It's a sad journal post to read. I wish you the best.

Rick

Hi RMK,

I'm really sad to read your entry and I'm so sorry to hear that things have taken a bad turn for you.  We've all been there at different points.  I know I have.  As far as selling, it depends on what you have.  One route I would seriously look at is Great Collections.  They sell a huge variety of coins and they are very fair as far as fees and things like that.  They will also give you an idea of the values of what you have if you contact them.  They also work very hard for you, and they can usually get whatever you send them sold.  I have a couple of rare German pieces up there right now that are taking a while, but they're pretty esoteric items that are also high priced so I'm not surprised about that.  But they've sold many items for me in the past and I've always been pleased with the service and the prices they got for me.  They're a great option and here's a link to their website if you are unfamiliar with them:

https://www.greatcollections.com/

Heritage is another great auction company.  I'm not as familiar with them as I've never consigned with them nor purchased from them.  However, I know many people who have worked with them and they've been pleased:

www.ha.com

Another option for you is to list items up on the Money Marketplace here if you want to try to sell them yourself.  I do this combined with listing on Ebay and I do pretty well with it.....I completely fund my hobby purchases this way as being a professional doctoral student doesn't pay well   Ebay fees can be higher than what Great Collections fees are, but you have more control over the process doing it yourself.  You can also look at coin dealers both in your area and online.  The dealer option typically means you will get the least money for what you have as dealers need to make a profit to stay in business, but selling to a dealer can be fast, easy and they may be able to purchase a lot of what you have in one transaction.

I hope that I was able to give you a hand with this, and I wish you all the best with everything.

~Tom

I am so sorry to hear about your health issues.  As you say, it's something that we all have or will have to experience. 

Selling from your collection will be difficult for you and I hope you can find the best way to do this.  My only experience with selling has been when someone uses the "Buy from Owner" option at Heritage Auctions for one of my coins (four sold so far).  Today, our hobby makes it so easy to buy coins but I think it mostly hides how hard it is to sell for a reasonable price.  I think it would be a very valuable to hear from you on how your process works out.

Best wishes,

Jack

P.S.  I misunderstood your post and now understand that it is your health that is failing.  I sincerely hope you have the time to settle the disbursement of your collection to your satisfaction.

My suggestion is, based on my actual experience dealing with couple of auctioneers in the past...

Auctioneers such as Heritage / stacks & bowers, sit down and talk to them for 10 minutes (or few emails later) then you'll know they tend to only aim for USD$5000 or above per piece. AND they're very experienced so they'll treat your collection as commodities without any compassion, doesn't really matter if it sells high or low. The point is they just want the commision, I can read it in their eyes. *sigh*

You could check the prize realized on their website. If you don't have a super rare US coin (say worth one million or above), then don't even bother consign to them.

I'd rather sell it on eBay myself!