appraised. That way, you have a 3rd party opinion to help guide both of you and she won't ever wonder about your motives. Just my thoughts. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
2668 Posts |
My wife has never had a problem as to what to do with money.
My suggestion is a liquidation consignment to someone trustworthy.
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Replies: 14 / Views: 1,280 |
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Posted 08/30/2008 2:50 pm
