Appraisal and Purchase

[beauanderos]

I have been approached by someone at work whose mother passed away. She tells me that her father-in-law collected coins all his life and had them hidden in a secret compartment in the attic, beneath the floor. There are three bins of coins... the way she describes them I imagine it might be as much as three or four cubic feet of nineteenth century stuff, maybe some older as well. Question. Inventory and appraisal, no problem. What to offer, if I'm interested, is the question. I guess I could try selling a small bit of ninety percent at my LCS (there's only one in town) to determine the going rate, but what I was wondering is those of you who have coin shops... how much are you paying to buy from the public? 20X face? 19X face? I'm thinking that 3 below melt would be fair for both parties, but I don't want to lowball her as she is a work associate, and this is her inheritance. How much do legitimate dealers pay for estates? I'm not talking about the travelling road shows, we all know those are a rip off. Help?

[barrytrot]

If it is a lot of 19th century stuff that is all way above melt, that's the problem.

$3 under spot for generic 90% sounds reasonable.

It's the "key-ish" stuff that is a bit of a wild card. Because you would need to piece it out to get a good number. Estimating will hose someone as it could be low grade/cleaned common dates or it could be higher grade and key dates.

[beauanderos]

I told them my fee for the appraisal would be I get to bid on the lot first, if I'm interested in any of it. Guess I will pretty much just need to see what it contains. Anyone know what coin shops are offering on junk?

[slickeast]

Without sounding like a smart butt, call the coin shops to see what they are paying.

I think you need to look at the stuff first to see what is there.

[tractorman]

The guy here has 20x on his sign still.

[Engineer]

For a lot that size, an auction would be the best bet.

In my mind, at least, a fair offer would be the expected auction amount minus the 10% she'd have to pay the auction house. That's not a huge margin per ounce, but its still a good chunk of change when you consider how many ounces you're looking at.

[Bluegill]

Anyone know what coin shops are offering on junk?

The few honest ones in my area are currently buying at 21x and selling at 23x.

[Mossy]

I'd say "Hang on to it and dribble it out as needed".

Personal inclination is to dump the collector stuff first, but that's just my preference for bullion over fancy.

[barrytrot]

I'd say "Hang on to it and dribble it out as needed".

Personal inclination is to dump the collector stuff first, but that's just my preference for bullion over fancy.

Hm, good idea. It's would be easier if she just takes out a handful at a time gets that sold and then moves on to the next stuff. That will yield much higher results since it's not dismissing the value of the better items.

[Thogey]

Tell her to get an offer at a local coin shop and you will beat it by 10%

[ScottyTX]

I normally see anywhere between 2/3 Times face lower than the going rate with the honest guys. So as of right now 20-21 should be guilt free The numi coins are what usually sting me if I don't play it safe....

Scott

[barrytrot]

Another alternative is agreeing to consign it for her. Just sell it off as you can and give her 85% of the proceeds.

[beauanderos]

Another alternative is agreeing to consign it for her. Just sell it off as you can and give her 85% of the proceeds.

This is the best idea yet. I was thinking I'd have to cash out one of my 401k's to do this. My guess is we're talking at least $100,000 but I'll have to wait till I can actually see it.

[agmoose]

I agree with the consignment idea - you'd probably generate some business here and that other place.

My LCS's buy price sucks - 17x, and he is selling at 26x. Which is why I buy off the net!

[Mossy]

Tell her to sign up here and (maybe) bullion stacker. Give her a hobby and a better income stream.

[barrytrot]

Tell her to sign up here and (maybe) bullion stacker. Give her a hobby and a better income stream.

No offense but definitely do NOT do this. That is the #1 way to turn off someone that is not interested and send her into the arms of shysters.

Just take care of it for her. She doesn't want to get involved and shouldn't have to. Ray's 15% is reasonable and she will definitely get more than if she stumbled around herself or went to a local coin shop and got super-low balled.

[PADFH]

I like the idea of selling for a fee. 15% sounds reasonable and you can take it in the silver bullion coins. This is probably the fairest for both of you. This is assuming you aren't interested in the numis for yourself.

[Rodebaugh]

Apmex buy back rates......theres where to start.

Be careful with the numi stuff. Understand that it is somewhat illiquid.....20 buyers are not lined up for a 1853-O half dime in VF like they are for Junk. Factor that in. You can't afford to babysit coins you overpayed for.

