5 Reasons Estate-Sale Coin Selling Was a Poor Choice

When this article was originally published, were you considering selling your coin collection at an estate sale? The idea could seem appealing.

After all, organizing an estate sale can be an enormous project. You may have thought, “While I’m at it, I might as well take care of selling my coins at the same time.” Because many people might attend, presenting the collection while those shoppers were already there could have appeared to offer an advantage.

Yet the original article explained that an estate sale was seldom, if ever, the appropriate setting or time to sell a coin collection. It outlined the reasons and described approaches that could produce better outcomes.

1. Estate-sale firms lack coin expertise

Estate-sale companies generally handle a broad range of property rather than specializing in each item they sell. For a collection owner, that limited specialization can be a disadvantage. The article’s view was that a collection needs someone knowledgeable and experienced with coins to manage its sale.

When a coin specialist handles a sale, the article said, the owner has a stronger chance of realizing more from the collection. Specialists know how to present, describe, and promote individual coins. They understand what can be lost when a collection does not bring its best price, and they can keep the coins protected and secure until a transaction is finished.

The difficulty with having a coin expert oversee the coin portion of an estate sale was that most specialists would not commit that time, or their involvement could cost too much. The article therefore suggested that owners were generally better served by locating a nearby coin dealer they trusted to handle a fair sale of the collection.

At publication, this approach was presented as avoiding the expense of bringing in a coin specialist to supervise items, negotiate with prospective purchasers, and address the possibility of theft, which the article described as common at estate sales.

2. Incorrect pricing can create major losses

The article also identified inaccurate pricing as a way estate-sale companies could cost an owner money. This connects to their lack of coin-appraisal training: they may inspect coins briefly and reach a quick conclusion using only limited knowledge.

The original article stated that these companies and their representatives often did not know how to determine what a fair price is for your coin collection.

When this article was originally published, it cautioned that undervaluing coins during selling your estate coin collection could cause an owner to forfeit a substantial share of possible proceeds. Conversely, coins priced too high would probably fail to sell altogether.

Based on Atlanta Gold & Coin’s experience at the time of publication, estate-sale firms often valued coins too highly and repeated many errors the general public makes, as identified in this article. In either direction, the pricing could miss the mark, leaving disappointing results or no sale at all.

3. The audience is not the right one.

When this article was originally published, coin collectors were described as the ideal audience for someone selling a collection. Although coin hunters watched for estate sales, they did not necessarily attend every estate sale.

The article explained that estate sales were not where collectors expected to locate missing pieces for their sets. Many collectors preferred not to spend time at an estate sale when the odds of finding the coins they sought were very small.

The original article noted that coin hunters often attended estate sales to buy inexpensively and resell at a higher profit. These buyers frequently tried to flip coins, meaning reselling them on the same day of purchase. On some occasions, people contacted Atlanta Gold & Coin that day seeking to sell coins they had bought earlier at an estate sale.

For owners seeking the best price, the article said the collection needed to reach people interested in coins and ethical enough to pay fair market value. It argued those buyers would not be found among estate-sale shoppers looking for coins. Meeting coin buyers where they typically gathered was presented as producing better results than an estate sale.

4. Estate-sale commissions on coin sales are often high

Unless an owner handled the sale without help, the original article noted that a fee or commission would be paid to the person or company doing the selling. It also said fees could be lower with a careful choice. At publication, a coin dealer could often assist for a lower fee or commission than an estate-sale company nearly 100% of the time.

At the time of publication, estate-sale company fees were said to typically range from 25% to 30% of the total estate sales. The article characterized that as a high cost for selling coins, especially because pricing mistakes could further reduce the total value realized.

The article reported that most estate-sale companies would permit a coin collection to be separated from the remainder of an estate. When a company imposed limits on doing that, readers at publication were invited to continue looking for a company that allowed this option.

5. Estate-sale visitors seek bargain prices

Have you attended an estate sale and noticed how many people were looking for bargains?

The article said these visitors were not there to pay full value for property. They sought steep discounts for two reasons: to acquire things they ordinarily could not afford, or to buy at a low price and resell at a higher one.

When this article was originally published, it cautioned that placing a valuable coin collection into that setting could lead to receiving very little. Buyers willing to pay market rates for coins were described as going directly to the source—businesses that specialized in selling coins.

