ELV Posted January 4 Posted January 4 Hello everyone, I'm a novice collector looking for some guidance. I have a collection of mainly British circulated coins and accessories that I'd like to pass on to better hands. What's included: The coins are mostly £2, £1 and 50p pieces, with some interesting smaller denominations. I've got a nearly complete 2p collection running from 1977 to 2013, plus some duplicates. Some international as well, incl. Chinese, Polish. Photos of most coins attached. Face value totals over £160. The accessories include a coin holder album and wooden display box from Safe Albums, along with some Hartberger coin holders. These were worth over £100 when purchased new. My questions: What might a collection like this realistically be worth? I've had a scan online and looks like £300 could be a reasonable price the coins and accessories combined, but I'd appreciate input from people who actually know what they're talking about! What's the best way to sell something like this? eBay? A dealer? Somewhere else entirely? Any advice would be very welcome. Happy to provide more details or photos if helpful. Thanks in advance! Quote
Sword Posted January 4 Posted January 4 I would suggest eBay and selling the coins and accessories separately. Quote
Paddy Posted January 5 Posted January 5 There are four approaches I can see: 1. Break it up and sell it in single lots or small groups on Ebay. This requires quite a lot of effort on your part and will take some time, but gives you the best chance of recouping your investment, or even making a profit. The Coin cases and storage materials my do best. 2. Sell it through a local auction house who will break it down into maybe a handful of lots. It will be bought by dealers, who will break it down and sell to private collectors to make a margin. (Collectors don't generally buy bulk lots at auction.) By the time you have allowed for auction commissions and dealer's profit margins you will be lucky if you get face value for the coins. 3. Find a dealer who is interested and do a direct deal. The price will still not be great but at least you take the auction house commission out of the equation. 4. Sell the best pieces - some individual coins and the storage material - on Ebay and take the rest to the Post Office at face value. It sounds brutal but you will save yourself a lot of effort and end up with broadly the same as options 2 and 3. You have to look at it as making the rewards from enjoying the collecting process rather than profit. Sorry if that all sounds a bit disappointing but I think it is a realistic answer. 1 Quote
Rob Posted January 5 Posted January 5 As a dealer I can safely say that if sold as a complete collection, you might get a small profit if taken as a whole but that would have to include the genuinely scarce pieces like the Kew Gardens 50p. The vast majority will go at face value if collected from circulation. I bought a complete collection of issued decimals in 2013 and still have most of the circulation pieces. Collecting them from circulation was no mean feat, but when everyone else can do the same, it eliminates much of a premium. Plus everyone wants coins with no marks if possible. One offs in sets sell for a premium, but not that many collect 1p, 2p, 5p 10p and 20ps, so you are left with profits coming from 50p, £1 and £2 coins. Nobody wants the £5 coins. If modern, most people buy year sets and get the job done in one go. 2 Quote
Paddy Posted January 5 Posted January 5 I had a very similar experience in about 2018. I spent best part of £1k on a huge collection of 50p, £1s and £2s with multiple duplicates. The scarcer pieces sold fairly easily - one Kew Gardens and a handful of Jemima Puddleducks, some of the £2 coins. The rest became a millstone around my neck and I ended up taking the bulk of them to the Post Office in 2023 at face value. Hence my advice above. Quote
wlewisiii Posted January 5 Posted January 5 4 hours ago, Rob said: As a dealer I can safely say that if sold as a complete collection, you might get a small profit if taken as a whole but that would have to include the genuinely scarce pieces like the Kew Gardens 50p. The vast majority will go at face value if collected from circulation. I bought a complete collection of issued decimals in 2013 and still have most of the circulation pieces. Collecting them from circulation was no mean feat, but when everyone else can do the same, it eliminates much of a premium. Plus everyone wants coins with no marks if possible. One offs in sets sell for a premium, but not that many collect 1p, 2p, 5p 10p and 20ps, so you are left with profits coming from 50p, £1 and £2 coins. Nobody wants the £5 coins. If modern, most people buy year sets and get the job done in one go. That's interesting to hear for the perspective. For the modern UK coins, it's generally only the £5 coins I find interesting. But even then, like you imply, I'm only interested occasional ones - last year's coat of arms, this year's Elizabeth centennial, perhaps the Angel in base metal. I imagine that they'd be hard to get rid of for a dealer. Quote
ELV Posted 16 minutes ago Author Posted 16 minutes ago Quick update, and thanks to @Sword, @Paddy, @Rob and @wlewisiii for the advice back in January. I went with Paddy's option 4 crossed with option 1: the better pieces listed singly, the rest in three job lots, and the storage kit sold separately as Sword suggested. Then some are going to the coin machine in the bank. It indeed took some time! Everything is live now if anyone here is interested. Mods, if a list like this does not belong in the Beginners area, please let me know Auctions: Job lot, 59 x 50p, Olympic and Paralympic, Beatrix Potter, Paddington, Hastings https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074570140 Job lot, 31 x £2, Brunel, Darwin, Great Fire, Dickens https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074564565 Job lot, 42 x round £1, capital cities, bridges, floral, Gibraltar https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074568516 2011 Football 50p, offside rule https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074572209 2002 Commonwealth Games England £2 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074571551 SAFE 760 album with 7 pages, SAFE 748 wooden box, 51 Hartberger 2x2 holders https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128076004657 Buy It Now: 2011 Tennis 50p https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074576632 2011 Mary Rose £2 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074578742 2011 King James Bible £2 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074582376 2008 London Olympic centenary £2 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074584978 2008 Beijing to London handover £2 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074586211 2010 London capital cities £1 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074587492 2011 Cardiff capital cities £1 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074552958 1988 Royal Shield £1 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074588449 2003 Royal Arms £1 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074592519 1997 Isle of Man cricket £1 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074589172 2000 Isle of Man millennium bells £1 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128074572844 1987 Falkland Islands £1 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128075488415 Isle of Man and Guernsey small change lot https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/128075488415 Quote
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