Good lot?

Bulk lot
Can anyone tell me if this looks good?

Don't expect anything other than common circulations coins. The seller has 100% with 1103 transactions, which is usually a fairly good indication of satisfied customers .. But, most grab bags will not value out to what you pay for them in a commercial setting ..

Hey Raibas!

I would not go for it if I were you; it's not hard to say a lot of coins is unsearched, and to me buying a bulk bag is likely just going to end up costing you dearly on shipping for a lot of unremarkable coins.

PS; If I were you I would spend my money on individual coins or small lots with one or two items of interest that you're after (you can swap or resell the others for profit later on), which would be better value-wise and easier to ship.

If you want to buy bulk lots, IMHO, it's best to go to your local coin store, which should have a bargain bit or a bucket of cheap coins you can buy by the pound or for a quarter or so each. It will save you shipping costs and you could select the coins you want.

I noticed that shipping costs is a big factor in deciding. Shipping is free, so that isn't a factor on this lot. I wish my local coin shop had poundage buckets, but it sadly doesn't. It's very small and focuses on junk silver. The list of countries I still need for my world collection is extensive and full of common coins. Do ya'll think I might find a few of those in that lot? The part of collecting I enjoy the most is researching and identifying coins. To put it more eloquently, I enjoy going to battle with the unknown and defeating it with knowledge and research.

Quote: "Raibas"​I noticed that shipping costs is a big factor in deciding. Shipping is free, so that isn't a factor on this lot. I wish my local coin shop had poundage buckets, but it sadly doesn't. It's very small and focuses on junk silver. The list of countries I still need for my world collection is extensive and full of common coins. Do ya'll think I might find a few of those in that lot? The part of collecting I enjoy the most is researching and identifying coins. To put it more eloquently, I enjoy going to battle with the unknown and defeating it with knowledge and research.

​the last bulk lot I received was a gift from my father. He went into a store and bought 3 pounds of coins. It was a good mix, but also had 20 Brazilian 10 centavo coins of the same KM#.
Bulk lots can contain a little bit of everything. They can be a crapshoot, so to speak

I would try this seller though the price is a bit high in my standards (I pay usually €5-10/kg incl shipping in Finland). I have built most of my collection (3000 world coins by type) by buying bulk lots from internet auctions and coin shops.

I have one rule: when I resell the lot, I have to get back at least what I paid. If bulk lot contains high face value coins (e.g. German marks, Spanish pesetas) I'll send them usually here: www.leftovercurrency.com

Personally this is better way to collect for me as I don't like to swap.

JRo69 is correct, they can be a crap shoot.
You can also get good deals by putting ads up on Craigslist and FB marketplace.

I agree with all the above, never buy anything sight unseen. I buy a lot of bulk and small country lots and sometimes I probably pay more than they are worth, but I know what I am buying and often will pay more to get a country that fascinates me. I paid $20 NZD plus $5 for this lot of African scrap probably worth about $10 on a good day and a face value of near nothing. It worked out around 30 cents a coin, which is a lot for common circulation pieces.



But I am happy as it contained many countries I did not have and many coins I did not own, but knew about and wanted and African change is hard to come by (I worked out this lot was assembled by someone who probably went there around 2000 as nearly all the coins had late 1990s dates on them).

The difference between those and your bulk seller, is those coins were the ones advertised in the lot, what I saw was what I got - no surprises. Your coins just show a photo of several bags and all have a number on them. I am assuming the lot you get will be one of those bags. You can't choose and you have no idea of what one you will get, heck you may even end up with a bag of coins not in that photo. They could be fluffed (Posed with nice coins on top and worn Latino inflation coins below or duplication).

You are buying sight unseen and that opens yourself up to all risks. There are better ways.

Myself (and I apologise if anyone else gets offended) avoid massive bulk unless I look at it and can make an offer if interested, and are lucky my suppliers are willing to let me inspect the coins before I buy. Generally if I see heaps of worn copper pennies, cents and 1967 - 2005 NZ change that offer will be low, but if there is scrap silver, high face value coins like Swiss 5 Francs and 2 Euros and Japanese 500 yen, then of course I will offer much more.

Just hope this helps make a decision for you and its feebay so all that great feedback could be fake, who knows there may be heaps of silver 10 Franc coins and Swiss 5 francs in there, but I see a lot of brass and aluminium looking coins in those bags too, so its probably a lot of crap sorry.

"​Myself (and I apologise if anyone else gets offended)"
I always try to never get offended at well intentioned feedback whether it is positive or negative. My bulk lot will be here on the 31st of this month. I'll inventory it and post the results here for discussion. I'm very interested to see the results and everyone's thoughts on them.

Quote: "Raibas"​"​Myself (and I apologise if anyone else gets offended)"
​I always try to never get offended at well intentioned feedback whether it is positive or negative. My bulk lot will be here on the 31st of this month. I'll inventory it and post the results here for discussion. I'm very interested to see the results and everyone's thoughts on them.

​how did it go?

I've got everything sorted by continent now, and I've put a few to the side that I didn't immediately recognize. There is nothing older than 1924 and nothing newer than 2001. There are no United states coins. Mexico and Canada each had one. Australia had four. I'd estimate that 30% of the lot is pre-Euro European countries, 15% is South American (excluding Brazil), 15% is Russian, 15% is Asian, 10% is African (primarily Rwanda and Namibia), 10% is coinage from islands, and the remaining 5% weren't readily identifiable. There were also a couple bonus banknotes. One was normal size from an African country, and the other was much smaller and from an unidentified country.

Everyone who has commented hit the nail on the head (which is what I was hoping for). I wasn't expecting any rare finds or unexpected silver. This thread was primarily to get a feel for what to expect, and ya'll gave expert advice!

I'll itemize the lot by country as I work on it. I'm taking it slow and steady. There's lots happening in the world of Raibas this year, so coin time is a scarce thing.

Are there any local auction houses in easy reach. Most general household goods or antiques auctions often have coin lots for sale within the auction. You can often pick up a bargain and the viewing days let you see exactly what you are bidding for.
Cheers
Fozz57.

Quote: "fozz57"​Are there any local auction houses in easy reach. Most general household goods or antiques auctions often have coin lots for sale within the auction. You can often pick up a bargain and the viewing days let you see exactly what you are bidding for.
​Cheers
​Fozz57.

​I live in the 13th largest city in America. I sure hope there are auction houses nearby! I'll be doing some google searching today to find them. Thanks for the tip!

This video is excellent, this guy buys 2 $75 bulk lots off Ebay and finds out he gets about $30 of common rubbish per lot and even though most of it is genuine and interesting, the slabbed coins are very dodgy and hoodrat like and the quality leaves a lot to be desired, basically it shows Bulk lot makers probably buy their own stuff in bulk and make a good 100 - 150% mark up on each lot they sell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgU2v6PPJKM