Would you buy this?

[shinnosuke]

11 rolls of 1943 Steel Pennies (includes D&S mints) 550
281 rolls of Lincoln Wheats (1909-1958) 14,050
Indian Head Cents (1859-1909) 133
Loose wheat pennies 1,774
Buffalo Nickels (1920-1938) 376
Liberty/V Nickels (1883-1912) 269
War-time Silver Jeffersons (1942-1945) 229
Circulated Jeffersons (1938-1959) 310
6 rolls of uncirculated Jeffersons 300
45 rolls of uncirculated Lincoln cents (1968 and older) 2,250
4 rolls of circulated Lincoln cents (1960) 200
Total 20,441 coins

Would you buy this for $1650? I have that opportunity if I act quickly.

[68Camaro]

Me personally? No. But I think if you've got the knowledge, time and interest to either take these for your own collection, or parse them out for sale, it is worth more than what you would pay. Someone else will have to give you a better idea - I did a rough estimate and came up with a number that was at least what you have quoted.

[Thogey]

Tough one,

You would only need a few crowd pleasers to make it worth it.

If the coins are crap...?

[shinnosuke]

Thanks 68 & Thogey for your input. I have the time but not really the expertise to ascertain the value of the coins. I may take a look if the guy will agree to meet me some place safe.

[NHsorter]

I ran down the list and added up what I would pay and I came up with $1300 but I set my prices low for stuff that I am not very interested in. In my opinion, 1300 would be a stellar deal. I think $1650 is still a decent deal, but it is more than I would personally pay. If this is a craigslist post or something, my guess is that it will sell at the 1650 price and probably sell pretty quick. In my experience, there are people out there that are willing to pay more than I am for this sort of stuff. Guess I'm a cheapskate. At least when it comes to wheats I am a cheapskate. I can't really help it since right now I am getting tons of wheats for 1 cent each in bank boxes! I do like the V nicks, Buffs, and War Nicks in there though! Especially if there are some nice looking ones. If this was in my area I would at least try to get a look at them and then decide.

[Rodebaugh]

11 rolls of 1943 Steel Pennies (includes D&S mints) 550.........$33 (6xface)
281 rolls of Lincoln Wheats (1909-1958) 14,050..........$421 (3xface)
Indian Head Cents (1859-1909) 133..............$100 (75xface)
Loose wheat pennies 1,774...........$53 (3xface)
Buffalo Nickels (1920-1938) 376..............$56 (3xface)
Liberty/V Nickels (1883-1912) 269..............$40 (3xface)
War-time Silver Jeffersons (1942-1945) 229..............$375 (33xface)
Circulated Jeffersons (1938-1959) 310.......$15 (face)
6 rolls of uncirculated Jeffersons 300...........$15 (face)
45 rolls of uncirculated Lincoln cents (1968 and older) 2,250........$28 (1.25xface)
4 rolls of circulated Lincoln cents (1960) 200...........$2 (face)
Total 20,441coins..............My valuation is: $1105

Not one cent more.

[68Camaro]

There you go with a couple of better estimates than mine. Sounds like $1650 is a bit high.

[Rodebaugh]

$1650 is "retail"

Now Doug, I know you don't like paying retail.

Offer the Guy a thousand cash over the phone. When he says No. Play pawn stars on him....."well the best I can do is $1100". Its going to be tough to sell this many pennies and nickels. Yep.... sure is going to take alot of time too.

[shinnosuke]

I am maintaining email contact with the seller. Just learned that he works at Randolph Air Force Base here in San Antonio. That adds (slightly) to the trust factor. But unless there are some really sweet deals hidden in the pile, I will just end up with a pile of coins that will be hard to market and a bank account that is $1650 light. Apparently no other offers so he might accept an offer around $1100. Can't hurt to try. However, if he's an experienced collector he's probably already pulled the nice coins out, don't you think?

He is going to meet me during his lunch hour at a branch of my bank near the base, probably tomorrow. Anybody want to join me there? Please...

[shinnosuke]

11 rolls of 1943 Steel Pennies (includes D&S mints) 550.........$33 (6xface)
281 rolls of Lincoln Wheats (1909-1958) 14,050..........$421 (3xface)
Indian Head Cents (1859-1909) 133..............$100 (75xface)
Loose wheat pennies 1,774...........$53 (3xface)
Buffalo Nickels (1920-1938) 376..............$56 (3xface)
Liberty/V Nickels (1883-1912) 269..............$40 (3xface)
War-time Silver Jeffersons (1942-1945) 229..............$375 (33xface)
Circulated Jeffersons (1938-1959) 310.......$15 (face)
6 rolls of uncirculated Jeffersons 300...........$15 (face)
45 rolls of uncirculated Lincoln cents (1968 and older) 2,250........$28 (1.25xface)
4 rolls of circulated Lincoln cents (1960) 200...........$2 (face)
Total 20,441coins..............My valuation is: $1105

Not one cent more.

Doc, thanks for taking a break from posting fishing pictures to give me the estimate. Too kind of you...

[shinnosuke]

I ran down the list and added up what I would pay and I came up with $1300 but I set my prices low for stuff that I am not very interested in. In my opinion, 1300 would be a stellar deal. I think $1650 is still a decent deal, but it is more than I would personally pay. If this is a craigslist post or something, my guess is that it will sell at the 1650 price and probably sell pretty quick. In my experience, there are people out there that are willing to pay more than I am for this sort of stuff. Guess I'm a cheapskate. At least when it comes to wheats I am a cheapskate. I can't really help it since right now I am getting tons of wheats for 1 cent each in bank boxes! I do like the V nicks, Buffs, and War Nicks in there though! Especially if there are some nice looking ones. If this was in my area I would at least try to get a look at them and then decide.

I know what you mean. I have been experiencing the joy of finding a few rare pennies and various other wheats at the cost of one cent plus a little time. It's hard to make the plunge for a big lot of them especially since I don't have customers ready and waiting for whatever I want to sell them. Thanks for your advice.

[Rodebaugh]

Sure thing.

Now I was a very low on the nicks...but fair on the rest of it. Remember, It's a lot/collection. Single coins often go for retail. Collections, unless high end, never should IMO.

[TXBullion]

And my logic would be, 1105 is so close to 1000, I would give him 1,000

[highroller4321]

I get around $1575 for what I could retail the stuff for. The IH are a big variable because there could be some better ones in there. I would try to get in the $1350 range if it was me.

[shinnosuke]

OK, I am a wuss. The guy is ex-AF and works as a contractor on base now. He had a good story and some of the rolls have good ol' days wrappers on them. He only did 6 years in the service and is still young. Taking classes at night to get a degree in accounting...

What I'm trying to say is that I could only negotiate him down to $1400 from $1650.

There are no 1909 VDB S pennies.

Thanks to everyone who helped.

[bgretz1989]

so did anything else stand out from the lot yet?

[shinnosuke]

Some of the uncirculated coin rolls are wrapped in old aluminum foil on top of the bank roll wrappers. The Buffalo nickels are just a joy to see in that quantity. It seems the original collector was trying to keep his coins in good shape. The wife sold them after he died. One big lot.

Guys, we need to talk to our spouses/children about how to treat the stuff we leave behind.