stevewimberley Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Greetings, I know absolutely nothing about coins. I bought 10 packets (20 per)of 1991 Silver eagle dollars in 1991 from the US mint. They are in plastic containers with 20 coins per with Treasury on the top then emblem then United States Mint on the bottom of the containers. Anyway I had purchased these for a college fund for my kids and it is time to cash them in. Problem is I do not have a clue what they might be worth or how to sale them. Other than one of the packets the coins have remained in their plastic packets and never opened. Would this be classified as uncirculated ? I also read where i should have them graded, Does this mean send off all 10 packets (all 200 coins ?) Any advise as to how to get the best value and how to go about selling them would be much appreciated. thanks, stevewimberley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syzygy Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Greetings,I know absolutely nothing about coins. I bought 10 packets (20 per)of 1991 Silver eagle dollars in 1991 from the US mint. They are in plastic containers with 20 coins per with Treasury on the top then emblem then United States Mint on the bottom of the containers. Anyway I had purchased these for a college fund for my kids and it is time to cash them in. Problem is I do not have a clue what they might be worth or how to sale them. Other than one of the packets the coins have remained in their plastic packets and never opened. Would this be classified as uncirculated ? I also read where i should have them graded, Does this mean send off all 10 packets (all 200 coins ?) Any advise as to how to get the best value and how to go about selling them would be much appreciated. thanks, stevewimberley Welcome to Coin People. First off, figure out exactly what you have. Are these 1 oz of pure silver, also known as Silver American Eagles? Sure sounds like it, and you bought them *directly* from the mint. I didn't know that they were available in single quantities from the mint, but maybe in 1991 they were. Doesn't sound like you have the proof versions - sounds like you bought uncirculated rolls - these never circulate and are always considered uncirculated unless someones handles them or they get damaged. To assign a value, see what they sell for. Check ebay, of course. Silver closed in the US today at 19.27 / 19.32 (bid / ask). So, you have $3, 854 dollars worth of silver. Do they have value above their silver content? They are collected and I would say yes they do, but not very much more. Should you get them professionally graded? I don't think so. It will cost money (maybe $15-$30 each). If you really thought that you have some perfect (MS70) grade coins, maybe, but basically no. Best way to sell them? A bit more difficult to say. Easiest would be to walk into a coin dealer's shop and ask how much they would give you. On that day, compare their price to that calculated from the closing prce of silver (available all over the net) and see how close they are. Many folks here are very knowledgeable and can offer advice - but that's my quick response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just carl Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 WELCOME TO THE FORUM. I too am not sure what you have but it sounds like you have Uncirculated from the Mint 1991 Silver Eagles which are considered Silver Bullion Coin. There was 7,191,066 of these minted. The approximate selling price is about $17 to $20 at a coin show. That is what they sell for not what they would pay you for yours. DO NOT take them to a coin store or shop. Remember those places are in buisness to make a large profit on each sale in order to pay for gas, electric, phone, water, mortgages, food for the family, etc. So you would be lucky to be offered $5 each at a coin store. My suggestion is if you want to get rid of them and if you do not know how to use ebay, ask a relative, friend, neighbor if they know how and put them up on ebay. You should be able to get the most for you coins that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristofer Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 also, I have been doing tons of research specifically for selling the silver eagles on ebay, The only ones that sell for the highest price are the ones that start at 99 cents. Also, you pay a lower listing fee for that! out of 12 coins I watched, the 9 that sold for over $20.00 were the ones that started out at 99 cents, the 3 that sold for under $20.00 were one's that started at about $17 - $18.00. I think this has something to do with the amount of people bidding. The price might have gone higher because 6 people were bidding rather than 2. That's the only kind of answer I could draw from my results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bahabully Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 I'd try to sell these on Craig's list first,, as a lot, and list them a bit "under" silver cost. Use this "5% Under Current Silver Spot Price" to get potential buyers attention. It should work, it should save you time selling, and it should provide you a way to sell the entire lot in one transaction intead of 200. Most places sell silver at a markup to current spot price, so really push this discount in your listing spill. If spot price were currently $20 per oz., then sell the lot at $19 per oz. as one lot and be done with it. If you purchased these back in 1991, then even with the outrageous mint markup, you should come out pretty well given the increase in silver price over this time. If you go with ebay and sell each coin individually at $20, then you wind up paying up to $470 in charges (minimum) $20 sale price -.25 listing fee -.50 shipping cost -1.00 final sale fee -.60 paypal fee (if applicable)............. so you'll only net around $17.65 per coin. Selling on Craigslist or other popular and "FREE" classified forum will net you a few hundred dollars in this type of transaction. Be happy - you are one of the increadibly few people who have managed to make money on anything purchased as an investment from the US Mint at thier markups. Very nice investment call w.r.t. the inflation during this time and it's influence of silver spot, kudo's, and good luck with the kids in college. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just carl Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 Note if you do go with the pay pal idea, the vast majority of people tell the purchser to pay for postage, handling and if wanted, insurance. You would never pay for those. And as for pay pal, it is sometimes worth the cost. However, if you tell someone that it is OK to pay with a personal check, also tell them you'll wait until it clears at your bank prior to you shipping. Also, note people could pay with a cashiers check or money order. As good as cash. So many of the charges could be avoided. And remember to check out ebay to see if the amount being noted is better in single coins or in entire rolls. Another thing is many forums have buy/sell sub forums. You also may want to check around for those and you may find coin forum members have a tendancy to be a little more honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syzygy Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 .....DO NOT take them to a coin store or shop. Remember those places are in buisness to make a large profit on each sale in order to pay for gas, electric, phone, water, mortgages, food for the family, etc. So you would be lucky to be offered $5 each at a coin store. .... carl I think you are being a bit harsh. Any reasonably