I Bought It on eBay

I Bought It on eBay

You've seen the ads. Most likely you've thought of bidding on that grilled cheese sandwich with the Virgin Mary's image. You decided against it because you wanted to see how much your old coins were worth, or you see it as a new wave in coin and currency collecting.

If you're a beginner, it might be wise to look at coins from an online dealer rather than bidding on eBay. This is not to say you don't have sense--after all, you avoided temptation with the grilled cheese Virgin Mary. It's simply that, like many hobbies, coin collecting is a contact sport. You need to see and feel the coins.

Many coin collectors do consult eBay to see what their coins are going for, and several online merchants auction off coin collections on eBay.

A searched "seated bust coin" produced two independent items and one from eBay Shops. The eBay Shops merchant is the Old Curio Shop, selling circulated a coin collection--however, note that the coin collection is uncertified, so if certification of value matters to you, get any coin collections you buy certified.

Another item is the Mixed Coin Collection/Capped Bust/Seated/V-Nick full of old coins--including 1943 steel cents. So how do you bid on an item? What if the bid seems too high?

You must decide if the starting bid or minimum bid is less than the value of the coins. Do your research. An individual seller may not know the true worth of the coins--which can be subjective. You could decide that those Colonial coins with holes aren't as valuable as the seller says.

If you're a seller, have all your coins appraised before writing your product description--but don't price yourself out of the market. Consider selling valuable coins by themselves, since a serious coin collector can afford a higher price ($1,975 for a 1795 draped bust silver dollar) than a beginner. Tailor your product descriptions to the serious collector for rare coins, or try to entice beginners with the thought of getting great coins inexpensively.

After all, coins are a better investment than buying that Jay Leno likeness potato chip!