I'm thinking of buying some American coins on eBay for the first time. I have never bought anything on eBay before, so I would greatly appreciate it if you guys could offer some general advice on purchasing stuff from eBay, eg. What to be careful of? What to look out for?

Also, I would like to ask: What do you think is the MAXIMUM I should pay for each of these type of coins? (assuming the coins are in used, circulated condition)

- Barber Halves
- Walking Liberty Halves
- Silver Kennedy Halves
- Morgan Dollars
- Peace Dollars


Thanks so much. Any assistance is greatly appreciated!

Hi!

I've been buying coins (amongst other things) on eBay for just over a year now, and I've never met a bad dealer yet.

Obviously, it always pays to check your seller's feedback rating. If the guy's had complaints, I always read them to see if they sound legitimate or not. If I'm considering placing a bid, then I read every negative they've received, as well as their responses. I also check the references of the people who've left the negatives. Sometimes you can tell that the guy's just been unlucky and met a malicious buyer who never had any intention of paying up.

It's also worth seeing what kind of feedback the seller has left for previous customers. That'll give you an idea of what he expects from you.

Another obvious point is to always read the fine print in the auction rules. Personally, I won't put a bid down if the seller hasn't included a photo of the item, and an idea of the postage costs. A lot of the guys selling coins are not professional coin dealers and don't know how to grade their merchandise properly. Also, some sellers will have a low starting bid, but try to sting you badly on the postage.

Another point, with the exception of Morgan Dollars, I always buy my coins in groups. It works out so much cheaper that way.

Since most people bidding on coins are collectors, the higher grade coins tend to attract the most bids. As a magician, my needs are different. I've usually found that the soft coins I'm after get few people interested (I'm often the only bidder). The trick here is to pick your auctions with the likely competition in mind.

As far as landing the auction goes, I have to admit I'm a hardcore sniper. I almost always place my bid in the last 5 seconds of an auction, unless I'm very sure that no-one else is going to be interested. It may be an unfriendly tactic, but it's perfectly legitimate and I almost always get the lot I'm after.

Sellers do seem to check the credentials of their bidders, to see how honest you are and what kind of feedback they might expect once the auction's over. I always leave positive feedback on any successful transaction. So far, I've never had to leave a neutral or negative for anyone. I pay immediately and I always email to check that my payment has arrived, and then again to confirm that I've received the goods.

Okay then, on to the good stuff:

Firstly, I'm in the UK and I rarely buy coins from abroad. Also, I don't know much about exchange rates. Anyway, here's what I'm paying for the coins I buy.

Barber Halves: Haven't bought one yet. Even the badly worn ones (which is what I'm really after) seem to go for at least £8. I'll stick with Walking Liberties for the time being, I think.

Walking Liberties: My bread-and-butter. This is the coin I use for most of my ungaffed coin work. They're rarely heavily worn, but I find them pretty quiet anyway. If you buy them in groups, you shouldn't have to pay more than £3 each at the very most.

Silver Kennedy Halves: I use regular clad Kennedy Halves for most of my gaffed tricks, just because they match my gaffs. They're pretty common on eBay, so not more than £1 each and usually less. Buy them in groups.

Morgan Dollars: I love these. Unfortunately, so does everyone else. I only want soft Morgans, which helps keep the cost down, but I'll pay up to £6 for a pretty one (I've only had to pay that much once, though). £3.70 - £5 is about average for me. The silver in them alone is worth around £3.50, I think.

Peace Dollars: Never bought one, but I've seen them start as low as £1 and end up at £12 or more.

Hope some of that's helpful.

Cheers,

Cy.

Wow...that was an awesome post, Cy. Much more detailed than I ever expected. Thanks for taking the time to share! I really appreciate it.

My father is a coin collector, (so this is 2nd hand
info and I might be remembering wrong) and I think I
heard him once say that a dealer is supposed to tell
you if a coin has been polished. Polished coins negate
a good percentage of the numismatic value of a coin.
They shine up real nice and look better in a photograph
or even close up to the untrained eye, but they have
lost a lot of their value. This might help you save some
money, but sometimes a polished coin looks weird because it is very worn, but totally shiny... seems
like a coin that used would be dull... you get the
idea. But this may be a good way to go. Check the
"title & description" flag on the search box and enter
"polished" or "cleaned"

You'll find that a lot of the silver dealers clean their
coins... at least in my experience. And the coin guys
don't like them much. They tend to buy silver or gold
in quantity without any care to the way they treat the
coins. They are playing a commodities game. These are
the guys I have got the best deals from... for my
purposes.

PS- the coin guys don't like us much either.
NEVER mention you are a magician.

No problem, Jem. Happy to help.

HiveMind makes some important points here. Serious coin collectors really don't like it if a coin has been cleaned (my father is a coin collector as well). You can sometimes sneak in an easy winning bid on a coin if the seller mentions that it has been polished.

I also second what HiveMind says about mentioning you're a magician. Some collectors consider magicians really disrespectful in their handling of coins. For a cheap laugh, try telling one that you spent an hour last night sanding the rim off an 1890 Morgan, or drilling a hole in it to make a Karate coin. Watch their faces as you do this: now that's a colour change!

Cheers,

Cy.

LOL! Yes yes... I also have seen it happen with the
camera collectors and Star Wars fans making lightsabers
out of camera flashguns from the 40's. I visited my
mother recently in California, and while I was there we went
to the Carson City mint. Across the street there is a
coin shop and I went to look around. My mother, bless
her heart, told the guy I was a magician... well
all I can say is I've never heard of a faceless common
date morgan dollar selling for $15 but that is what
he wanted to charge me after hearing that... On the other hand jewlers and bullion/silver dealers don't
care. You might get a discount if you show them
something. They'd probably get a kick out of the
karate coin... (har har)

I use the
Eisenhour dollars. They are not silver so you can pick them up for a couple of dollars each. I just got back from a flea market where a guy was selling worn silver Morgan and Peace Dollars for $12.00 each. there silver value is about $4.50.

I've gotten all my Morgans and Peace dollars from coin dealers on Ebay. The selection is tremendous. Since you are looking for circulated coins for coin magic it's less important to see them say at a coin shop. I've beem satisfied with my purchases.

I really hope you haven't paid several dollars a coin for Eisenhour dollars. Those are worth exactly (drumroll........) ONE dollar. I went to my local bank and picked up a roll for 20 bucks. (That's 20 coins). You have to be lucky enough to find a bank that has them however. Oddly enough, nobody wants these (except magicians)so banks usually don't keep more than 1 roll at a time. And it's always a specific teller that has them. I had to go to one bank several times until the teller was there who had the roll. They're also spendable, but I wouldn't recommend it. I love these coins. Love love love them. They're cheap, and just the right size. (And with a tube of MAAZ you can shine them up nice and purdy). I got my Peace dollars for $13.75 each, uncirculated. They are gorgeous.