honest brick and morter shop would offer more than $5 each for 1991 1oz Silver Eagles. I just left a coin shop that does a very large buisness in gold and silver NCLT and the spreads I was hearing were around 8-13% and even less. Just for the sake of argument, I wish I would have asked how much they are paying for these, but the OP can certainly try doing that over the phone with his own local dealers. We have a few dealers here, including LD and maybe he could chime in. I'm not saying every dealer would pay even melt but Silver Eagles are high demand item and they move. Selling them at a coin shop is not, necessarily, a bad idea - of course the key is in accurately estimating their worth. The thought of a newbie dealing 200 of these one at a time on the bay with all the potential headaches is daunting and 10% of the total price would likely go to others in the form of fees and postage. I like the Craig's list idea - trying to find the guy that wants to buy 200 of them at the the brick and mortar shop and undercutting that price. Another option might be a coin show where there would be the advantage of a lot of dealer's all in one place. I wonder if the OP will ever let us know what he ended up doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 Couldn't you just sell them to kitco.com? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristofer Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I know blue book list's them at $13.00 and that's with silver at spot price of $10.00, so I imagine (since the prices are probably a bit inflated) that a dealer would pay around $10 - $15.00 for a high quality silver eagle. Of course I'm not speaking from any experience, I haven't sold any of my silver eagles except at retail, so this is pure specualtion on my part. What do you guys think, is blue book pretty highly inflated or an accurate assessment of wholesale pricing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Where I am, SAEs are usually traded on a $2-3 spread between buy and sell prices. Those who don't really deal in bullion would typically buy at under melt and sell at melt, while those who have customers usually pay very close to melt and sell for a premium. Just Carl - maybe you've had some bad experiences, but there are many honest dealers who work on very fair margins. I will recognize that there are some bad apples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henare Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Also, note people could pay with a cashiers check or money order. As good as cash not really--there are plenty of bogus bank checks and money orders out there. definitely ymmv, imho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dockwalliper Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Call or go to a dealer and ask what they are paying for silver eagles. If you don't like the price don't sell. We have a bullion dealer locally that pays 83% of spot for scrap and probably more for bullion. He sell for spot plus $1.95 per coin. Silver closed today at $20.30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just carl Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 not really--there are plenty of bogus bank checks and money orders out there. definitely ymmv, imho. True. However, when taking to a bank they could authenticate them. Which I hope everyone does prior to a final sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just carl Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 carl I think you are being a bit harsh. Any reasonably honest brick and morter shop would offer more than $5 each for 1991 1oz Silver Eagles. We have a few dealers here, including LD and maybe he could chime in. I'm not saying every dealer would pay even melt but Silver Eagles are high demand item and they move. Selling them at a coin shop is not, necessarily, a bad idea - of course the key is in accurately estimating their worth. Another option might be a coin show where there would be the advantage of a lot of dealer's all in one place. I wonder if the OP will ever let us know what he ended up doing. Not being harsh, just being cautious. Of course there are honest coin stores. Unfortunately my only experiences have been with horrible ones. Based on coin shops in my area I wouldn't trust them any more than a used car salesperson. I've heard of many coin shops on these forums that are very, very reputable. Sure wish they were here. I really like the idea of coin shows. Those we have and are great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henare Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 <br />True. However, when taking to a bank they could authenticate them. Which I hope everyone does prior to a final sale. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> If you're talking about a bank teller "authenticating" a check from another bank, fuhgeddaboutit. Not gonna happen. They have no way to do it for third-party banks. You deposit the check and they record the deposit with a hold and they put it through the system. If you cash the check they'll put a hold on your available funds until the check clears or is returned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristofer Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 <br /><br /><br /> If you're talking about a bank teller "authenticating" a check from another bank, fuhgeddaboutit. Not gonna happen. They have no way to do it for third-party banks. You deposit the check and they record the deposit with a hold and they put it through the system. If you cash the check they'll put a hold on your available funds until the check clears or is returned. Yeah, I work in credit card processing and we have to deal with all of that check stuff. there is no real way to make sure the check is good. You know those terminals that scan your check? All they do is check against a blacklist to make sure you're not on it. so if this is the first, second, or however many before you get on the blacklist then you won't get caught. Telecheck is the biggest of the companies that "verify" checks. From TeleCheck.com How It Works After a customer gives you a paper check, TeleCheck uses leading risk assessment technology and extensive check writer negative and activity databases to evaluate the risk of accepting a check. If the check meets the verification requirements, the TeleCheck ECA Verification service converts the paper check into an electronic transaction at the point-of-sale. The Automated Clearing House (ACH) network is used to process the transaction and funds are deposited directly into your bank account generally in two business days. ---end--- What Does It Mean? That's a fancy way of them saying they check it against a blacklist and then convert it into a digital format so it can clear a bit more quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just carl Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Not sure how it works in other areas but I've received checks, money orders, etc from numerous individuals from all over the place. I go to one of the banks I deal with, discuss the item with a officer, not a teller. They in turn give me a receipt, tell me they'll notify me via phone as to the checks authenticity. I also leave instructions to add to my account if valid. Nothing is entered into any of my accounts at that time. Nothing in my accounts are flagged, touched, put on hold, etc. until the item has been authenticated. Not aware that people would actually attempt to enter any checks of any kind directly into an account. I sure don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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