I have a whole bunch of antique and collectibles. Coins, paper money, very old hockey cards, antique watches etc... I'm not really in the need for cash right now but when should I sell this stuff? Does anybody have any experiences with any of this stuff?
When to sell collectibles / antique stuff?
- Thread starter ILOVETHIS
- Start date
The internet makes it much easier to find things these days and collectables have gone down in price. There is also an economic downturn so people are less likely to pay a high price. The Antiques Road Show on PBS is recycling some of their old programs from 10-12 years ago but they give you the current price of the items featured on the tv program and many have gone down in price. The only thing that has gone way up in price are old Chinese antiques because rich Chinese people in China are willing to pay a fortune to repatriate things that were brought over by the Chinese immigrants of 1850s to 1960s
I'm sure there are many collectors here...but I would say these days it's more a buyers market for collectibles.
5 years back I bought an old building with a lot of junk in the basement. There were a few collectables in the junk pile. Including several hundred naughty post cards from the 1920s. These are the matte finish printed post cards still in the shipping boxes. I kept them because I knew they are worth something.
Last year I saw an ad looking for old postcards. I called the guy up, not with the intention of selling but just to try and get an idea of what they are worth. The rat gave me a low ball offer of $0.50 to a buck each without even seeing the cards. I tortured this guy for months making him think that these treasures were withing the grasp of his claws. I still have them and do not intend to sell, I think they are worth more than a buck a piece.
Last year I saw an ad looking for old postcards. I called the guy up, not with the intention of selling but just to try and get an idea of what they are worth. The rat gave me a low ball offer of $0.50 to a buck each without even seeing the cards. I tortured this guy for months making him think that these treasures were withing the grasp of his claws. I still have them and do not intend to sell, I think they are worth more than a buck a piece.
Take the coins/paper money to a reputable dealer to see what they are worth. The coins may not be worth any more that the price of silver/gold. Some of the paper money may have value, depends on how they grade it. I took some to a store in the KW area and thats how things worked out for me. I'll see if I can find the store name.
Just in passing, someone wants $8 for that postcard5 years back I bought an old building with a lot of junk in the basement. There were a few collectables in the junk pile. Including several hundred naughty post cards from the 1920s. These are the matte finish printed post cards still in the shipping boxes. I kept them because I knew they are worth something.
Last year I saw an ad looking for old postcards. I called the guy up, not with the intention of selling but just to try and get an idea of what they are worth. The rat gave me a low ball offer of $0.50 to a buck each without even seeing the cards. I tortured this guy for months making him think that these treasures were withing the grasp of his claws. I still have them and do not intend to sell, I think they are worth more than a buck a piece.
http://www.vintagepostals.com/comicpostcards (about 2/3 of the way down the page)
Ain't the internet grand.
Thanks for the info. The cards listed on that sight are for posted cards. The cards I have are mint condition still in the manufacturers box. They might be worth a few bucks more.
If your goal is to maximize your return on this stuff, I think the common wisdom right now is wait for a better economy when people have more funds for that sort of hobby.
Maybe you'll get lucky - http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/priceless-baseball-card-collection-found-by-accident-in-attic-1.874663
If you got lots of silver coins, take them to http://www.kitco.com/ in Montreal. I assume they still take coins. You could ship, but odds are you could find an excuse to go to Montreal. They give a price not far off from the silver value. Silver is so high that one would be hard pressed to find a coin that is not only worth more but also worth enough more that when some dealer rips you off you are still ahead.
There are books of coin values you might want to look through [library], look for the coins that are worth above silver value and see if you got some. I didn`t.
If you do sell your silver at Kitco, you might want to take a mosy over to https://merb.cc afterwords.
