How to Sell a Coin Collection for Cash When You Know Nothing About Numismatics

Before you head to a coin shop to offload your collection, take some time to evaluate your old coins with a discerning eye. Recognize what you do and don’t know, and try to fill in the blanks. Identifying what you have is the first step to making sure you don’t sell the collection way below fair market value; just don’t overly handle the collection. 

In almost every instance, cleaning coins extremely reduces their value. Competent coin dealers will spot the difference between a coin in mint condition and a coin that looks artificially mint because it has been cleaned. Remember, a shiny old coin doesn’t mean it’s valuable. Some dull, damaged coins are worth a lot, too. Rarity and collectibility can matter just as much as the condition. 

You don’t want to clean coins, but you also don’t want to damage them any further by improperly storing them. Make sure your coins are separated in appropriate binders to limit damage, water, or otherwise. Also, keep the collection in a safe location to prevent theft.

Creating an inventory, if there isn’t one already, will be the most time-consuming part of this process. If you inherited a collection from a seasoned collector, this assessment was likely already done. Search in notebooks and on computers to track down a coin inventory.

If this hasn’t been done, and you suspect the collection could have some precious coins, you can pay someone to do this.  Contact a professional numismatist for a quote on the process. These people won’t have a conflict of interest in valuing and grading your coins because they adhere to a strong code of ethics and likely won’t be the ones purchasing the collection. 

If you don’t want to shell out money for a professional assessment, use a free coin price guide. Before searching values, sort out your collection into the categories used on the price guide site. This sorting process will help even if the coins are already in binders or coin slabs. Don’t value anything yet! Put all the categories into rows on a spreadsheet and log each coin underneath the appropriate row. Create a column that includes an estimated grade and another column for an estimated value. 

Estimate the grade of each coin based on what you learn in this coin grading video. Remember, this grading is just an estimate based on your limited research. Take this grade with a grain of salt. An expert will have a more accurate assessment. Once your grades are logged in the spreadsheet, use the price guide above to add in an estimated value.  

Once you complete your inventory, you can bring your collection to a coin dealer. We recommend searching out reliable dealers with a good track record online or in person. Fly-by-nights that are set up at hotels aren’t as reliable.

It is easiest to sell a collection in its entirety, especially if you don’t take the time to sort and grade the collection yourself. However, if you do put together an inventory and find that there is a coin that might be very valuable, you might want to sell this coin separately and put it up in a coin auction to make more money on it potentially. 

 A coin is only worth what someone will pay, and values will differ depending on where you sell it. 

• Retail. Most people have a hard time selling coins close to retail value. These prices are most often attained by professional coin dealers who have knowledge and expertise and can authenticate coins accurately. 
• Wholesale. This is the price people get when they sell their coins to a dealer. It is generally anywhere from 30% – 70% less than retail value. 
• Auction. Depending on the auction, you can get prices either higher or lower than retail and wholesale. It’s a gamble, and some auctions have both dealers and regular collectors in the crowd who might drive up prices. Sellers pay commissions to auction houses. 

If you don’t need the money right away, don’t sell right away. The more desperate you are to sell, the less money you will ultimately get for the collection. For example, if you have a large collection that hasn’t been properly inventoried, a dealer (or fly-by-night gold buyer) might give you a base price that accounts for all the time they will spend sorting and grading the coins. 

After the purchase, they might find a diamond in the rough in your collection and make a lot of money. This scenario is not them ripping you off. It’s a quick cash game where they take a gamble because they gave you cash upfront and chose to take the time to process the coins after this bulk purchase. Their purchase price reflected the lowest amount they could pay by taking this risk (generally a metal melt amount). 

If you don’t have time or the means to learn more about your collection, this lower price might be completely okay. Regardless, you should be aware of this scenario so you can decide to either sell for less or research and then sell for more. The latter will take significantly more time and effort. 

Assuming that you took the steps above to inventory and grade your coin collection, then you will want to prepare yourself to barter with a dealer of your choosing. Take into consideration whether your values are based on retail or wholesale value. If the value is retail, do not expect to get this price from a coin dealer. Also, be prepared for the dealer to challenge your grading and value. In many cases, beginners or people looking to sell will overestimate the grade and value of their coins.

Be open to the dealer’s suggestion on value and grade, but if you get an off feeling during negotiations, trust your gut and sell elsewhere. If another dealer or two gives you the same valuation, consider that they are probably more accurate than you and consider lowering your price. You could also try selling the collection on eBay or another online marketplace, but remember, you cannot sell the coin collection based on your grade and value alone since you are not a professional. Your research throughout this process is a starting point rather than an endpoint.