Thoughts on going to estate sales for coins?

How have you guys faired at estate sales while looking for cheap coins?

 

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I've always wanted to but don't know any in the area and there are a lot of retirees around here that have more money and knowledge than I do...

 

Some estate sales are conducted by legitimate auction companies while others use shill bidders in the audience to jack up prices. When I decide to go to an estate sale auction, I like to get there early and pay attention to the people who appear to be employees as opposed to those who are just potential customers.

Chris

 

everyone that I have spoken to said that the prices sold were way too high, unless you get really lucky

 

I've noticed at auction in an auction house the price go high but at the actual farm house the bids are much lower

 

I thought about doing this myself since this "estate lot" I bought on Ebay was decent. I did see one Estate sale in my area with a bunch of coins. Of course certainly easier to just buy these "estate lots" on Ebay. Saves the hassle of going and all the pitfalls like buyer's fees and shill bids.

 

Most are picked clean by local guys(vest pocket dealers/BM shops)......

 

I've only been to a few. My experience is that when a family does it themselves, you might get lucky. When I went though a company ran it and jacked all the coin prices up because they knew their worth and tried to get more.

 

How do you even find estate sales with coins? That's my question.

 

I live in rural TN. I have been to a few alone and with friends. I bought a couple or 3 small lots but just dimes and quarters in baggies. Got them just for the silver at fair price. These other folks on here have a lot more experience than I. I also like to see what else comes up for sale. A lot of cool stuff from old farms of TN.

 

I've never been to one myself, but have always wanted to go. For my area, I usually find estate sales using craigslist... I've just never gone to one, lol.

 

I went to one years ago they had this metallic art medallions I thought they were pewter got them home an d they were silver 5 oz

 

Check local Penny saver or what ever they happen to use in your area. Of course local paper. Google local E-state sales.

 

You just go to them and hopefully they have them. Two I went to had them, 1 didn't. And the ones that had them were overpriced and it almost looked like the company brought them instead of selling what was in the home. These experiences ruined it for me, just like garage sales. When I do garage sales, 98 percent of the time nothing related to coins comes up - just junk.

 

Just a precautionary; most "estate sales" are not actual estate sales but people trying to toss a bunch of junk coins together and hike up the price. I don't recommend estate sales on ebay (speaking from personal experience)

 

Oh, that's an entirely different kettle of fish.

I remember years ago there was a guy who was selling a bunch of raw coins that he claimed came out of a safe as part of an estate sale. His pictures were beautiful, but they all looked juiced.

Then there's the "pile of certified coins" estate sales that happen on eBay. Basically they show you a picture of a pile of certified coins and say you're bidding $X apiece on a random coin from the lot. Sounds scammy as heck to me.

I've never seen anything on eBay mentioning the words "estate sale" that looked good to me.

 

I've been to several and never any coins. Plenty of collector spoons, however.

 

Isn't that where all the unsearched rolls are made....eh hum....I mean....found?

 

Haha, several hundred dollars down the drain and a couple years later, I can assure you that no unsearched rolls are found on eBay.

 

No they aren't, you have to buy the unsearched bags.