Has anyone here received an inheritance of numi coins? My Grandfather (on his last legs) has been collecting numi's for over 50 years. Although I'm a keen stacker, I have never actually discussed or seem the collection, estimated to be 1000+ coins silver/gold/plat. He was going to liquidate to cash (at melt value ) and distribute but I have managed to convinced the family otherwise (we are a small family - only 5 people involved). He is now too old and fragile to know how to talk about the coins or remember their value. I have two main questions - - Any recommendations for shipping/transporting these coins from Germany to Australia? We plan to visit when possible but unsure how to move 1000 coins + - Any advice on who to go to for fair discussion and coin valuation down the track? I'm assuming there would be a lot of sharks out there when it comes to this sort of thing. I would anticipate there will be some (or many) sensational coins in the stash. I'd be willing to join some clubs if they exist. Any pointers appreciated... Cheers
Alternatively, you could try https://www.meinemuenzbox.de/. The bloke's name is Stephan, he used to be a member here and used to sell display boxes, I've got a couple. Maybe drop him an email and ask for his advice, tell him you were recommended from Silver Stackers. He has very good English. By the looks of it he's between Frankfurt and Munich.
Yes... DHL will have options, I couldn't say even a ballpark figure on how much you would be looking at for such a transaction, but of course it would also depend on what type/value of insurance you had on it too. It sounds counterintuitive, but a few of the collectible coin dealers are actually kind of trustworthy in that regard; they don't always try to cheat you on buying the items (they may or may not save that for when it comes time to put the price tags on)... Failing that, I forget the name, but there's at least one large numismatic/collector community that's basically national - I'll try to find their name for you. I found them when I inherited my own massive collection, I just haven't yet bothered contacting them again because I haven't gone through the whole lot yet to pick out the choice items I'd prefer to keep no matter what price they might fetch. *EDIT* I'm now having great difficulty finding the particular group I located previously, but here's a list of some groups who should at least be able to point you in the right direction: https://numismatics.org.au/societies/ Seconded what @REDBACK said regarding staying as much away from the domestic postal services as is possible (although I can't comment on the situation in Austria, but Germany does have its own set of problems). Door-to-door courier is the safest option, it's just a lot more expensive...
Firstly if you are going to ship from Germany look at a private courier not their regular postal system.Their Postal system is compromised by criminals. I stopped shipping coins to Germany & Austria due to sophisticated losses at their end.But its up to you. If you have someone at their end that can do bulk photographs you can get a pretty good estimate of what to leave there as low value and what to ship (High value) Best of course is to pick up in person but I would want to be prepared with research b4 I arrived as being from Australia you may not immediately recognise what has value and what has not. 1000 coins shouldn't weight that much once you sort the wheat from the Chaff. My family are Austrian and were avid coin collectors so have seen a bit on their side. Good luck
Just remember that coin dealers are often highly skilled professionals in a niche and cut throat business who are entitled to fair compensation for their knowledge. You can pay them to sort/value the coins but expect to pay $50 to $600 an hour. Alternatively if you offer for sale they will of course expect to buy the coins for less than they can sell then and receive profit that is reflective of the time/effort/ cost involved in selling them. To many people expect full market value on large collection of medium to low value coins that require significant time to sell individually at full market value
Well done on advising not to sell in haste, and well done for your grandfather for collecting - it's a gentleman's pursuit. Germany has a very good and enormously liquid market for coins. There's a shedload of highly reputable auction houses here that are more than capable to advise in professional manner and consign high quality lots. I'd dare to venture a guess that you'll get better return selling European (German, UK??) coins in Europe than in Australia. Due to short distances within Europe it is very feasible to use private couriers, such as Malca Amit, for transporting valuables securely. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.
That last post sounds the best option..imo. What id look into if I was in your boat.. Makes sense that the coins would prob get a better price there : where the demand is a lot higher.. Supply too ofc but the liquidity atleast is there..a dealer here might use the excuse ..not much demand for those coins here to offer you a lower price..(been watching pawn stars a bit lately lol). Id guess the major German auction houses would have staff to chat to you in English re fees; and maybe even transportation options. All the best with it all.
