Buying coins at estate sales or coin auctions

[chinman]

Does anyone here try to buy coins at estate sales or at coin auctions?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[The_EE]

Does anyone here try to buy coins at estate sales or at coin auctions?

Went to two auctions this weekend to buy coins.

First one everything went too expensive. Mercury and Rosies went for $3.75 each, Quarters went for $6 each, Halves went for $11 each.

Second one had 194 lots. I hate walking away from an auction with nothing ( and I got no silver last week ) so I grabbed a Rosie for $2. Most things went way over melt and I only pay below melt unless its a high dollar coin I know I can flip for more than I paid. The only good deals out of 194 items was 2 rosies for $2 each ( 1 I grabbed ) and then 3 Washington Quarters going for $5 each. With the prices of most items going up $1 each time, I was not about to bid again.

Lucky for me, both auctions were in town so I wasted no gas, just 2 hours of my life.

 

[ImpurestStewart]

Best score I've ever had at an estate sale was trading a 2.50 gold piece for 25 Morgans, Trading a glock .45 for .8 ounces of .999 gold. Buying walking liberty half dollars at $6 apiece,Buying 64 kennedies and franklins for $5 apiece. And spending $500 on (3) 1/4 ounce gold AGE. That was an awesome day.

 

[Generic_Lad]

I've tried and generally had disappointing results.

First, since I don't really collect many US coins, I'm not going to spend more than melt on any coin that isn't a Standing Liberty (which I collect) or a Seated or before (where I can sell for a premium). On the off chance I do find an interesting coin type wise, the quality usually isn't there. Unless it is priced right at melt price, or is a rare date/type, when it comes to modern coins it isn't really worth it to get things in any less than XF. I mean, if there is a 1879 Morgan for sale in VG for $30, why not spend the extra $5-10 and get it in XF? Or spend the extra $15-20 and get it in attractive AU or low grade mint state. Obviously, if they had Morgans at $10, I'm going to buy all they have to offer, but buying low grade coins when attractive examples cost just a bit more on eBay or in a coin shop simply doesn't make sense to me. And estate sales are just filled with low grade modern coins.

I'm not going to pay a premium for "fake graded" coins. Sadly a lot of auction houses around here along with many private collectors use strange TPGers (ICG seems to be oddly popular around the auction houses/sales/antique malls around here...) that really doesn't add any resell value to the coin but still adds to the price. Unless it is PCGS/NGC (or occasionally ANACS) I'm not going to pay a premium because the coin is graded. Even though they might be accurate graders, it simply isn't the "brand name" everyone is looking for. I'd rather save a few bucks and simply get the coin in a 2x2.

On the coins I do collect (British coins/Ancients/other European coins) the prices are through the roof due to age/curiosity premium. Sure, your 1797 cartwheel penny is old, but its also in terrible condition and worth about $3, not the $35 you want for it. There have been a few cases of finding interesting die varieties/key dates in estate sales that I've found but overall they are overpriced.

Now, I have found some luck at estate sales and junk box rummaging. I managed to find a 1939 Canadian Dime for 50 cents in a "junk box" today, but the same guy wanted to sell me Maria Theresa Thalers for $45! And $55 for a 1917 Type-1 Standing Liberty which would grade VG at best! And then I've managed to find other things like a 1996 anniversary of decimalization silver proof set (British) for $85 or so a few weeks back (usually sells for about double that online, mintage of only 15,000 sets).

So of course I go to all of the ones I can see, but I end up generally buying very little (or buying some little overpriced coin so as to not waste their time).

 

[The_EE]

My best hauls from auctions have been

29 dimes, 19 quarters and 2 halves for $82 I think it was.

1oz round for $10

6 oz of Sterling Bowls for $20

That was since October.

I know lots more since then. This year is going to be a killer for me

 

[Handyman]

Don't know about the rest of the country, but in the Pittsburgh area, it's been my experience that coins at estate auctions tend to run up well past their value. Also if you are looking to buy from local estate auctions, garage sales or pawn shops, take a magnet along with you. A couple of the members of my coin club have run into some really authentic looking steel silver dollars.

 

[Bentfork]

Every chance I get.

 

[Goose-0]

I used to go to a local coin auction and bid on a few coins....I never won. While at these auctions I noticed that most bids (80%) were well over the retail price. I also noticed a certain guy always bidding on some of the coins. He was always there, always sat in the back, and really didn't seem to care if he won or lost the bid. I think the guy was a schill and I haven't gone back.

I once asked the auctioneer what does he charge to sell peoples' coins. He said 16% (Why 16% and not 15%?) Also, when one registers to get a bidding number, there is a sign that says 10% will be added to the hammer price. So now the owner of the auction is making 25%+ on a sale? Wow!

 

[clovis97]

There are great deals at auctions, but I don't see many great deals on coins at estate auctions. (I average going to at least 2 auctions a week.)

This is especially true if it is a general estate auction with less than one hour of selling silver or gold coins. Those generally attract deep pockets, and therefore, command premium amounts.

I was at an estate sale last year, and the gold coins brought $29,000 in total, with one buyer taking all the gold. The silver coins brought $21,000. You should have seen the crowd...it was unbelievable...standing room only. Once the coins sold, the crowd left. It was bargain city after that.

Last month, I saw a guy pay $47.03 each for junk Morgans. I don't know coin grading, but those were JUNK! I think people don't know where to buy coins, and sometimes they get stupid at auctions.

As for auctions that only feature coins...I dunno. Never been to one of those.

 

[sagittarius98]

I will always ask about coins at estate sales. However, I never saw any, but you can still even get good deals on coins from people who have bought estate coins and resold them not quite knowing knowing what they are worth.

 

[StevoCBR]

Best score I've ever had at an estate sale was trading a 2.50 gold piece for 25 Morgans, Trading a glock .45 for .8 ounces of .999 gold. Buying walking liberty half dollars at $6 apiece,Buying 64 kennedies and franklins for $5 apiece. And spending $500 on (3) 1/4 ounce gold AGE. That was an awesome day.

wow that was all in one day? you roll around to estate sales with all that....bawwller

 

[jerseyben]

I never even bother at auctions and coins at estate sales = huge competition. My best kept secret is antique stores and centers. Often times they don't deal in coins so they just throw them in their case and sell them for whatever they can get.

 

[ImpurestStewart]

Best score I've ever had at an estate sale was trading a 2.50 gold piece for 25 Morgans, Trading a glock .45 for .8 ounces of .999 gold. Buying walking liberty half dollars at $6 apiece,Buying 64 kennedies and franklins for $5 apiece. And spending $500 on (3) 1/4 ounce gold AGE. That was an awesome day.

wow that was all in one day? you roll around to estate sales with all that....bawwller

The sad part about it is the guy had 3 1 ounce American Gold Buffalo coins certified by NGC,About another 5 one ounce American Gold Eagles,If I would of had $4,000 that day I could have walked away with all of it. I am still kicking myself over it!!!