Dealer Prices. All so low?

[BLive1972]

Not too long ago I picked up a toned 1870 Half Dime. I paid more than $50 for it, but when I tried to sell it to a dealer, he offered me $9. Either it's really worth $9 and was one of my first screw ups, or he really low balled me. I was almost offended Pics aren't great, but I'd say its XF + (really small for me to get a good one. In market for DSLR)

Are there any dealers here that would offer the same $9. Why?

 

 

 

[MarkFeld]

The coin looks to have XF details, but (and it might just be your images) cleaned, especially on the reverse. As such, my guess is that a fair price is roughly $20.

 

However, no, not all dealers offer lowball prices.

[BLive1972]

The coin looks to have XF details, but (and it might just be your images) cleaned, especially on the reverse. As such, my guess is that a fair price is roughly $20.

 

However, no, not all dealers offer lowball prices.

Well, that's good. $20 would have been better than $9

[e1cnr]

I have been to dealers before that have said they have no interest at all in giving an offer for 'that (what I was offering)', because they do not want to handle it.

 

Is there any cartwheel luster left on your coin at all? How did you decide it is XF+ ?

[BillJones]

I agree with Mark. The coin shows a lot of hairlines on the reverse which would lead me to say that it has been cleaned. The Gray Sheet bid for an EF-40 1870 half dime is $35. Therefore an offer of say $25 to $30 for the raw coin would be fair IF the coin is an EF piece with no problems. If the coin was certified, which would make no sense for the person who had it done because the piece is not worth enough money to warrant certification, it should bring slightly more ... say $28 to $32.

 

This coin has problems, and as such is not easy to sell. When an honest dealer marks a coin as "EF but cleaned" it's hard to sell. That's why many dealers don't want the piece except at a very low price. $9 is too low IMO, but I think you are looking at less than half what you paid under the circumstances.

[BLive1972]

Mostly by looking at the detail. I can read all of Liberty and the edges of the scroll are defined. There's no pinwheel type of luster to it at all. Right now, I'm having trouble determining whether its been cleaned except for the lack of luster or if I see scratches into the toning (which may be wrong). It's not dull, but doesn't look polished. It looks typical of what you'd pull from your pocket. Just clean.

 

It was unexpected, but I have no experience selling anything to a dealer. He seemed mostly uninterested in anything and offered really low prices.

[BLive1972]

 

This coin has problems, and as such is not easy to sell. When an honest dealer marks a coin as "EF but cleaned" it's hard to sell. That's why many dealers don't want the piece except at a very low price. $9 is too low IMO, but I think you are looking at less than half what you paid under the circumstances.

 

I understand. I'm going to try again tomorrow and maybe I'll get a better deal from 100 tables rather than 1 I'd be happy at $20 and will take the loss. I have new interests and want to move out from some of the mistakes I've made. I'll take the hit, but feel better about the new coin/s I won. We'll see how it goes. Thanks!

[BillJones]

The key phrase is "lack of luster." That's what happens to a coin when someone strips the original surface. The details look to be close to AU-50, but the surfaces look dull and the reverse definitely has hairlines. That sums up the problem.

[BLive1972]

Perhaps someone will like the way it looks Thanks guys!

[AnkurJ]

Its worth more than $9. How much more? I would have to look into it.

[newprepper]

If you are not happy with the offers, list on ebay, just be honest, say that it's probably been cleaned and what not, describe it, full liberty, good details on wreath, nice toning, etc. you may be surprised

[BLive1972]

Its worth more than $9. How much more? I would have to look into it.

 

I'll show you in person tomorrow.

 

If you are not happy with the offers, list on ebay, just be honest, say that it's probably been cleaned and what not, describe it, full liberty, good details on wreath, nice toning, etc. you may be surprised

 

I can try that too. I think the toning looks pretty nice. Too bad for the cleaning.

[DaveG]

If you're going to the Parsippany show tomorrow, then you might want to show the coin to Tom Hyland, who can tell you if the coin has any problems.

 

However, just judging by your images, I'd strongly suggest you not buy any more coins that look like that.

 

Going by your images, the coin looks obviously cleaned. Coins that look "obviously cleaned" are "problem coins" that are very hard to sell at any price.

 

Also, if you're used to using a retail price guide (such as Coin World's Trends or the PCGS price guide), you should acquaint yourself with a wholesale price guide (such as the Coin Dealer's Newsletter - the Grey Sheet - or Heritage's auction archives - for more expensive coins) to get an idea of what a dealer might offer you for a particular coin.

[BLive1972]

Yes, It was a mistake that will not be made again. My focus is going to be on already slabbed coins for a while.

[dimefreak]

I believe that the greysheet ( which alot dealers swear by) is way low on all seated coinage. I was told that at one time Larry Briggs used to assist in pricing the seating coinage and purposely portrayed lower pricing. Of course thats just hear say, albeit from a reputable source. The main point here is if you bought it from a dealer that uses up to date pricing and than tried to sell it to a dealer that swears by greysheet, your results were typical.