Those buyers knew they could find desired pieces there, with assurance that the coins were authentic, correctly graded and priced, and properly preserved.

The article also raised authenticity as a risk when an estate-sale company handled an estate coin collection sale. Because the company was not made up of coin specialists, it could unknowingly sell a fake or counterfeit coin. That could create complications involving customer refund requests, law-enforcement involvement, reputational risk, and related concerns.

Other Historical Options for Selling a CollectionAt publication,

Once an owner concluded that estate sales were not the appropriate venue for selling a coin collection, the question remained: where and how could that collection be sold?

The original article then offered these starting ideas.

Have a coin dealer appraise the collection

At publication, a coin dealer could appraise your collection to support accurate pricing. The dealer would consider each coin’s type, year, condition, rarity, and the supply and demand at that time.

Using that information, the dealer could explain what an appropriate price should be. The article advised readers at publication to remember that most coin dealers charged for appraisals, to ask about the charge before bringing coins for appraisal, and to ask whether it would be waived if the collection was sold to that dealer.

Sell the collection to a coin dealer

At publication, some coin dealers, including Atlanta Gold & Coin Buyers, might offer to purchase a collection after appraising it and could waive the appraisal fee depending on the collection’s value.

Naturally, a dealer’s offer needed to leave room for the dealer to benefit from the purchase. Even so, the article said the price would usually exceed what an estate sale brought, because coin dealers had networks that could locate buyers prepared to pay fair prices.

Hold an estate sale for only the coin collection

For readers at publication who truly wanted a collection sold as part of an estate, an estate coin-collection sale was another option.

The article advised having an estate coin collection appraisal first and foremost. Coins could then be marketed individually or sold together as a collection. Whether holding an estate-sale event or selling to a dealer, the article said the right audience and the most accurate valuation would be available.

In that scenario, the article cautioned that marketing an estate coin-collection sale could cost money while drawing few people—or no one at all. Unless a collection contained more than several hundred coins, and perhaps even then, this was not presented as a first, second, or third choice.

Security issues and other concerns, including negotiating all day with buyers seeking below-market prices, could quickly make this kind of sale both frustrating and a complete waste of time.

Seek guidance from a coin dealer

The original article described several ways to sell a coin collection, including those above. However, it said that people unfamiliar with selling coins to the public would be better served by seeking advice. In Atlanta Gold & Coin’s view at publication, the best option was developing a relationship with a trusted coin buyer and seller. That could be a local coin dealer operating an independent business, or someone locally experienced in marketing coins and coin collections to the public.

Before the time you planned to sell the full collection, it was sensible to get acquainted with a dealer. For a larger collection, conduct careful research before bringing everything in for appraisal or sale. The goal was to work with someone trustworthy who could provide as fair a price as possible for individual coins or the entire collection.

When the original article was published and you were prepared to sell, readers were encouraged to ask the dealer about available alternatives and the ways the dealer might be able to assist.

Why Choose Atlanta Gold & Coin Buyers?

Atlanta Gold & Coin recognized that, at publication, selling a coin collection could feel like a monumental challenge.

When this article was originally published, handling a collection the wrong way could mean leaving money unclaimed, encountering a scam, or facing pressure to sell the entire collection far below market value.

By contrast, the original article suggested that working with knowledgeable coin specialists could help produce the best possible outcome.

At the time of publication, Atlanta Gold & Coin Buyers described having built a solid reputation for fair and transparent pricing, along with professional appraisals and substantial expertise. The original article reported that the business bought and sold many coin and currency categories, including U.S. and foreign gold, silver, and platinum coins; rare or collectible coins; and bullion bars and rounds made of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, among other items.

Drawing on years of experience and thousands of coin collections handled over that period, the original article said sellers could feel confident placing a collection sale with Atlanta Gold & Coin Buyers as their coin dealer. At the time of publication, it reported making offers on collections almost every day and generally waiving the appraisal fee when its offer was accepted during the appraisal appointment.

At publication, Call or e-mail us that day to learn how Atlanta Gold & Coin could help with a coin collection appraisal and/or sale. For direct contact, call that day at 678-922-4909!