GreenWinter asked: I have a 1982, 1 oz, $50 Canadian maple leaf coin that says 999 on it. I see the price of gold is currently $1781 per ounce and I’d like to get as much money as I can for my coin. I don’t have any papers or anything with the coin to authenticate it, it’s just a gold coin in an old plastic pouch. What’s the best way for me to sell this coin? How much can I reasonably expect to get for it? Here’s a photo of the back of the coin:
Dave answered: take it to a reputable coin shop. the shop here in Phoenix that I use fairly often is currently buying these coins at 1555 each. you should be able to get about that.
The year does not matter. It is just the mint date. The coin sells at the spot price {$1781 today, as you noted} [plus maybe a small premium depending on the coin’s desirability] (minus the dealer’s 6% or so handling fee). Go to a couple brick and mortar coin / Gold and Silver shops in your area. {the .999 authenticates itself.}
curtisports2 answered: Gold was at $1760 on January 27th, the same day the last one of these, a 1982, sold on eBay for $1335. That put the premium a collector or buyer of bullion actually paid at $75, or 6%. That’s below what most dealers charge. But the seller also had to pay fees of somewhere in the area of 10%. So, the seller wound up with $1,600. Pretty good deal for the buyer, not so good for the seller. Today, those same %s work out to (spot price today closed at $1738.2) to a sale of $1,465 and a seller net of $1,619. I think you can beat that selling it to an honest coin shop. Or at least do as well, while saving yourself the work and risks of eBay.
So, visit at least three coins dealers in your area. Shop for the best price. Check out the pawn shops and ‘We buy gold’ places as a last resort. They pay the least.