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 Replies: 19 / Views: 2,181 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
667 Posts |
As a bullion speculator what do I owe to the numismatic side of the coin market? I am in the silver and gold market for one thing and that is a profit. Thus I have the opportunity to buy a lot of the older 90% silver coins at very good prices. I'm not in it for the coin only the silver. It has been rare but some times I do get a key date but to be honest I don't check through the stuff except to make sure they are silver. I know I have sent a lot of silver coins to their death the melting pot. I know I have sent some very nice coins in UN condition off to either the pot of maybe someone was smart enough to pull it. But my feelings are that most are not sorted and just melted. My point is this unless it is a much higher premium I am happy to just send them off. I am not built for holding capital in coins for the most part. Thus I treat 90% as a fast turn around. I searched my latest buy and it appears I have some nice coins. That did get me thinking that maybe I should be helping to save some of these. I'm not sure I am ready to become a numismatic person. But at the same time I don't want to go through the process of selling them one by one. I have looked at the sale process on this site and I don't know if I like it enough to sell here. No complaints just not for me. I'm not doing ebay. So am I ethically wrong by sending these off to the melting pot as a bullion collector? Recently I pulled several high key dated coins out and to be honest I may just send them off unless I get some interest in collecting old coins. I don't know a lot of choices maybe someone can convince me there is an upside to saving these for the long term or even become a numismatic person. For now the latest purchase I made is safe as I work through what I have. My gut is to let them go if someone offers a reasonable price. So should us bullion people try to help the numismatic people save some of these coins? I know I am one of the few that are starting to at least think about this side of the market. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1026 Posts |
Well do as you wish but you could also be sending more profit to the melting pot for you.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Quote:
Recently I pulled several high key dated coins out and to be honest I may just send them off unless I get some interest in collecting old coins.
If they are truly key dates, then you could be leaving a significant amount of money on the table by selling them as mere bullion. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
797 Posts |
Since you are speaking sbout making a profit as the number 1 priority, it would make sense to check for key dates at least (obviously if somebody is really into it they could check for varieties, errors, etc). If you find some key or semi-key dates, or even some higher grade coins, they will command a premium over melt. Obviously it will take a little time and knowledge to look through them, but for the extra profit I would think it would be worth it. You could find lots of buyers online (here, ebay, etc..) or probably a local coin dealer/collector would be easy enough to find that could either buy them or help search them. Of course sending coins to be melted is not what numismatic minds want to hear, but you could at least gain more profit by checking them a little closer. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
4849 Posts |
Please don't send the keys in to be melted! I don't think there is anything "ethically" wrong with it, I just don't understand why you would want to do that. You would be completely throwing money away. Please please save them. You could always take them to a coin shop and see what they offer you. You could trade them into a coin shop in return for much more silver. If you have 20 1921 walkers, we are talking thousands of dollars.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
Ethically? Were are not talking about murder or stealing. Ethically as long as your are paying fair prices and not cheating any one I would say you are fine.
The coin collectors side is just an other aspect of a market.
Now I am sure that I am not the only one who would appreciate the opportunity to purchase some nicer silver coins. But you certainly aren't going to heck for sending them to melt.
Edit: Apparently we can't use the 'h' word even in context. Oh well.
Edited by allranger
08/10/2011 12:35 pm
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Valued Member
United States
304 Posts |
I personally hate that someone would melt old US coins as I feel they are a part of US history, but to each his own. Not sure where you are, but if I were local to you, I would offer to reimburse spot value and sort them myself. If you are going to sort, why not pass the thrill of the "treasure hunt" on to someone who will as long as you are getting spot value either way? |
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Valued Member
United States
397 Posts |
I got into coins for the metal aspect , stayed for the numismatic value.
I'm not into collecting sets like many here are , however I realized it would be stupid to send off a $500 coin to a smelter.
My aunt gave me a gold coin to look at, a MS63+ 1851-c gold dollar. The scrapper offered her $30, it was worth around $8,000. Now you tell me , what's a smarter move, $30 or $8,000?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1064 Posts |
Have to agree with allranger, doesn't really seem to be a
question of ethics. We all hate to see old silver disappear, would much rather see young collectors discovering gems in circulation, but that's getting more difficult by the day!
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
Hire a cherrypicker to go through all your goodies. Assess what you have and split the profit. Make sure that whoever you hire has sold coins before so that your turnover is fast.
Edited by Libertad
08/11/2011 3:34 pm
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New Member
United States
38 Posts |
This sounds fun. What are key date coins?
Where do you melt your coins?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3294 Posts |
Heck if you lived by me, I would help you out. No reason for both you and a collector to miss out on some mutual benefit.
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New Member
United States
38 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1590 Posts |
I don't see any ethical problems vis-a-vis, your business. I do deal with a Bullion dealer and search for through his bags. Right now he buys at 25 times face and sells to me at 28 times face. These prices of course change, but that is the gist. He, unlike you has a Coin Shop, and our arrangement is anything really nice I report to him. As an example of what you can be missing. I found, and turned into him, a 1916 D Mercury dime; as well as a 1941/42 Mercury dime. The first in Very Good Condition and the second in Very Fine Condition. His profit on those two dimes was well over $2000. Now that is an extreme example, but it goes to show that it happens. I have found lots of 21,21d,38d Walking Liberty halves. His average profit on those is around $70 each. Perhaps if you teamed with a Numismatic who had his/her own ebay account, you could find a profit splitting arrangement. Just my Two Cents. |
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Pillar of the Community
2224 Posts |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Yep, a split-profit arrangement with someone you can trust will yield more profit, which is your motive.
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Replies: 19 / Views: 2,181 |
Posted 08/10/2011 12:28 pm