[Engineer]

Apmex buy back rates......theres where to start.

+1

You could try to make a deal with her to sell the coins over time, and split the amount above APMEX's buy price.

Speaking of ethical business practices, ZH ran an excellent article on the importance of honesty today.
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-13-31/until-fixed-there-will-be-no-recovery

[NHsorter]

Good thread. Informative and thoughtful replies. Best of luck with this Ray. I am somewhat jealous. This sounds like a ton of fun to me. Even if you don't end up making a bundle, it is a good learning opportunity.

[doug]

Around here they pay 4 times under the going rate for 90% silver.

[beauanderos]

I appreciate all the imput. So far I'm leaning towards matching APMEX buy price on whatever silver she has, and listing the remainder here on commission. From her description of the lot a couple of years ago, she stated that there's everything from pennies to silver dollars, three "tubs" full, and most of it was old. Her stepfather had stressed repeatedly to one of the sons how it was critical to ensure that they retrieved the cache from it's hiding place when he passed away. That was fifteen years ago, and they never found it. It was just a few months ago, before the wife passed on, that they located it. Getting the sister to release it for appraisal up here is the next hurdle. Might be a month or so before I even get to see anything. There are two heirs and they have to agree (not an easy thing)

[barrytrot]

I appreciate all the imput. So far I'm leaning towards matching APMEX buy price on whatever silver she has, and listing the remainder here on commission. From her description of the lot a couple of years ago, she stated that there's everything from pennies to silver dollars, three "tubs" full, and most of it was old. Her stepfather had stressed repeatedly to one of the sons how it was critical to ensure that they retrieved the cache from it's hiding place when he passed away. That was fifteen years ago, and they never found it. It was just a few months ago, before the wife passed on, that they located it. Getting the sister to release it for appraisal up here is the next hurdle. Might be a month or so before I even get to see anything. There are two heirs and they have to agree (not an easy thing)

Your strategy sounds great.

Regarding the heirs agreeing, the very unfortunate thing is they will have this misinformed belief that "a brick and mortar store is a better place". If they new just how absolutely wrong that was they would deal with you right away. But my bet is that they falsely rely on a store front and the super low balling that generally goes on there.

NOTE: I know there are fair brick and mortar dealers like the ones on this site, but they are only slightly more common than winning lottery tickets so I'm assuming that the one they choose will be of the lowball variety.

[agmoose]

Unfortunately.......true. See my posts about my LCS. Ugh. I do still go there to dig thru the bars n rounds, because he treats them all as common unless they are ASE's, Maples, Pandas, etc. I've found several Englehards in the common bin there for $1 over spot. It is really the only reason to go in there anymore.

Good luck Ray.......hopefully the sisters can work it out easily, and they'll realize a nice return on the fathers investment, time and passion. Its a shame no one in the family is interested in continuing the collection.

[/quote]

Your strategy sounds great.

Regarding the heirs agreeing, the very unfortunate thing is they will have this misinformed belief that "a brick and mortar store is a better place". If they new just how absolutely wrong that was they would deal with you right away. But my bet is that they falsely rely on a store front and the super low balling that generally goes on there.

NOTE: I know there are fair brick and mortar dealers like the ones on this site, but they are only slightly more common than winning lottery tickets so I'm assuming that the one they choose will be of the lowball variety.[/quote]

[beauanderos]

All moral/ethical considerations aside... I HAVE to deal very fairly in this situation, as it is my former boss that hired me as an RN (my "retirement" career). I can't have even the slightest recriminations or "seller's remorse" ever surfacing on the part of the local sister as we will both remain in the same work force for probably the foreseeable future. Thus... I deem it expedient to deal with her in a professional manner and not betray my excitement at the prospect of burying my hands into "tubs of eighteenth century coins" then lifting piles of old Morgans and Barbers, seat Liberty types, Indian head pennies and V type nickels for close inspection, then letting them tinkle musically back into the mound. I am salivating in my imagination over this opportunity, but have to display a calm manner, otherwise, no doubt, she would detect a glint of covetousness and assume that I was out to swindle her. My luck, her stepfather was some nutjob who accumulated a pile of relatively worthless coins... but one can always hope. I may not win the Powerball lottery, but the fun of going through "tubs of coins" like this... even just the idea of it... has provided the fodder (no, not stepfodder ) for plenty of daydreams, I'll tell ya that!