How to sell two collections? Ancient coins and MTG cards
April 28, 2022 9:27 AM Subscribe
I have just inherited two large collections. One is a collection of ancient coins. The other is a collection of Magic: The Gathering cards. I need to figure out the best way to sell these (and/or to prep them for sale).
As some general background, I too am a collector. I once built and then sold a huge collection of comic books, so I'm familiar with the broad problems and pitfalls with this sort of thing. I understand the trade-offs between quick sale and maximum value. I'm not looking for generalized advice here, but specific tools, resources, and marketplaces I should use to sell these collections.
RE: The MTG cards. I've played the game casually since its debut, so have no problems with game-based concepts. I understand sets, rarities, etc. My guess is that this collection contains roughly 175,000 cards give or take. (Could be a little lower than that. Could be as many as 300,000 cards.)
Some cards are already sorted (there's a box of Revised, a box of Unlimited, etc.) but most aren't. I realize I have many weeks (months?) of card sorting ahead of me, but once the cards are physically sorted, then what? Is there software I can use to inventory them? Or a website? What are my options for selling? Many of these were purchased via eBay, but I know some were purchased from various websites. Is it even worth my time to sell the commons? The uncommons?
RE: The coins. I'm at a total loss here. I have no education nor interest in ancient coins. I watched the original owner purchase these coins over the past 20 years, so I know some vague stuff but it's safe to assume I know nothing when you reply. My guess (based on the owner's interests) is that these will largely be Roman coins, but I'm certain there are coins from other cultures and eras mixed in. There are probably some uncleaned coins left in the collection, but I assume the owner cleaned most of them before he died. I have zero clue how to identify any individual coin and am similarly lost when it comes to selling them. Is there software for cataloging ancient coins? Are there online marketplaces for ancient coins? Am I better off contacting an auction house?
As some general background, I too am a collector. I once built and then sold a huge collection of comic books, so I'm familiar with the broad problems and pitfalls with this sort of thing. I understand the trade-offs between quick sale and maximum value. I'm not looking for generalized advice here, but specific tools, resources, and marketplaces I should use to sell these collections.
RE: The MTG cards. I've played the game casually since its debut, so have no problems with game-based concepts. I understand sets, rarities, etc. My guess is that this collection contains roughly 175,000 cards give or take. (Could be a little lower than that. Could be as many as 300,000 cards.)
Some cards are already sorted (there's a box of Revised, a box of Unlimited, etc.) but most aren't. I realize I have many weeks (months?) of card sorting ahead of me, but once the cards are physically sorted, then what? Is there software I can use to inventory them? Or a website? What are my options for selling? Many of these were purchased via eBay, but I know some were purchased from various websites. Is it even worth my time to sell the commons? The uncommons?
RE: The coins. I'm at a total loss here. I have no education nor interest in ancient coins. I watched the original owner purchase these coins over the past 20 years, so I know some vague stuff but it's safe to assume I know nothing when you reply. My guess (based on the owner's interests) is that these will largely be Roman coins, but I'm certain there are coins from other cultures and eras mixed in. There are probably some uncleaned coins left in the collection, but I assume the owner cleaned most of them before he died. I have zero clue how to identify any individual coin and am similarly lost when it comes to selling them. Is there software for cataloging ancient coins? Are there online marketplaces for ancient coins? Am I better off contacting an auction house?