 

 

 

I was once offered $185 for this coin, I firmly believe the dealer thought he was giving me a solid offer based upon greysheet.

 

[mumu]

Everyone always describes the Parsippany show as 100+ tables. Am I the crazy one to be surprised if there are actually more than 50? Or am I missing an entire room the 2 times i went? Theres the little room off to the side when you first walk in which has one table with mostly books for sale. That room has about 5-8 dealers. Then walk out make a left into a larger room and I would venture to call that 40 dealers at best.

[BLive1972]

Nice toning on that dime! Gotta be way over $185

[BLive1972]

Everyone always describes the Parsippany show as 100+ tables. Am I the crazy one to be surprised if there are actually more than 50? Or am I missing an entire room the 2 times i went? Theres the little room off to the side when you first walk in which has one table with mostly books for sale. That room has about 5-8 dealers. Then walk out make a left into a larger room and I would venture to call that 40 dealers at best.

 

I guess I'll find out

[mumu]

Maybe im not counting right. I guess you can go by actual tables, set ups, and actual total number of dealers, and get different counts for each.

[BLive1972]

At any amount, it'll prob be a little overwhelming being that its my first one. I'd hate to get stuck at 1 table.

[DaveG]

mumu,

 

While I can't comment on whether you're the "crazy one" - in this crowd, after all, "crazy" is relative -

 

However, I usually describe the Parsippany show as 80-100 dealers, although, now that I think about it, it seems that many fewer dealers share tables now than they did 10 or 15 years ago.

 

I would agree that the side room has about 8 tables, but I think the main room has more like 50 or more tables.

 

Perhaps you'd be willing to count tables tomorrow?

[MarkFeld]

I believe that the greysheet ( which alot dealers swear by) is way low on all seated coinage. I was told that at one time Larry Briggs used to assist in pricing the seating coinage and purposely portrayed lower pricing. Of course thats just hear say, albeit from a reputable source. The main point here is if you bought it from a dealer that uses up to date pricing and than tried to sell it to a dealer that swears by greysheet, your results were typical.

 

 

 

I was once offered $185 for this coin, I firmly believe the dealer thought he was giving me a solid offer based upon greysheet.

 

 

How could he have, considering there is no price listed on CDN for that grade?

[physics-fan3.14]

 

 

I was once offered $185 for this coin, I firmly believe the dealer thought he was giving me a solid offer based upon greysheet.

 

 

DF, I'll make you a better offer than that - I'll give you $200 cash for that one any day of the week

[dimefreak]

Mark; ya know after I wrote it I was thinking the same thing... Maybe it was the blue sheet? Or its possible he just looked at his papers and made what he thought was a fair offer. The point is that many of the small time BM shops are extremely behind the times. They rely on CDN and im sure a dealer of your magnitude knows that recent auction sales are a better price guide. That sword goes both ways as well. Buying from a dealer that uses CDN for pricing can yield profits for people that buy from him.

[MarkFeld]

Mark; ya know after I wrote it I was thinking the same thing... Maybe it was the blue sheet? Or its possible he just looked at his papers and made what he thought was a fair offer. The point is that many of the small time BM shops are extremely behind the times. They rely on CDN and im sure a dealer of your magnitude knows that recent auction sales are a better price guide. That sword goes both ways as well. Buying from a dealer that uses CDN for pricing can yield profits for people that buy from him.

 

No Bluesheet price listed for 68's either, Jon.

 

By the way, that dime looks familiar.

[BLive1972]

MarkFeld...you have some insane half dimes.

[newprepper]

MarkFeld...you have some insane half dimes.

 

They could be yours

[coinman1794]

I agree with Mark. The coin shows a lot of hairlines on the reverse which would lead me to say that it has been cleaned. The Gray Sheet bid for an EF-40 1870 half dime is $35. Therefore an offer of say $25 to $30 for the raw coin would be fair IF the coin is an EF piece with no problems. If the coin was certified, which would make no sense for the person who had it done because the piece is not worth enough money to warrant certification, it should bring slightly more ... say $28 to $32.

 

This coin has problems, and as such is not easy to sell. When an honest dealer marks a coin as "EF but cleaned" it's hard to sell. That's why many dealers don't want the piece except at a very low price. $9 is too low IMO, but I think you are looking at less than half what you paid under the circumstances.

 

I'm not sure I see any cleaning harlines on it, but the color scheme certainly indicates secondary toning and some type of stripping. Even if there are no hairlines, an experienced numismatist might not want a primarily white XF.

[TomB]

The coin has had its surfaces stripped away and has plenty of dings on it. Even though it has details of an EF, it would not be "worth" what an EF should sell for on the market. In my opinion, this is a bad looking coin. The dealer whom you offered the coin to might have simply not wanted to handle it or might have realized that the coin would sit in inventory forever if he paid near EF money. Therefore, a $9 buy on his part could have been made to assure himself he would not lose anything on a non-moving item.