Good auction houses?

[Egon-migration]

I've been thinking of selling off some of my coins down the road and have been looking for good options.

 

Does anyone have any experience with one? I'd love to hear it or what you think about them.

[Coindude]

Egon I think that depends on what you are selling. Can you give us an idea of what you will be selling.

[Egon-migration]

Morgans

1882 CC uncirculated x 2

1883 CC uncirculated x 2

1884 CC uncirculated x 2

 

Seated Liberty Quarter

1874 Proof

 

Gold

3 Dollar 1854

3 Dollar 1857

5 Dollar 1909 D

10 Dollar 1850

10 Dollar 1854 O

20 Dollar 1911 D

50 Dollar 1986 W

50 Dollar 2000

[DaveG]

Are any of your coins currently graded by a third-party grading service (such as PCGS or NGC)?

[Raisethis2]

If your coins are graded by a major 3rd party grader like NGC you may do ok with one of the larger online firms like Teletrade or Great Collections. Being graded takes a lot of the mystery out of an online purchase.

 

 

If your coins are raw, then you need to consign with an auctioneer who gets a good crowd with deep pockets. People will buy raw coins and pay a fair price once they have determined the grade for themselves.

 

Consigning to an auctioneer with 20 people in the room is a recipe for disaster. Consigning more than a handful of coins to a single auction is a recipe for disaster. Paying a Sellers premium above 10% is a recipe for disaster.

 

If you'd like a few auction recommendations PM me and I'll give you some info, web addresses, etc.

 

Always remember you can protect yourself with a bid reserve. If an Auctioneer refuses, just say no.

 

 

 

[mtnstyne]

List them here in the marketplace.

[coinman_23885]

HI,

 

What are the grades of the pieces? Are they graded by a third party grading service? If yes, then which service? I would first hire a professional photographer and try selling the coins off yourself. If that did not work, I would (not necessarily ranked):

 

1) Try eBay as BIN or for many of the pieces, no reserve auctions. If you consign the coins, some will take a very small percentage and will professionally image the coins and do all of the collection/shipping work. Shane (forum member Kryptonitecomics) is excellent, and I have consigned dozens of coins to him. His coins do well generally (largely due to his customer service, honest descriptions, and stellar photography), and in many instances, I have found that Shane was able to get more money for the coins than I could for myself and his prices offer incredible value. On higher valued coins, eBay may work especially well since the final value fee is capped at $250, which may be better than the rate you would get with a larger numismatic auction house operation. With regards to Shane specifically, consignments are listed in a professional manner, quickly, and the proceeds are disbursed quickly.

 

I don't have any real criticism of Shane's work; the only thing I can say is that his auctions listings can easily draw you in, so you might end up using a good portion of your consignment proceeds on other coins. I dropped a good sum in his auctions right after my things were auctioned off. I have no regrets.

 

2) Great Collections. Raeleen and Ian are great. They offer discounted grading (e.g. $10 dollar economy for both PCGS/NGC, $18 regular level service, and $30 express services). I have taken advantage of this in the past. Communication is great; consignment checks are cut pretty quickly.

 

3) Heritage. Signature auctions can realize strong money for coins. There usually is a minimum consignment amount (I think I was quoted $5,000 once), and you can even negotiate on the commission. My only criticism is that sometimes the photographs are not the greatest in my humble opinion, although they have come a long way.

 

4) Scottsman - I haven't consigned to them, but would definitely research them as they are a worthwhile firm.

 

 

[Egon-migration]

The coins are in the process of being graded as we speak at NGC. From my eyes I think they would all come back MS63 or greater. Maybe MS66 for some of the better ones if I'm lucky.

 

Thanks for all the input so far guys.

[Deerefan8420]

1) Try eBay as BIN or for many of the pieces, no reserve auctions. If you consign the coins, some will take a very small percentage and will professionally image the coins and do all of the collection/shipping work. Shane (forum member Kryptonitecomics) is excellent, and I have consigned dozens of coins to him. His coins do well generally (largely due to his customer service, honest descriptions, and stellar photography), and in many instances, I have found that Shane was able to get more money for the coins than I could for myself and his prices offer incredible value. On higher valued coins, eBay may work especially well since the final value fee is capped at $250, which may be better than the rate you would get with a larger numismatic auction house operation. With regards to Shane specifically, consignments are listed in a professional manner, quickly, and the proceeds are disbursed quickly.

 

I don't have any real criticism of Shane's work; the only thing I can say is that his auctions listings can easily draw you in, so you might end up using a good portion of your consignment proceeds on other coins. I dropped a good sum in his auctions right after my things were auctioned off. I have no regrets.

 

 

I agree with this 100% I recently sent Shane a somewhat large consignment(27 coins in all). He had the coins listed a lot faster than I thought he would and I was very pleased with that. The auctions went very well and most all of my coins sold close to, at, or above their listed books values. There were a couple of coins that did not quite sell for what I would have liked them to(and whoever bought those coins got one heck of a deal!), but everything went so well that I don't feel like I lost out on anything at all.

 

All in all, I would also highly recommend Shane. He is very professional, prompt on replying to messages and I consider him to be a top-notch person and I would not hesitate to send him another consignment in the future.

[michael]

auction is a good idea

 

but remember you dont get waht is fair you get what you negoiate and this is KEY when dealing with auction houses

 

the 800 pound gorilla is www.ha.com

 

www.stacksbowers.com might give you better terms...............

 

what counts is YOUR NOGOIATING SKILLS AND YOUR BOTTOM LINE

 

there are many people who highly respect mark feld and he currently works at heritage why dont you pm him here on the boards after you get your coins back and have a conversation with him he will give you good advices on your newly slabbed coin you want to sell and give you some good advice and options i believe that mark will suggest good ideas to maximise your results with your elclectic assortment of coins

 

again contact him at heritage or pm him here on the boards after you get your grades from ngc and go from there

 

good luck

 

 

[Kurtdog]

If your coins are graded by a major 3rd party grader like NGC you may do ok with one of the larger online firms like Teletrade or Great Collections. Being graded takes a lot of the mystery out of an online purchase.

 

If your coins are raw, then you need to consign with an auctioneer who gets a good crowd with deep pockets. People will buy raw coins and pay a fair price once they have determined the grade for themselves.

 

Consigning to an auctioneer with 20 people in the room is a recipe for disaster. Consigning more than a handful of coins to a single auction is a recipe for disaster. Paying a Sellers premium above 10% is a recipe for disaster.

 

If you'd like a few auction recommendations PM me and I'll give you some info, web addresses, etc.

 

Always remember you can protect yourself with a bid reserve. If an Auctioneer refuses, just say no.

Good advice.

[123cents]

I would sell them here are with Great Collections.

[Kurtdog]

Actually I don't know that the auctions net higher returns than just selling the coins in the coin forums.