I'm an archaeologist so I'm going to pitch contacting your local university's Classical History/Archaeology department if there is one and donating the collection (if they want it). I know that Roman coins are extremely common but selling off/auctioning off antiquities of any type fosters the mindset of 'Old things = cool collectibles' that leads to looting and the antiquities black market, which has done so very much damage to archaeological research. That said, if you're not interested in donating the coins, there's still potential for a graduate student to research/sort your collection before selling them off so it would probably be worthwhile to contact such a department regardless.
posted by thebots at 10:21 AM on April 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by thebots at 10:21 AM on April 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
My friendly local M:TG player buys cards on TCGplayer.com.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:44 AM on April 28, 2022
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:44 AM on April 28, 2022
For the coins, you could also contact the local coin club for guidance, potential direct sale or donation, or referrals to local dealers.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:16 AM on April 28, 2022
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:16 AM on April 28, 2022
For the MTG cards, if you're determined to spend some time sorting through them by hand, I'd recommend getting a card scanner app like Dragon Shield's. You basically hold each card in front of your phone camera, and it will recognize it and add it to a virtual inventory. The app will also offer a value estimate based on online sources.
Some stores will take commons in bulk for nominal rates, maybe a few dollars per thousand cards, something like that. Not much of a moneymaker, but better than throwing them away.
posted by Ryon at 11:20 AM on April 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Some stores will take commons in bulk for nominal rates, maybe a few dollars per thousand cards, something like that. Not much of a moneymaker, but better than throwing them away.
posted by Ryon at 11:20 AM on April 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Sent you a memail. :)
posted by coldbabyshrimp at 11:43 AM on April 28, 2022
posted by coldbabyshrimp at 11:43 AM on April 28, 2022
I have personally sold Magic: The Gathering cards to Card Kingdom, but I only sold a few dozen cards. They're in Seattle, I am not. I mailed the cards to them and got a check back within a couple of days.
They will buy entire collections, but shipping costs will obviously be much higher for 100,000+ cards.
https://www.cardkingdom.com/purchasing/sell_collection
posted by cruelfood at 1:00 PM on April 28, 2022
They will buy entire collections, but shipping costs will obviously be much higher for 100,000+ cards.
https://www.cardkingdom.com/purchasing/sell_collection
posted by cruelfood at 1:00 PM on April 28, 2022
For the magic cards, since they're from the era listed, early 90s and later, I would definitely want to price the commons from any set at least up until about 2000. With obvious exceptions for stuff like fallen empires and homelands. But early set cards in good condition can be worth money, sometimes significant money.
posted by Jacen at 1:01 PM on April 28, 2022
posted by Jacen at 1:01 PM on April 28, 2022
Yeah, echoing Jacen's suggestion. The valuable ones are going to be either old or rare or both. It's worth sorting through the old ones to find the standouts (you can scan to find out) and get a general sense of what that segment of the collection is worth. But past Revised it's probably not worth manually checking.
Then, if it were me, I would set aside an evening with some like-minded friends, order some pizza, then each pick a pile of a couple thousand, and set aside anything obviously not cannon fodder, land, etc. It won't be perfect but that could lower the number you need to scan or check closely by an order of magnitude.
Once you have these two larger piles you can submit the "possibly valuable" pile for review by a card shop like those mentioned above, saving time and shipping costs. Then you can bulk sell the rest on ebay. You may wish to attempt to separate them based on expansion, since "big box of MTG cards" won't sell as well as 10 "small box of MTG Ice Age expansion" offers.
I had a small experience like this where I was given a smaller collection (probably 5-10k cards) but most of the rares were already in a binder. I took the binder in and they made me an itemized offer, essentially "$150 for these 18 cards, and $90 for the rest if you want." So you can probably expect something like that, no obligation one way or the other.
As for coins... you might look around for a local coin show, there will be local and national buyers, sellers, and appraisers there you could talk to before doing something final like shipping them. Not sure where you're based but I think in medium and large cities they happen quite regularly.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:39 PM on April 28, 2022
Then, if it were me, I would set aside an evening with some like-minded friends, order some pizza, then each pick a pile of a couple thousand, and set aside anything obviously not cannon fodder, land, etc. It won't be perfect but that could lower the number you need to scan or check closely by an order of magnitude.
Once you have these two larger piles you can submit the "possibly valuable" pile for review by a card shop like those mentioned above, saving time and shipping costs. Then you can bulk sell the rest on ebay. You may wish to attempt to separate them based on expansion, since "big box of MTG cards" won't sell as well as 10 "small box of MTG Ice Age expansion" offers.
