Many people inherit coin collections and want to auction the coins off without understanding the process. Even a collector can have trouble with auctions if he or she never went through the process before. Here are a few things you should know before taking your coins to auction.
1. You Should Know About Your Coins
Before attempting to auction off a coin collection, you need to have some knowledge of what you’re auctioning off. If you don’t already have relevant information on your collection, start gathering it. You need to figure out:
- The rarity of each coin
- The grade of each coin
- The metals each coin consists of
- The popularity of each coin
Coin values aren’t set in stone, and numerous factors go into those values. Sometimes a coin’s popularity can wane, or a previously unpopular coin can suddenly become the one collectors are looking for. An x-factor also exists because you may never know what a particular collector is willing to bid for a particular coin.
If your collection consists of similar coins, you have less research to do. If your collection is a mixed bag, you may have to put in the extra work to determine which coins are the most valuable. The coins of most value will make your collection stand out during an auction.
Some online searching can bring you to a wealth of information on coins and their values. If you don’t want to put in the work to learn about your coins, bring your collection to a professional appraiser. An appraiser will inspect, grade, and give you detailed information about your coins.
2. You Should Know What to Expect From an Auction
The price your coin collection fetches at an auction will rarely match the kinds of prices you will see if you were to sell the collection directly. A little more research can help you figure out the difference between average sale prices and winning bid prices for a particular coin.
Take your most valuable coin, and check online resources to see what dealers have paid for the coin. Next, check to see what the coin went for at a few online and offline auctions. Use the information you find to give yourself an estimate of what you might see at auction above the typical sale price.
Understand those previous values are not absolute indicators of current or future coin values. These numbers are just to give you an idea of what you might reasonably expect to a certain degree.
3. You Should Know Which Coins Do Best at Auction
You may also discover that not all the coins you have will do well at an auction. Conversely, you can find you’re holding onto coins that always achieve the highest sell value at an auction. For some coins, an auction makes the most sense.
Highly Graded Coins
If your collection contains coins with the highest NGC or PCGS grades, then the auction is usually the best place for them. These types of coins represent the best of the best and collectors will eagerly wage a bidding war over them.
Missing-in-Action Coins
Do you have coins that you see high sale prices for but little by way of winning auction bids? This can mean that coin has a high demand, and collectors are just waiting for it to turn up at an auction.
Untouched Coin Collections
A coin collection assembled decades ago looks appealing to collectors. This means the coins were not exchanging hands in sales or auctions over the years. The collection as a whole is hitting the market for the very first time.
Numismatic Coins of High Value
Numismatic coins can have absurdly high values depending on several factors. A combination of a high grade, high scarcity, and high demand can create a coin that collectors will bid large amounts of money for.
What separates these coins from others the most is the scarcity and demand. Even if your coins take a grade hit, people may still desperately want it because they simply can’t find too many other sources for that particular coin.
4. You Should Know How You Want to Auction the Coins
Do you want to auction the whole collection or sell the coins individually? Auctioning off an entire collection, especially a large one, isn’t always a good idea. This is especially true if your collection has some high-value coins.
Even though you likely won’t receive the best amount for the collection, an auction will help you get rid of the collection quickly if that’s your goal. A better way to go about it is to auction off individual coins or sets. Collectors love matching coin sets, and you can take advantage of that.
Contact us today for more information about selling your coin collection.
