Selling Canadian coinage Errors and Varieties

General discussions about canadian coins.
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Coinsforsale
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun May 30, 2021 6:48 pm

Selling Canadian coinage Errors and Varieties

Post by Coinsforsale » Mon Jun 07, 2021 2:06 pm

Hi. I'm new to the site. I've inherited a number of Canadian coinage errors and varieties that I now wish to sell. Can anyone tell me if there is an active market out there on the buy side and how those individuals and organizations can be contacted? I have too many coins to post them one at a time. I would appreciate any guidance you can provide. Thank you.

Bill in Burl
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Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:41 am
Location: Golden Horseshoe, ONT

Re: Selling Canadian coinage Errors and Varieties

Post by Bill in Burl » Mon Jun 07, 2021 6:15 pm

Do an archive search on this and other coin sites. Look in the "BST" forum on this site. If the country ever opens up again, go to a major show or two and talk to some dealers.
Bill in Burl

Coinsforsale
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun May 30, 2021 6:48 pm

Re: Selling Canadian coinage Errors and Varieties

Post by Coinsforsale » Tue Jun 08, 2021 7:20 am

Thanks for the guidance Bill in Burl. I was hoping there was a known group of collectors that specialized in errors and varieties. I prefer not to work with Dealers, their offer prices are simply too low. I'll start with the BST forum.

MakesCents
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2021 5:28 pm

Re: Selling Canadian coinage Errors and Varieties

Post by MakesCents » Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:21 pm

I am not sure where you live but I am in B.C. and the market for coins here is not that good. There are all sorts of "collectors" looking to buy your coins, but only if they are silver. You can have a really nice sterling silver item that is over a hundred years old, put it up for sale, and I guarantee most of the replies will be from people wanting to know if it is marked and how much it weighs. When I get replies like that I usually ask what type of car they drive so I can figure out its melt value as well. I have quite a large collection of error coins and quite a few varieties as well but it is definitely a niche market.

Coinsforsale
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Joined: Sun May 30, 2021 6:48 pm

Re: Selling Canadian coinage Errors and Varieties

Post by Coinsforsale » Wed Jun 09, 2021 6:16 am

Hi MakesCents, thanks for your input. I live in a smaller market so, yes, I appreciate the comment about errors and varieties being a niche market. My personal view is that coin collecting, in general, will soon go the way of stamp collecting. As we move to digital transactions, see a greater influx of immigrants with no ties to the history and the continued production of many and varied and expensive "shiny things" from the mint I don't see the hobby/profession lasting, on any scale, much into the future. And, as you say, smelters become the main competition as the price of silver increases. In my short experience, selling coins is like buying a mattress; nobody pays retail. It's a great hobby and coins are very much works of art, but, with the odd exceptions, I'd never recommend collecting on any scale for investment purposes. Having said that, value will still be determined by scarcity, and errors/varieties fit that definition. Any further advice about the market for selling errors and varieties? Thoughts on how you would approach selling your collection when the time comes?

Jim J
Posts: 128
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2020 12:16 pm

Re: Selling Canadian coinage Errors and Varieties

Post by Jim J » Wed Jun 09, 2021 8:04 am

I think selling your coins is not the problem getting what you want will be your problem.

The trend prices are just a starting figure to work from or up to that price. Many things factor in from that point condition is the most important, rarity for each piece, how common the piece is and condition.

I think your more common pieces will sell low, your well circulated coins will sell low unless its a scarce coin, but your MS coins will sell at a better price and you might be able to get trend value if it has eye appeal or seldom seen in the market.

Varieties and high end coins (MS-65 and higher) always sell better and are always appealing to me and others, common coins are just that common, but without pictures of said pieces I don't think you will get much traffic.

If unsure of what you have I would show to a few dealers to get the feel of things, but most dealers will only pay 50% of trends or lower. If you want more than that then Auction Houses or online Auctions would be the way to sell them, the better pieces I would have them graded before selling them to achieve higher prices if you live in Canada then CCCS or ICCS will grade your better coins, the lower grades I wouldn't get them graded unless its seldom seen or scarce. Before doing anything do your homework and know what you have before you sell research the coins you have and try to see what the market holds for them.

I disagree with the comments about coins going the way of other collectable items did I don't think coins will ever fade away as they have value as currency and bullion as well as collectable item they will always be worth face value no matter what happens to the hobby.

MakesCents
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2021 5:28 pm

Re: Selling Canadian coinage Errors and Varieties

Post by MakesCents » Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:30 am

I don't think coins will go the way of the dodo either. People have been collecting them for centuries. One of the nice things about coins is that they don't take up a lot of room, unless you are like me and have piles of them. Other people are getting rid of their stamps so I think it is a good time to buy them. Walk into any thrift store and look at all the nice china and crystal selling cheap! If I was younger and had a lot of room I would be buying all of that up as well. One day when the younger generation gets tired of all of the disposable junk, they will go back to buying up the nice stuff. You should try posting a list of your coins on here and see if maybe you get some offers. Another thing to check out is bartering them for something you want. I have bartered for coins lots of times, as long as both parties walk away happy it's a win-win.

Coinsforsale
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Joined: Sun May 30, 2021 6:48 pm

Re: Selling Canadian coinage Errors and Varieties

Post by Coinsforsale » Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:35 am

Thanks for the input Jim J and MakesCents. I think we are going to agree to disagree on these points. Unlike coins, stamps have more value when they have been used. When was the last time you saw a stamp on snail mail correspondence? There is a stamp club in my community and the youngest member is 80 years old. Unless it's a Pokemon stamp, no kid these days will collect. Nope, you can stick a fork in stamps. To Jim's comment, the issue is getting reasonable value for one's coins. The Trends prices is what Dealers will sell for, not what they buy for. If you have a collection of any size you are likely going to be talking to a Dealer when you sell. Expect an offer of well under 50% of the Trends value (perhaps 20-40%) and long discussions agreeing on grades. What you are looking for is an end retail buyer who is willing to pay closer to the Trends value, but unfortunately won't be interested in your entire collection. Auctions are great if you have high value coins, which I do not (again, significant time will be spent in cataloging your collection and auction fees are not cheap). Expect to spend the better part of the rest of your life on-line selling a few coins at a time. Again, a great hobby but not much of an investment. If you pay $10 for a loonie there is little comfort in it being worth $1 at the bank. My advice to you if you are older and have a substantial collection - if you love your children you will not have a coin collection in your Estate.

SPP-Ottawa
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Jul 21, 2013 11:55 am

Re: Selling Canadian coinage Errors and Varieties

Post by SPP-Ottawa » Fri Feb 18, 2022 8:41 pm

It can be tricky trying to sell entire niche collections. The tendency to 'flood' a niche market is very real, and that happened several years ago with a couple dozen Canadian error lots in the 2014 ANA auction and the auctioning off of the Robert Krill collection by Chuck Moore in following year. Maybe 20% of the entire group of error lots sold (the reserve was too high, and there was not demand).

Dealers will lowball you because it might take them years to move the material. Case in point, I believe Canadian Coin & Currency is still trying to sell errors from the Krill collection on their website.

I sell errors and varieties on eBay. But, it takes patience and time. For me, this is a hobby, and I don't mind listing an error coin for sale and waiting a year for it to sell. Selling an entire collection - it would be hard unless they were mind-blowing errors, for example like the 1987 loon dollar struck on a 10c planchet that TCNC auction sold a couple years ago.

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