Selling Gold Coins

Before you start selling gold coins, here are some things you need to know.

With gold surging past $1,000 an ounce, the time has never been better to clean out clutter and get rid of your old gold coins that have just been gathering dust.

How to Start Selling Gold Coins

Do some research into your gold coins before you try to sell them. Some coins will have a value beyond their weight in gold because of rarity, age and so on. You want to have a good idea of your gold's value before you walk into a shop to sell for quick cash. If you have some coins which you are not certain are gold, keep them separate from the others.

While you can easily look up online how much gold is trading for on the day you try to sell your coins, what you will not know is how much the coin dealer or jeweler or pawn broker is planning on making off your gold goods.

This is why you should always get three offers from different vendors before agreeing to sell. Where one gold buyer will offer you, say, $300 for your gold coins another will examine the same lot and offer you $900. It all depends on how much profit they want to make off of your gold coins.

The gold buyer will look for a number of factors such as weight and gold content. Typically, the buyer will do a scratch test and an acid test to determine if the coin is gold and how many karats it is. 

You don't have to visit local gold buyers to sell your coins. Auction sites like eBay are perfect places to convert your old gold into quick cash. Take sharp clear pictures of both sides of the coin and be thorough in your description of the piece. Give any history you have about the item. The more information you can provide about coin, including, of course, its quality and condition, the easier it will be to make a sale.

It's crucial for you to know its market value, and if you can't find anything online about your specific coin, it might be well worth going to a few buyers for their appraisal. Then you can set a fair price on eBay. You can start with a low opening bid to generate more interest, but set a reserve price. With a reserve price, which bidders do not see, by the way, you don't risk losing your coin to a low price. But don't be greedy; if you set it too high you probably won't make the sale and the point, after all, of selling gold coins is to convert it into cold, hard cash - quick.

You can also mail your old coins to gold buying companies, such as Cash 4 Gold, which you may have seen advertised on TV, but there are many others. Check online for reviews of and testimonials before sending your gold coins out. Some will send out a check a day or two after receiving your items and will return your gold coins if you're not happy with the price. Do your research.

That's all you need to know before you start selling gold coins.

The video below is actually from a radio broadcast so there are just images, but it is very interesting and informative on the topic of gold coins.