I had a small experience like this where I was given a smaller collection (probably 5-10k cards) but most of the rares were already in a binder. I took the binder in and they made me an itemized offer, essentially "$150 for these 18 cards, and $90 for the rest if you want." So you can probably expect something like that, no obligation one way or the other.
As for coins... you might look around for a local coin show, there will be local and national buyers, sellers, and appraisers there you could talk to before doing something final like shipping them. Not sure where you're based but I think in medium and large cities they happen quite regularly.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:39 PM on April 28, 2022
What thebots wrote is very true. Just because they're old does not mean they're valuable. Many Roman coins are plentiful. I think the suggestion of the Classical History/Archaeology department of a important university might be helpful. If the faculty there will give you any time. There may be a coin or two of great prize in the bunch. A local coin shop wouldn't be able to recognize them.
But here's an anarchic thought: maybe you don't want to spend the time and attention to get the best price for these collections. You want them to go to someone who will enjoy or treasure them. You could spend a great deal of effort to find out what, if anything, they are truly worth. Do enough not to feel stupid and gullible and get them done.
posted by tmdonahue at 2:37 PM on April 28, 2022
But here's an anarchic thought: maybe you don't want to spend the time and attention to get the best price for these collections. You want them to go to someone who will enjoy or treasure them. You could spend a great deal of effort to find out what, if anything, they are truly worth. Do enough not to feel stupid and gullible and get them done.
posted by tmdonahue at 2:37 PM on April 28, 2022
There's a handful of uncommons (!!!) to especially keep an eye out for, even. Force of will from Alliances (flag icon) is probably worth a hundred dollars or more.
Ancient tomb, and wasteland from Tempest are ones to watch for, and enlightened tutor, worldly tutor, and mystical tutor from mirage are quite good.
And sensei's divining top is another top notch uncommon. Those are the uncommons off the top of my head/ quick search to get prices above about 25-30 a card, with a bunch more being in the 10+ range.
I agree that after Revised the value of most commons aren't going to be particularly valuable just for their age, but anything from Arabian nights, legends, the dark, and antiques absolutely will be.
Oh, and if there's some cards labeled "summer magic" by the collector, or a blue Hurricane, get them evaluated by an expert 😁
posted by Jacen at 8:18 PM on April 28, 2022
Ancient tomb, and wasteland from Tempest are ones to watch for, and enlightened tutor, worldly tutor, and mystical tutor from mirage are quite good.
And sensei's divining top is another top notch uncommon. Those are the uncommons off the top of my head/ quick search to get prices above about 25-30 a card, with a bunch more being in the 10+ range.
I agree that after Revised the value of most commons aren't going to be particularly valuable just for their age, but anything from Arabian nights, legends, the dark, and antiques absolutely will be.
Oh, and if there's some cards labeled "summer magic" by the collector, or a blue Hurricane, get them evaluated by an expert 😁
posted by Jacen at 8:18 PM on April 28, 2022
For the coins, if someone invested serious money in building the collection, then you might want to work with a member of the Professional Numismatists Guild to appraise or sell the collection. That is the professional organization for valuable coin dealers.
Working with a university is not likely to be useful in my opinion, unless your goal is to donate the collection. Academic Classicists generally have no training at all in the financial value of antiquities.
posted by mortaddams at 3:29 AM on May 1, 2022
Working with a university is not likely to be useful in my opinion, unless your goal is to donate the collection. Academic Classicists generally have no training at all in the financial value of antiquities.
posted by mortaddams at 3:29 AM on May 1, 2022
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That's too many MtG cards for me to even contemplate dealing with. But, search for dual lands, the "Power 9" cards, etc. Don't envy your task...
posted by Windopaene at 10:01 AM on April 28, 2022 [1 favorite]