How to value / trade in non-NGC-item# coinage & metals 0

[Hammarlund]

I will be selling off a medium coin / metals collection. I can handle the ungraded coins just fine, either by submitting or by selling ungraded, but it includes a number of odd ducks and I'd welcome comments about the best way to approach sales

First, I have a handful of things w/ an NGC cert but no NGC number, specficially a set of "1861 confederate cent Smithsonian "Restrike" 150th Anniversary .999 gold/platinum/Silver/copper Gem Proofs"  I didn't know you could get an NGC sticker without a number...?

Next, I have quite a few non-certified Washington-Mint-type mix-metal or single-metal pieces, e.g. "gold plated 4 ounce silver bars in the shape of a $100 bill.", "giant half-pound silver eagle", and such. 

 

Any ideas on the best pricing resources to track such stuff?

[Just Bob]

39 minutes ago, Hammarlund said:

 

First, I have a handful of things w/ an NGC cert but no NGC number, specficially a set of "1861 confederate cent Smithsonian "Restrike" 150th Anniversary .999 gold/platinum/Silver/copper Gem Proofs"  I didn't know you could get an NGC sticker without a number...?

 

This one has me confused. Can you post a picture or a link to show us what you are referring to?

As for the other items, Ebay completed auctions/sales is probably your best bet when it comes to pricing. I did a quick search for the Washington Mint silver bar - current auctions and BINs - and found prices from $40 to $140. The gold plating does not seem to have much effect on the price either way. Either selling them here on the Marketplace forum or on the trade section of other coin boards or putting them on Ebay will probably be your best choices as far as venues go.

[kbbpll]

I didn't know that NGC slabbed stuff without certification numbers (or barcodes), but apparently they did. Not graded either.

[Coinbuf]

Currently there is an active (and coming) auction on Heritage that's at $230 for the three piece restrike set with 5 or so days left.  I would check the Heritage prior auction archives as well as ebay completed sales for more price data on these restrikes.  Ebay finished auctions will be the most likely source for pricing data on the bars.

[jgrinz]

For informational purposes - You are missing one of the set 

The big boy "Platinum"

 

[Hammarlund]

I have all four: Platinum, gold, silver, copper.  And yup: Those are the ones I mean. Thanks for info.  Odd, isn't it, that there are no serial #s or grading?

Anyway, on to the next question: How does one decide re the worthiness of certification?  For example, I have a 10-coin set of late 1800s and early 1900s liberty $10 gold coins, and 20-21 equivalent $5 gold coins (attached, and including a $20 as well).  In the context of selling it seems a bit odd NOT to certify them, but it's a pretty expensive process to do so.  And that isn't even counting the multiple bulk sleeves of silver dollars--both Morgans and Eisenhowers--which are similarly uncertified.

What resources are people using to make these choices?

[jgrinz]

In todays world dont sell anything

:-)

Looks nice though Congrats

[rons]

Get  yourself a RedBook and look at mintages for each of the gold pieces. Most will be close to melt because there are many years and so many minted that the demand is low. Not too many people can afford to complete a set of eagles or quarter eagles.  Call around to a couple of metals dealers and ask what they are paying for gold. There is one fair place where I live and the other 12  dealers not so much. Fast and easy cash on the barrelhead:) 

[Conder101]

On 5/15/2020 at 3:42 PM, Hammarlund said:

Odd, isn't it, that there are no serial #s or grading?

Not really, they aren't coins, just private medals.

 

On 5/15/2020 at 3:42 PM, Hammarlund said:

Anyway, on to the next question: How does one decide re the worthiness of certification? 

Well you start by getting about 10 to 20 years worth of practice grading. Then with gold you relize that unless it is a scarce date or MS-64 or better it is going to sell for a little above bullion whether it is graded or not, and in many cases most of the increased value from getting it graded you will give to the TPG in fees.  (This is pretty much true of a LOT of common generic type coins.)

Edited May 27, 2020 by Conder101

[Thompson2]

So I was in a similar (but not identical) situation in that we came into a stash of several hundred coins, most of which were unremarkable but there were a few that were pretty nice.  Red Book is a good place to start.  Sort what you've got and start to identify key/semi-key dates and mint marks.  Once you have everything arranged, this doesn't take that long.  A quick pass down the page of the book and you can see the ones that have more value at any grade.  Pull those out.

Then start looking for variants or date/MM combinations where the value "hockey sticks" up at higher grades and see if you have any of those (even if you can't really tell if what you've got is the higher grade or now).  This can be a bit tougher because not all the variants are clearly indicated in Red Book.  I ran into this with a Morgan dollar that was listed as "Reverse 2", but no further description... Google can help a lot with that. 

Also, get some 2x2 PVC free flips so that you can protect coins as you find them.  The ones I bought came with 2x2 "notecards" that let me write down what the coin was and any other information that I thought was relevant so I didn't have to figure out why I had set that coin aside.  <edit> You'll need these even for the coins in snaps if you send them in for grading.  They want to see them in flips. Not sure how they feel about the snaps </edit>

Then get good at grading over the course of years, get good at taking pictures so you can get opinions from the crew here on grades for particular coins (especially those that are marginal for getting slabbed), and / or find a good coin shop in your area that can (and is willing) to help with grading sorting.  For the last option, remember that they need to make a living, so they can't offer top dollar / full retail price for what you've got.

A word of caution on getting coins graded without having an experienced eye take a look at them - there's always the hazard that the coins you've got were cleaned which can pull a significant amount of value out of them.  I learned that the hard, expensive way.  So while this forum is a great resource, it does have its limitation... 

Good luck with it.  Can't wait to see what you discover. 

Michael

Edited May 27, 2020 by Thompson2