Expert: Ronald Fern - 6/26/2010

Question
My grandma has been collected the 50 states quarters, both D and P's since they started.
She has bought one $10 roll of each as they were released.
They are still mint in thier $10 rolls.
WHAT does she do with all of thoe quarters? How do you reccomend she sell them, in what way and through what venue?
Thank you so much
Elise Bennett

Answer
Hi Elise:

Your grading is a joke! I gave you specifically four ways to sell your rolls of coins, and you gave me a failing grade of 4 out of 10 on clarity. You gave me an 8 out of 10 on timeliness, even though I answered your question the same day it was asked. Do not bother to ask me any more questions. I spend an average of at least fifteen to twenty minutes researching the answers to questions. I do not take poor ratings well when I do not feel they are deserved.

I do not see how what I said below could be any clearer......

Many collectors hoarded and kept original rolls of state quarters. Most are only worth face value, or face plus a few dollars, say in the $15 a roll range. Many banks or credit unions will accept them at face value if you have an account. None are silver.

There are several ways to dispose of the collection. It depends on how much time you have to spend, and whether you know of or are close to a major coin dealer. Your first step would be to invest about $15 for a 2011 "Red Book" that lists most all US coins minted. Next, spend the time (file on computer is good for saving and modifying) to list all the coins by denomination, date and mintmark, noting the quantities of each. Look for the coins with the scarcer date and mintmarks. Then, try and generally grade the coins that are the scarcest by looking at the price guide. Try and get a general idea of the collection's value.

The least amount of time, and the lowest return on their value would be to sell them (wholesale) to a dealer. Find at least two or three professional coin dealers and ask them to make an offer to purchase the entire collection. Compare the offers to your estimate. You'd likely get about 50% to 60% of retail. I'd suggest dealing only with ANA and PNG dealers. Here's the link for PNG. You can find dealers listed by state and city. http://www.pngdealers.com/dealersearch.php

The next way to sell your collection would be to have it consigned to a major numismatic auction. These are held in conjunction with major coin shows throughout larger cities in the US during the year. ANA, FUN, and California shows in Santa Clara, and Long Beach, are some of the major shows. You may not have the entire collection listed for sale here, rather only the scarcer to rarer coins that the dealer feels would be of interest to collectors and/or investors. There is usually a 15% to 20% commission taken from the sale or final bid of the items in the auction. You'd get 80% to 85% of the retail value of the items that sell. Some could go for more than retail on interested coins, less on others.

A third way to sell your collection would be sell directly to collectors by offering your items at a fixed price, plus shipping and handling, in a numismatic publication like "Coin World" or "Numismatic News". Place items for sale in their respective category in the classified ads. Pick prices between wholesale and retail. You'd get more than selling to a dealer, and collectors would acquire the coins for 10% to 25% less than a coin shop (you have no overhead, i.e., office space, rent, lights, gas, etc.) "Coin World" link: http://www.coinworld.com/
"Numismatic News" link: http://numismaticnews.net/GeneralMenu/

The fourth way would be to sell the items yourself via the Internet on either uBid auctions or eBay auctions. This way would likely take the most time, and potentially could return the higher value. Some items may have to be relisted or have a "make offer" option to sell. There may even be items that don't sell, and you still would pay for listing. If you use this option, photos should accompany the better listings to attract bidders and get top value. You'll need to read the instructions, because the fees paid are in part based on both the listing and selling price of the items. eBay Auction link: http://www.ebay.com/  uBid Auction link: http://www.ubid.com/

That should do it for you. Hope I've helped answer your questions.

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.