At some point, almost every collection of value will be put up for sale. As most collectors realize, selling their collection is not necessarily a straightforward process, especially if you are trying to realize the highest practical price for your treasures.

Collectors love to own what they collect, which can make it emotionally difficult for them to part with their prized possessions. So, if there are one or more family members who might have an interest in maintaining or continuing the collection, you might want to transfer your holdings while you are still alive—that way you can be sure it goes exactly where you intend.

If there is no potential heir who would enjoy holding the collection, then it probably makes the most sense for the collector to oversee the sale of it.

No one else would know as much about which pieces are treasure and which are run-of-the-mill. The collector would be the most familiar with which pieces have the potential to realize the highest prices and probably also who would be willing to pay the most for them.

That’s basic common sense. A spouse or other heir who knows little about the fine points of the collection is in a worse position to be able to dispose of it for the maximum price.

A number of years ago, a collector died with two major collections of approximately equal value. The collector’s two children each received one of the collections. One child took the collection to a traveling hotel buyer and quickly sold it for $7,500. The other child consulted an auction house, consigned the collection, and several months later received a payment of $85,000.

When choosing to sell a collection, there tends to be a trade-off between how fast you get paid and how much you can realize.  It is always possible to sell quickly to a local buyer, but you would probably be paid a greater price if checking with at least two potential buyers. At the other extreme, if some pieces are scarce enough that they would tend to realize the highest price in a major auction, a seller could be looking at four to eight months before receiving payment.

There are a number of factors which would tend to indicate that a prospective buyer of the collection might offer a higher price.  Longevity in the business, professional memberships, a national or international customer base and areas of expertise in the specific kind of collection being sold are all positive factors. You wouldn’t go to an antique furniture specialist to try to sell a doll collection, for instance.

The four most popular ways to try to sell a collection are to seek a buyer for a quick cash purchase; find an agent (usually a dealer) willing to take the collection on consignment at higher prices; try selling the collection direct in an online auction; or offering the collection, at least the most valuable parts, in an industry auction.

None of these options is suitable for every collection and every seller. A collection of low-value items, especially if they are bulky or heavy, will not sell in auctions and probably would not be accepted on a consignment basis. But a collection of a few items each of significant value may well be best offered in an industry auction.

Sometimes the maximum valuable price can be obtained by breaking a collection into the common bulk items, the somewhat more valuable individual pieces, and then the prized treasures. Then, each segment can be sold in the optimum venue.

Before considering a sale by Internet auction, make sure you understand what you are selling and how well such items sell in this manner. Very recently, a friend told me he purchased another ancient gold coin at a price that was about 50 percent below the value of the coin’s gold content, which resulted from poor placement and description of the auction lot.

In June 2010 I wrote a consumer protection article titled “Thinking of Selling Your Gold Jewelry? Watch Out for Gold Buying Tricks and Scams.” (Read it at http://news.coinupdate.com/thinking-of-selling-your-gold-jewelry-watch-out-for-gold-buying-tricks-and-scams-0325/.) Although this article focused on avoiding some of the less ethical business practices of some dealers that buy gold jewelry, many tips would apply when trying to sell any kind of collection.

As I said, to get the highest price will involve some effort and time.  Buyers, even private collectors, have a natural self-interest to purchase a collection for the minimum price. However, if a buyer perceives that the seller has knowledge about the collection or that it will be offered to other buyers, these strategies would encourage a potential buyer to think in terms of the highest price he or she would be willing to pay to acquire the collection. Good luck.

		Patrick A. Heller is Michigan’s largest coin dealer, owning Liberty Coin Service and Premier Coins & Collectibles in Lansing. He writes a monthly newsletter, Liberty’s Outlook, available at www.libertycoinservice.com, and weekly commentaries on precious metals that are posted at numismaster.com and coinupdate.com.  His radio show “Things You ‘Know’ That Just Aren’t So, And Important News You Need To Know” can be heard at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday mornings on 1320-AM WILS in Lansing (which streams live and is archived at www.1320wils.com).