Should I grade before I sell?

[Fabfrank]

As a newbie on this board, please be patient. My dad purchased some uncirculated rolls of Peace and Morgan silver dollars about 20 years ago along with putting together some type?? sets of gold coins. The indiviual coins are in soft plastic holders and the silver dollars are in plastic rolls.

My dad called this morning asking about going to an upcoming coin show in Westchester to sell the coins. My concern is that the coins were graded by a dealer and not by a grading company. Here are my questions:

#1 Should I grade the coins and at what grade level is it better to sell raw rather than encapsulated

#2 Which grading company should I use?

#3 What is the grading fee?

 

Any help and guidance would be appreciated

[291fifth]

Sorry to disappoint you but you are just not providing enough information to get good answers to your questions. It sounds like you could have some potentially valuable items.

 

1. Check the coins in the soft plastic holders for PVC contamination. This could be a big problem if they have been affected by the PVC. If they have PVC contamination you should probably consult with NCS.

 

2. You need to buy a current copy of the Guide Book of US Coins to get some idea of the present value of what you have. If the coins are not PVC contaminated and have considerable value then having them slabbed will probably make them much easier to sell. Use NGC, ANACS or PCGS. These are reputable grading companies.

 

3. Don't go to the show to sell any coins until you know what you are doing. If the dealers sense you don't know what you have they will low-ball their offers!

 

You need to do some work if you want a good return on your coins. Making money in coins is not easy!

[MAULEMALL]

We All Should Have your Problems.

 

 

There are a lot of reasons to get your coins graded and to sell them is the first on the list.

 

I ONLY get my coins graded by NGC for a couple of reasons.

1) NGC Does what they say.If your coin is Guarentied to be graded by a certain date ,It Is.

2) NGC is more consistant ,In my opinion.

3) NCS is right next door.If I have a coin that needs to be conserved,They are the most knowlageable that I have found.

4) This is THE main point,Customer service is Far and Away better with NGC.

 

I still have my 5 free submission form from PCGS.I never used it.

I would frequent their boards (Before I was Booted) and all I ever saw were complaints from their customers.

 

 

[Oldtrader3]

If you know the grades, you can go to the EBay.com site to look up the prices on your coins. The prices there are probably as good an indicator as any. Selling raw coins will almost always result in lower prices because of risk. Common date silver dollars in lower grades then MS64 may not be worth the expense of third-party grading because of the grading costs.

 

Also, without knowing the dealer, it is difficult to determine whether the dealer that you had grade the coins is a decent grader and being honest with you. Another issue to be considered is: are any of the coins rare, or are they common date (particularly the gold)?

 

Are you able to independently grade these coins? If not, it might be worthwhile to take the coins to Westchester and have a couple other dealers look at the coins. This will at least give you an idea of what they are worth raw and whether the other dealer graded them well.

[crito]

Coin dealers will eat you alive if you don't know what you're doing. Spend some money on books and magazines first (COINage mag is my favorite). If you've got loose rolls full of shiney cleaned/whizzed coins, the grading service will take all your money and give you NOTHING in return... no grades, no slabs, NOTHING. In most cases, not even a good explaination of what's wrong. Don't waste your money like that. That's probably the #1 reason newbies become discouraged and leave the hobby.

 

[Fabfrank]

Thanks for the replies guys. Being a card and comic collector I have an understanding of how grading works. Many of the coins were graded MS63-MS65 by the original dealer. I'm going to go with the assumption that they are overgraded, so as not to get my hopes up. Would the grading companies grade the whole roll of silver dollars or would it have to be done individually?

As for the gold coins, they were inserted in a hard plastic slab with pre-cut holes for each denomination. I'll check Ebay first for closing prices. Can anyone tell me what the grading fee is for coins?

[gmarguli]

Thanks for the replies guys. Being a card and comic collector I have an understanding of how grading works. Many of the coins were graded MS63-MS65 by the original dealer. I'm going to go with the assumption that they are overgraded, so as not to get my hopes up. Would the grading companies grade the whole roll of silver dollars or would it have to be done individually?

As for the gold coins, they were inserted in a hard plastic slab with pre-cut holes for each denomination. I'll check Ebay first for closing prices. Can anyone tell me what the grading fee is for coins?

