bottlecaps
Elite Member
I originally wrote this as a response to bbader61gv question "Where can I sell my silver coins and what can I expect for them" http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?p=355475#post355475 but decided to make it is own thread in order to inform a greater audience.
While the same negotiating principles can be applied for a coin with numismatic value the following is based on selling "beat-up" dug silver coins that don't have any real numismatic value.
Most local coin shops and pawn shops will pay melt value for your silver coins.
So say you have a beat up Morgan dollar it weighs 1 once its 90% silver
@ a market price of $12.00 per ounce of 999. Silver
$ 10.88 would be the market value of the silver in your morgan.
And it goes the same with dimes 10 beat up dimes, 4 beat up quarters 2 beat up halfs = $10.80 market value.
Now if "$10.80" is market value of 1 once of 90% silver a coin shop still has to have it melt down and refined and then sell it/ship it to a jeweler middleman ect... this all cost money so you may only get $8.00 more or less after everything is said and done.
Now that we covered that in order to get the best price from a coin dealer you could spend all day driving around burning all your profit trying to find the best price but if you ask your coin dealer for a store credit price he may give you more money. i.e. You trade in 10 ounces of coined silver (100 beat-up mercs) he offers you $80.00 cash or $95.00 store credit, You look around the store and settle on a 1850 gold dollar priced at book value of 145.00 in vf-20 condition. Now You have turned from the seller to the purchaser now you have the negotiation power!
You offer him a non insulting $120.00 he agrees to the price and you hand him $25.00 and walk out of the store with your shiny gold dollar.
Now for accepting the store credit you added $15 to your sale then you negotiated $25.00 off your purchase giving you a total of $40.00 add that to the $80.00 cash that he originally offered for your silver and you got $120.00 thats $9.80 more than market value! But wait there is more you could hold on to that gold coin or you could sell it on eBay giving you the potential to make an even larger profit!
While the same negotiating principles can be applied for a coin with numismatic value the following is based on selling "beat-up" dug silver coins that don't have any real numismatic value.
Most local coin shops and pawn shops will pay melt value for your silver coins.
So say you have a beat up Morgan dollar it weighs 1 once its 90% silver
@ a market price of $12.00 per ounce of 999. Silver
$ 10.88 would be the market value of the silver in your morgan.
And it goes the same with dimes 10 beat up dimes, 4 beat up quarters 2 beat up halfs = $10.80 market value.
Now if "$10.80" is market value of 1 once of 90% silver a coin shop still has to have it melt down and refined and then sell it/ship it to a jeweler middleman ect... this all cost money so you may only get $8.00 more or less after everything is said and done.
Now that we covered that in order to get the best price from a coin dealer you could spend all day driving around burning all your profit trying to find the best price but if you ask your coin dealer for a store credit price he may give you more money. i.e. You trade in 10 ounces of coined silver (100 beat-up mercs) he offers you $80.00 cash or $95.00 store credit, You look around the store and settle on a 1850 gold dollar priced at book value of 145.00 in vf-20 condition. Now You have turned from the seller to the purchaser now you have the negotiation power!
You offer him a non insulting $120.00 he agrees to the price and you hand him $25.00 and walk out of the store with your shiny gold dollar.
Now for accepting the store credit you added $15 to your sale then you negotiated $25.00 off your purchase giving you a total of $40.00 add that to the $80.00 cash that he originally offered for your silver and you got $120.00 thats $9.80 more than market value! But wait there is more you could hold on to that gold coin or you could sell it on eBay giving you the potential to make an even larger profit!