How do you Prune a collection?

[hoard]

I need help. I have decided to start to "prune" my collection but do not know how to start. I know I will sell the key date coins one at a time. My question has more to due with the non-key circulated coins. Here is an example: my barber quarters (which I have little interest in) includes 293 coins in good condition with only a couple of the key dates, and 43 coins missing to complete the set. There are other demonations that have the same story almost 1,000 winged liberty dimes, couple hundred barber halves, etc.

 

Question is how do you go about selling to get the most bang for the buck? Individually on ebay, at local coin shop, de-sort them and put them rolls for sale.

 

What would you do?

 

edited to add: I am setting aside key dates and better coins as keepers for now. I want to finally complete some series and upgrade a few coins, that is why I am thinking of finally selling.

[EZ_E]

Well, we'll start by selling me some Barber quarters.

 

Low grade, circulated coins with eye-appeal is what I want.

 

I need the following:

 

1892S

1893S

1895

1895O

1896S

1897S

1898O

1898S

1899

1899O

1899S

1900

1900O

1900S

1901S

1902O

1903S

1905O

1907O

1908

1913D

1913S

 

Thanks for any help in working on my set.

[World Colonial]

You say you want to prune your collection but what is your strategy or plan for the money you will get or the collection you want to build?

 

Reagardless of what you want to collect or how much your coins are worth, my advice to you is to use those funds for a reduced number of specimens that have better financial potential. That is, assuming you want to use it for coins at all.

 

As for selling them, since they are low value or appear to be, it would be easier for you to sell them to someone on this board such as the last post. I've never sold anything to a dealer because none of them locally sell what I collect, so I cannot give you any advice from experience there. It is the easiest way to get rid of your coins, but there is a trade-off on how much you will get. Going through a large number of low value coins is time consuming and a dealer has to reduce their price to you to account for that. And if it not, you will still probably get a low bid because it will take the dealer awhile to get rid of it from their inventory unless they wholesale it (in which case you would still get a low price).

 

If you are in a city that will have a major regional or national coin show, you could try to sell them there (to either collectors or dealers). The competition MAY increase your sales price somewhat but it also may not because this sounds like low value material.

 

Selling on eBay might be the way to get the most money, but you will need to sell the coins in group lots (except for the ley dayes) unless you want to spend endless hours taking pictures and performing the tedious administrative tasks of listing, mailing and processing your payments (unless it is all Paypal). Also, the eBay (listing and final value) fees and Paypal (if you use it) fees will eat up your sales on low value lots.

 

In summary, it is a trade-off between how much time and effort you want to put into it versus how much money you want to extract from your coins.

 

Best of luck to you.

[hoard]

PM sent

[hoard]

I am going to start a type set. Something I have always wanted to do and complete my Peace, Lincoln, Walker, winged liberty, franklin, buffalo, and washington series that I started. I am very close on all missing only a select few in each set. Thanks for the advice and you did answer my question, that sale of mix rolls will likely be the end choice.

[James_OldeTowne]

If you mean there's a lot of bulk silver, I'd just dump it all at SilverTowne. You can get more elsewhere, but what you might gain (slightly) in financial return, you'll lose much more in the cost of your time.

[Dcoin]

Another option is to use them to trade for the coins you want/need. Collectors and certainly dealers are more willing to give you a higher value if they give you a coin in return rather than upfront cash.

 

As a side note, this path requires you to really know the value of the coins going out and especially coins coming in.

 

Good luck!

[WaxonWaxov]

With the Barbers you might consider putting them in a Dansco, generating a good list of what is there and what is not and then put it on Ebay.

 

If a person is considering starting to collect Barbers that might be something they are interested in.

[IGWT]

How do you Prune a collection?

 

Start with a plum?

[hoard]

very funny

[just carl]

My suggestion is to check out coin shows. Go to Google or Yahoo or even Coin World magazine and look up coin shows in your area. Find out what it cost for a space, reserve one, go there and start selling everything you don't want. At the same time you may find other coins that you do want and you may be able to trade other dealers for them. One friend of mine was going to do just that but when he got to the show another dealer asked him what he wanted for everything. He said a price and POOF, that was that. All gone. If you go to a coin show as a customer you'll have a harder time selling coins than if you go there as a dealer. Many dealers want a large inventory to attract every type of collector.

[RWB]

I started publishing numismatic books - that did more than just "prune" the collection!!

 

Sell the silver- and gold-based items (things with strong bullion componant), then the low grade. Keep only the best, possibly only pieces worth 1,000-10,000 - that seems to be where the best appreciateion is in collectors coins. (But not in modern issues.)