Dividing A Collection for Inheritance

liftoff621

My Dad recently passed and left his small coin collection. It includes the 50 State Quarters and Territories Program and the Presidential $1 Coin Program. I am the Executor of his Trust. My question: What is the best way to divide this collection between myself and my brother and sister? Should we divide the collection by complete state and President rolls or divide each roll by 3, alternating who gets the extra coin or two?

Toma

Sorry for your loss. A quick ebay search leads me to believe a full state quarter set is worth ~$30 while a full presidential dollar set is worth ~$65. I don't think separating the sets would make much sense, it would lower the value. Unless there are a lot of complete sets in the inheritance I don't think the collection is worth a lot of money. Does your family know that these coins aren't going to be worth thousands of dollars? If so maybe one or both of your siblings can opt out leaving everything to one/two people which is a lot simpler. If you all want your piece despite that than maybe it would be easier to sell the collection and then split the cash evenly.

Insider2

The "collection" is probably worth very little. IMO, the best thing to do is for all of you to decide which of the grand children would appreciate a set the most!

PS I guess he had ROLLS of each. So consider the coins at face value. If you each want a set, divide the rolls up so you will each have several sets.

JBK

Sorry for your loss. I believe that he had fun collecting these at the time which is the important thing, but as has been suggested, there wont be a lot of premium above face value. If you worked and found a willing retail buyer you would maximize the return but chances are that would still be very small.

Depending on what format you have (US mint rolls still sealed in the boxes, for example, or mint bags of state quarters) there might be a small premium but you would have to work for it. Most likely sale to a dealer is not an option.

If you post some pictures, people can tell you more about what you have,

Namvet69

If there are children in the family, how about using this collection as an educational opportunity to teach them the true value of numismatic and the never ending learning while studying coins. Just saying. Peace Roy

Timbuk3

My condolences to you and your family. I would pass it on to my grandchildren !!!

liftoff621

Thank you for your comments. I did check values prior to posting and know the sets of coins are not worth much over their face value. My siblings both want their part of the collection. They may very well pass them on to their grandchildren. Right now, I plan to split each roll into three parts and divide the collection that way. My part of the collection will have to go to my daughter, who will save them for my young grandson.

thefinn

Looks like a good plan. If someone isn;t interested in collecting, it is usually best to sell the collection and split the cash.

JBK

The whole idea behind these state quarter and presidential dollar coin programs was to teach people about our nation and its history, so it sounds like your father's collection will do just that.

P.S. - only touch the coins by the edges, since the dollar coins in particular will tarnish rapidly. Or, designate one set of each for "handling" so people can touch the coins.

Too much of my own collection is protected and out of reach. For example, as I recall from my youth, silver coins actually have a certain smell to them, but you can't appreciate that when the coin is sealed inside plastic.

Namvet69

Couldn't hurt to buy a couple pairs of inexpensive white cotton gloves so the family can touch the coins. Peace Roy