How to Sell Gold Coins for Cash

Bottom Line Recommendation:

If you have gold coins that you’d like to sell, we recommend Abe Mor Diamond Cutters. They offer competitive prices for gold coins, bars and other items. Shipping is free, payment is fast and your gold is fully insured throughout the process for peace of mind. 

For more information about selling gold coins, including our recommendations to help you get the best possible price, continue reading below.

With gold prices at record highs, many people with gold coins, jewelry and other gold items are looking into selling their gold to take advantage of high prices and free up cash.

As of August 2020, gold prices have exceeded $2,000 per ounce for the first time in history. As such, now is a great time to sell gold coins if you have a collection that you’d like to convert into cash. 

Selling gold coins is a relatively simple process, although there are several things you’ll want to know before you begin. Below, we’ve covered everything you need to know about selling gold coins, from tips to get the best price to the best vendors to sell to.

Selling Gold Coins vs. Selling Other Types of Gold

The process for selling gold coins is quite different from that for selling gold jewelry, such as a gold wedding band or engagement ring.

As we’ve covered in our guide to selling gold jewelry, there are many merchants that buy gold jewelry. For example, if you have a gold wedding band that you’d like to sell, you’ll usually be able to sell it online or offline to a local jewelry store or pawn shop.

Gold coins, on the other hand, are more of a niche item. To be more precise, gold coins are a type of gold bullion (gold coins are often referred to as bullion coins). As such, they’re usually treated as an investment or store of value, rather than as a consumer gold item.

Tips to Sell Your Gold Coins for the Best Price

Just like with gold jewelry or gold bars, there are several steps that you can take to get the best price for your gold coins:

1. Know what you’re selling and understand its value.

Gold coins are commodities. As such, many trade at a fixed price through bullion dealers and other trading platforms. To get a fair price for your gold, it’s important to be aware of what you’re selling and how much it’s worth.

Many gold and silver bullion coins are produced by national mints. For example, the US Mint issues the American Eagle coins in gold, silver, platinum and palladium. Richard Weaver, President of the Professional Numismatists Guild, says “Know the current spot price of the precious metal you want to buy or sell.”

There are several official bullion coins from other countries, such as the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf and the Vienna Gold Philharmonic coins. Many of these coins are traded as individual units by bullion dealers.

If you know the type of gold coins that you have, you can look them up online via a gold bullion market such as Monex, Money Metals Exchange or JM Bullion to see how much they’re selling for right now.

When checking prices, it’s important to note that all gold coin buyers will pay slightly less to purchase gold coins than their listed selling prices. 

If you aren’t sure what type of gold coins you have, you’ll usually be able to sell them for their scrap gold value, rather than as specific coins. To calculate their approximate value, you can weigh these coins, then calculate using the current gold price per gram.

You can also use this calculator below to get a rough idea about the price.

2. Whenever possible, avoid pawn shops and brick-and-mortar jewelry stores.

As we’ve covered in our guide to selling diamond rings, selling precious metal items to a pawn shop usually isn’t a good idea. While the process is usually fast and efficient, you’ll almost always get a subpar price for your gold.

There are three reasons for this. The first is that pawn shops need to make a large profit from every sale. To make a profit after paying rent, utilities, salaries and other expenses, they’ll offer a lower-than-market price for your gold coins.

The second is that pawn shop staff usually aren’t experts in precious metal trading. As a result of this, they may not recognize the value of a gold bullion coin. For you as a seller, this generally means a lower offer and a poor return on your investment. 

The third is that most pawn shops and jewelers focus on gold jewelry and scrap gold. As gold coins are investment gold, they’re treated differently and usually trade at a smaller markup.

While a pawn shop or local jewelry store may be a decent option if you need to sell your gold coins urgently, there are definitely better options available if you’re aiming to get the best price for your gold.

3. Sell to a reputable, trusted vendor that offers a fair price.

Instead of selling to a pawn shop or local jewelry store, it’s best to sell to a trusted and reliable gold buyer. These vendors offer competitive prices and will buy your gold coins based on their market value. But since selling gold can be tricky, make sure to check the seller beforehand, as Forbes suggests.

We’ve listed the best places to sell gold coins, both online and in your local area, in the section below.

Where to Sell Your Gold Coins

If you have gold coins or bars that you’d like to sell, you have several online and offline options to choose from:

• Abe Mor. Located in New York City, Abe Mor operates an online gold buying program that lets you quickly and easily sell your gold coins, bars, jewelry and other items.
  
  To sell your gold coins, all you need to do is request an offer online. If you accept the offer, Abe Mor will provide free, fully insured delivery via FedEx or US mail. Once you send in your gold, you’ll receive a final offer and payment within one business day.

• Local gold bullion dealers. If you live in a medium-sized or large city, there’s likely at least one or two gold bullion dealers located within driving distance of you.
  
  You can find gold bullion dealers by searching for things like “gold bullion” or “gold coin collectors” located in your city. For gold coin collectors, check that they’re members of trusted organizations such as NGC or PCGS.

• Coin shows and expos. There are numerous coin and bullion shows held throughout the year, usually in major metropolitan areas. If you have a reasonably large coin collection, visiting a show could help you learn more about reputable places to sell.

• Online gold bullion buyers. There are numerous specialist gold bullion buyers online that purchase gold coins. If you have specific gold coins, such as American Eagle gold coins, these vendors will typically offer a fixed, precise price per unit.
  
  Because of their low operating expenses, most online gold bullion vendors offer good prices for gold coins. To sell your gold coins, you’ll usually need to ship them via an insured, track and trace delivery service.

Conclusion

Since gold prices are at record highs, now is a good time to consider selling if you’d like to free up some cash for other things. As we explained above, Abe Mor is usually the best place to sell gold coins, bars and other gold items.

If you prefer to sell locally or have other gold items to sell, we recommend reading our guide to selling gold, which covers everything from selling gold jewelry to tips and techniques to help you get the best possible price.

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About the author

Michael Fried Mike Fried has over 25 years experience in the diamond industry working with Leo Schachter Diamonds, Moshe Namdar Diamonds, and joining The Diamond Pro in 2007. He is recognized as an industry expert and has been quoted in publications such as Us, People, Page Six, The Next Web and more.