 

A list of the date and mint marks (usually on the reverse) would be very helpful. For the most part if you purchased the dollars in rolls the coins are not going to be worth grading unless they were purchased a long time ago.

 

The gold might be worth grading.

 

NGC Grading Fees

 

Consider taking the coins to a major show where ANACS will usually be attending and giving free grading opinions.

 

You could also pick out a few of the best looking dollars and send them in for grading to see what they grade. If they grade low then you can assume none of the others are worth grading. If they grade high you can try a few more.

[MAULEMALL]

Put up some Pics.

[goose3]

Attend the show and take several pieces along with you and get some Free opinions on their conditions also. Pick up a redbook at least while you are there.

 

If you are able to attend a large show where the grading companies attend, ANACS always gives verbal opinions for free!

 

 

[TomB]

You have received some excellent advice. It is likely that none of the silver coins is worth slabbing as grading standards have gotten a little tighter over the last twenty years and your father bought the coins from a dealer who graded them himself. Therefore, many are more likely overgraded. Also, without knowing the dates, they are likely common coins. If they each are common dates that grade in the MS60-62 area then they are worth minimally more than the grading fee.

 

Bring one or two coins to a show or to some local dealers and ask for a little help in grading them. Good luck.

[Oldtrader3]

My own experience from 20 years ago with dollar rolls is that most of the coins are low grade MS60-62 or Sliders (AU coins). High grade rolls are the exception.

[MAULEMALL]

OK now I have some questions.

Was your Dad a collector and did he learn to grade?

 

When you recieved them didn't you get any type of urge to check them out?

 

The gold....What denominations are they?

 

And Lastly....When do we get to see some pics??

 

 

 

 

 

An After thought......What are the date and mint marks of the individual coins.

 

Some one said to look for PVC .It shows up Green and can REALLY eff up a nice coin.

[EZ_E]

In David Hall's book A Mercenary's Guide to the Rare Coin Market published in 1987, he states that most all rolls of silver dollars had been cherry picked by that time. This includes the 1983 era. Chances are that there are no premium dates or grades. Now, if you dad had purchased them 30 years ago then you'd probably really have something. You need to post the dates and mint marks for any additional feedback.

[Fabfrank]

Maulemall- to answer some of your questions

 

1) Dad is not a collector. A family friend who was a certified numismatist convinced my father that rare coins were a good investment. (Sound familiar??) He ended up selling my father some gold type coins, $20 Gold pieces (ST. Gaudens etc) and rolls of Peace and Morgan silver dollars. I believe the grades given at the time were MS63-MS65. I was young than and just finishing college. This "friend" started a small financial planning company and needed someone to run the daily operation of the company. The irony is that he hired me. On top of selling insurance, annuities, and tax deferred investments he also created "coin portfolios". After about a year I realized I couldn't work there anymore. I had learned about the "dirty little secrets" of the coin industry. I told my dad to liquidate at the time, but he refused. He liked the idea of holding a tangible asset. Understand, my parents are immigrants with limited education. They grew up during WWII in occuped Europe. They know hard work and to save what little they earned. Unfortunately they chose to believe the "smooth talker" over the son.

 

#2 Once dad got his coins he was instructed to put them in his safe deposit box. He had no reason to believe he needed to get a second opinion. This "family friend" was someone he trusted.

 

#3 This is strictly from memory, but I believe the gold are in denominations of $1, $5, $10 and $20. I also believe he has some odd denominations gold coins (either $3 or $2.50)

 

#4 I'm going to try to get the coins from the safe deposit box this weekend and make a list of dates, type and what he was told the grades were. I'll try to scan some and post pics.

 

I believe that some of the coins are overgraded. I do think that many might be what they claim they are. Based off of some of the advice, I think I'll get a membership to PCGS or NGC. Get a bit more educated and send the best to be graded and than compare. I'll also see if I can get some unbiased opinions from ANACS. Thanks again for all the advice. You coin guys are great!

[MAULEMALL]

Thanks for opening up Fabfrank.The $2.50 and $3.00 gold will make some heads Perk up here and across the street.

 

I look forward to seeing what you have.I am a novice to coins myself (I have only been collecting for about 3 years).

Once you get into the coins you have I think you'll get into it like I did.

It's addictive.

 

So Enjoy it .

 

Who Knows....Maybe this Family Freind really was a Family Freind.