Estate Collection

I would talk to the guy about splitting the cost of an independent appraiser.

The other thing I wanted to add - some people's idea of a rare coin is different than others. So it is possible that he has a bunch of mint sets and a half completed Lincoln album and that's it. So, the first step is to find out if it is a serious collection or not.

Good luck!

Face value is always nice....ha

chris12018 I have been in this situation many times, although most of the time it was for antiques.
Sometimes people will play you for a price. You spend a whole day or afternoon sitting down and educating somebody, give them a good price you can still sleep with a clear conscience, and they say, "I'll think about it, and get back to you."
From my knowing you from the forum, I know you are an honest guy, heck if you were not, you would not have made the topic.
I recommend that you get your checkbook and a pad and paper for a receipt, write down GENERALLY what you will pay for all the coins. Such as, 12 large cents, 25 Indian Head cents, 300 wheat cents, etc.
Show the guy your offer at the bottom line, ( Best price you can pay and feel honest about ) and tell him that you will pay this amount today. If he agrees, have him sign the list as a receipt, go get it copied, and give him the check and be on your way.

I learned that people will use you, get your offer and then go elsewhere for a better offer more than half the time. I don't do free appraisals, I don't buy their coins or antiques after they shopped around and come back, telling me I was the best offer.

When you go through the coins, keep note and put a number in your head, and keep adding it up.
Put that number as a bottom line on the receipt.
Remember, to tell them that you can't make a dollar on them if you pay book price and nobody pays book price.
There are some you will probably want to keep for yourself and some you will probably resell to get your money back.
Tell him, you will make a profit but that it is work, just like putting that roof on. Work isn't free and it is included in the price you will pay.
If he doesn't accept your fair offer, then let it go.
Just remember to be fair to the guy and yourself as well and you will be OK.
In these situations, you are supposed to come out a winner, but not beat the guy.

PS: I forgot one thing, I buy it all or none. Whatever they put out for you is the deal.
I don't toss and turn at night, I probably paid better than most would have, but my point is, people use you in situations like this because you have the education and sometimes all they wanted to know was how much their stuff was worth.

So much info to digest. But, I like being full. I have done work for this family before. As for how the collection came into conversation: His mother has gotten really sick, and they have to liquidate the estate. I posed the question of antiques. But, was told they had all the belongings in the house sold to a local auctioneer. That was when he brought up the coins. I told him I would be interested in looking at them and make an offer. I asked why they didn't want to keep them in the family, and was told noone had any interest in them. I have no idea what the collection consists of as of yet. I will keep posting as things develope. Please keep the info and comments coming as I am no where near full.

I would suggest doing what most dealers do and buy at the prices they do. Depending on the size of the collection it may be impossible to sit down and do a quick quote, the dealers I go to usually look for the key and semi key dates first and put them aside in their own pile, the rest are kept together and are bought at certain price that is average across the board ($.02-$.03 for wheat's, $.50-$.75 for Indians, 6-8X face value for silver...). By doing this it is easier to focus on the coins that really matter and show him that you are not trying to take advantage of him. You can then show him a Red Book or Grey Sheet and give an estimated guess on the grade, by doing this you make sure to let him know you are not a professional grader and that it could be wrong. If there are very rare or tough coins, you may even suggest he get them appraised at a local coin store. The whole intent is trust on both sides and by giving him a few options of what to do will make him feel safer as well. This sounds like a dream opportunity to me and I hope it all works out for both of you.

P.S. Do you own the company that is rebuilding his roof? If so, you may want to trade services for part of the set as well.

I will be picking up the collection on Wed. The owner said I could bring them all home and look through them at my leisure. I told him that I would feel better if we made a list of what I take. he told me that there were U.S., German, & some other foreign coinage. If there is anyone who knows of any specific German coins to watch for, feel free to add to this tread. Well, it's time for bed, But, I don,t think that I'll get much sleep tonight.

[quote][I will be picking up the collection on Wed. The owner said I could bring them all home and look through them at my leisure. I told him that I would feel better if we made a list of what I take./quote]
I really think that is a bad idea. Not sure of who those people are but people are people and if you take those coins out of their home, they may always suspect you of confiscating something valuable. Also, you could loose some by accident. Or you could be robbed. Or anything could really happen and then it would be your problem to pay for something you don't know if real or not. Taking those home I think is a really bad, bad idea.
I too have to go along with wheezydog's stories of what people do and say. Maybe a little pessimistic, but better to be safe than sorry. I really suggest you tell the person you would gladly evaluate those but be carefull there too. You might just want to use a Red Book and explain that those prices are usually about 25% over but then too, how could you prove that.
Remember it has been sort of explained that they know little or nothing about coins. Regardless of what you use to evaluate those, it is difficult to tell people that the prices are what is usually sold for by dealers, not what you could sell them for. People just don't normally understand that. You might want to use a car as an example where you can buy one for xxxx but if you tried to resell that same car you would never get that amount.