Which would be the best auction venue for auctioning off half my collection?

[MikeKing]

Serious question and I'm going to take the response to this poll with significant weight in my decision. I plan on auctioning off about half of my Bust Half collection.

 

Bowers and Merena has two auctions almost neck and neck with each other

 

1. March 13-15, 2009 Portland, OR Official ANA Auctioneer - ANA National Money Show

 

and

 

2.March 24-28, 2009 Baltimore, MD Official Convention Auctioneer - Baltimore Coin & Currency Convention

 

 

Thanks for any help and advice, and for participating in this survey.

 

Happy Holidays to everyone!

 

 

[World Colonial]

Well, apparently I am the first person to take your poll, so let me give you my reasons which I hope will be helpful.

 

The first thing I must preface my remarks with is that I do not know the current market pricing for CBH. So if you do which I presume is at least partially true, some of what I would recommend may not or will not be helpful.

 

If the coins have not been graded, that is the first thing I would do. It will increase the marketability of your coins to most prospoective buyers unless you have a specific one in mind that prefers raw coins.

 

Attempt to find comporable comporable coins to those which you have to determine the most recent prices realized. I would check B&M but also Heritage, Goldberg, Stacks, Teletrade and eBay.

 

Once I did this, I would also consider listing some of them on eBay first with a reserve price. This action in my case is predicated on the fact that I believe that I can get better prices myself than any auction firm. Now whether this is true or not, I do not know because I have never sold (only bought) at public auction. But I do this to better control the prices I can get as well as the timing of the sale. At public auction, you run the risk of getting a price below your minimum if you set no reserve and if the reserve is too high, you may have wasted time plus possibly have to pay the auction firm a reduced commission anyway.

 

But for this eBay option, this would depend upon what current prices, eBay data availability and the price you are trying to get. I did this recently with some of my South Africa coins. Some sold and some did not. This can get rather expensive if you do it for too many cons, but one reason I did it is because I usually use "Buy It Now" with offers but many items did not sell because I did not adequately account for the recent market weakness for these coins. After I listed with a reserve, some still did not sell but at least it gave me an idea of what I could get, at least at that point in time.

 

Another reason I personally would not use the auctions you listed now is because I expect prices for most or all coins to weaken given the external market conditons. Whether you agree with this and if so, is a decision you will have to make. In my case, the recent appreciation of the USD versus the ZAR (South Africa Rand) has definitely been a factor. But even if this is correct, you would have to make a determination on whether a few months will make a difference in terms of market conditions. My expectation is that market conditions will not be better in six months than they are now.

 

One final option you did not list is selling to members on this board. You know them and from your prior posts, must have at least some original coins that the board members seem to like. You might consider this to cut out the middle man.

[TomB]

I assume it's too late to consign to Heritage for FUN? If not, this is what I would do.

[James_OldeTowne]

Mike, how many bust halves are we discussing?

[Mark T]

I would be interested in some of your Bust Halves , I suspect many others here would as well. Which ones do you plan to sell ??

[michael]

i would carefully sell them outright immediately if not sooner

 

first by offering on the boards and you got two people already above me that are interested

 

then i would offer them on the buy sell trade boards at pcgs

 

then; by offering them to a trusted dealer in early halves like d. osburn

 

also walking them around at coin shows in your area and to collectors in your area

 

 

[MarkFeld]

I assume it's too late to consign to Heritage for FUN? If not, this is what I would do.

I received the HNA FUN catalogs today - draw your own conclusions

[MarkFeld]

...Once I did this, I would also consider listing some of them on eBay first with a reserve price. This action in my case is predicated on the fact that I believe that I can get better prices myself than any auction firm. Now whether this is true or not, I do not know because I have never sold (only bought) at public auction.

In the case of nice coins, I disagree about Ebay. That's because sight-seen bidding, as provided via a public auction (held in conjunction with a major coin show) should offer a significant advantage over Ebay.

[Mark T]

...Once I did this, I would also consider listing some of them on eBay first with a reserve price. This action in my case is predicated on the fact that I believe that I can get better prices myself than any auction firm. Now whether this is true or not, I do not know because I have never sold (only bought) at public auction.

In the case of nice coins, I disagree about Ebay. That's because sight-seen bidding, as provided via a public auction (held in conjunction with a major coin show) should offer a significant advantage over Ebay.

 

I agree with Mark here 100 % - EBAy is not the way to go for the quaility coins that Mike has to offer.

[James_OldeTowne]

Mike, how many bust halves are we discussing?

Also, are these specialty halves? or commons of particularly nice aesthetics?

[DirtyGoldMan]

i would carefully sell them outright immediately if not sooner

 

first by offering on the boards and you got two people already above me that are interested

 

then i would offer them on the buy sell trade boards at pcgs

 

then; by offering them to a trusted dealer in early halves like osburn

 

also walking them around at coin shows in your area and to collectors in your area

 

 

I agree with Michael. Unless you have material that is unique or unusual, I would not wait until the next auction. You could also consign your coins to a dealer that has a table at FUN.

 

Frankly, if you decide to go the auction route, I would not consign to B&M. This is based partially on my limited personal experience, as well as my subjective impression that Heritage will get your coins the most exposure.

[physics-fan3.14]

I would first make your amazing collection available here, and maybe ATS. I don't have a whole lot of cash, but might be tempted to splurge Then I would get whatever is left graded and send them to Heritage.

[jdillane-migration]

BST ATS?

 

Granted, I have a modicum of bias as a prospective purchaser!

[MikeInFL]

I like Michael's answer as well, but that failing, I'd choose Heritage in Baltimore.

[EZ_E]

I like Michael's answer as well, but that failing, I'd choose Heritage in Baltimore.

 

Ditto, Mike #3 or #2 or #1. We need to designate all of these Michaels.

 

I think that 2009 will be a year of deflation followed by massive inflation in the years to follow. So, if there is anyway possible to hold off selling your coins for now then I would. Otherwise, the sooner sold the better.

[Houston Investor]

Try Teletrade - you can bid on your own material and they don't really know who they are bidding against - Kool!

[just-john]

Since you got the August time line I would try consigning to a dealer. Even in bad times there are still people buying and a good dealer will know who they are.Keep in mind when sombody is losing money someone else is making it .Consign with a dealer or have a dealer rep your coins to the auction house the feel best with.

Mr Feld are you there

[bartlesvilleok]

Well I think I would start with listing them here on the board or maybe the PCGS board or both. Just put down the price you would like out of each, maybe a little extra so you can let someone talk you down.

 

Your could also set up buy it now auctions at eauctionemporium.com which is ran by a fellow board member here. it is VERY cheap to list only 5 cents per auction and no final value fees. It is set up a lot like ebay. Not all the graphics but at the same time it is MUCH faster to list items. you can set stuff at an auction with a buy it now and a reserve price so you don't loose out. I personally think it is faster to list them at eauctionemporium.com because can upload the photos and everything there then provide links on the boards.

 

Set the auction at whatever time you want then what does not sale use one of the other places that have been listed above.

 

To me it is a win win if you have until August try to sale some of them this way first and save on the fees the other places charge.

 

Just to let you know I have both listed and purchased items off here before also and have items listed now.