question about inherited coins

ScottA

My father collected coins from the early 60's and quit about 1980. I inherited a modest collection containing books of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, halves, dollars, and various odds and ends like old Canadian coins, and even a $5 gold coin. Dates range from late 1800's through the late 1970's. I know condition is everything, but put that aside for a minute because most of the coins are not pristine.

Here's my question: if you could go back to about 1980 and examine a modest collection is there anything that has really skyrocketed in value or is there some error or variety discovered since 1980 that today would be valuable? For example, I'm pretty sure the 1955 double die penny was known by 1980, and of course, he didn't have that coin, but could there be a hidden gem somewhere?

And please pardon the obvious ignorance inherent in this question. I collect baseball stuff, but coins seem way more complicated than sports cards, and I'm at a loss as to what to even look for when going through these coins. Thanks in advance!

jmlanzaf

I can't think of anything normal that was cheap/unknown at the time that skyrocketed later. There are probably a few minor varieties that popped up later and have some added value.

Some of the old timers might have a better sense. But I'm thinking 1894/1894 Indian Head cent, for example. 1942/41-D Mercury Dime. 1936 3-1/2 legged buffalo nickel. Some Morgan $ VAMs 1882 O/S maybe.

The easiest way to get a list of "valuable" U.S. coins is just to get a Redbook and go down the listings for each type. Any major variety will be listed.

In general, I will suggest to you what I suggest to other people in your situation. If you have coin shops (NOT pawn shops) within driving distance, take it to a couple of them for offers and see where that gets you. In general, anything expensive is scarce and so it is unlikely to be in the collection even if it was unknown at the time. The amount of time it would take an amateur to get the knowledge and experience to find one of those varieties and correctly identify it is almost always more time than it is worth. Use the dealers expertise to your advantage.

If you don't know about coin shops or who to trust, you can also try to find a local coin club who may be able to provide more local guidance.

Good luck!

derryb

Using the PCGS Price Guide for each coin series, and same grade for each coin (I use 40), look for sudden jumps in prices as you view the price of each year in the series. These sudden increases are your indicator that you might have a valuable coin. After that condition of coin becomes critical.

This method allows you to set aside coins that justify further research and possibly expert opinion. Comparing prices of different years and mint marks tells you which are hidden gems and the PCGS Price Guide is the quickest way to do it.

Once you have isolated the possible "valuable" candidates, you can then go to various specific websites that discuss each particular series of coins and offer pics on how to diagnose abnormalities.

AUandAG

Spend the $15 to get a new Red Book of US Coins. Easiest way. Good luck if you sell.

bob
PS: There have been a lot of Morgan Dollar VAMs discovered since then. Vamworld.com is the source.

Oldhoopster

As previously suggested, a copy of “A Guide Book of United States Coins” by RS Yeoman (called the red Book) can be very useful. You should be able to pick one up for $10-15. Don’t expect dealers to pay the values in the pricing guide, but the book is filled with lots and lots of useful info: where to find mintmarks, precious metal content (if any), pics of major varieties, basic grading standards, etc. While the pricing guide is may not be accurate, you can get an idea if a coin is common (same value as most of the listings) or a better date.

As a card collector, you are probably familiar with using pricing guides and grading standards. The Red Book is similar, just with a more info. It won’t make you an expert, but you should be able to get an idea if your father had anything special

If you do find anything interesting, you can always post a pic on this forum for feedback

tommy44

All good advice so far, a Red Book is a must, even a older one will show you relative rarities in a particular series. Even if you don't have anything special all US dimes, quarters and halves dated 1964 or earlier are 90% silver and will sell for 18 - 20 times face value. That means a common circulated silver half dollar will sell for $9.00 to $10.00. Canada dimes quarters and halves dated 1967 or earlier are 80% silver.

Depending on where you live a coin show might be an option for getting estimates of value. Here in the Atlanta area there is one the second Sunday of every month. The next on is January 10th.

If you can post pictures here members are eager to help.

BST (the buy sell trade forum here) is always an option for selling.

ElmerFusterpuck

Like the others have said, get that Red Book. It's really a great intro and has some really good info.

As for varieties since 1980, a few of the worthy ones are the 1983, 1984 and 1995 doubled die cents, along with the various AM (letters on the reverse for America) cent varieties

ricko

I will echo the above.... Get a Redbook and do some research... it can be quite interesting. If you have a specific question, post here - if about a specific coin, post the picture with the question. Good luck, Cheers, RickO

CalifornianKing

get a red book as others have said. Also you could try posting some photos here. If the $5 gold has a O, C, CC, (pre civil war) or a S (potentially) it is worth more than no mint mark.

yosclimber

Usually collections created from spare change, casual coin roll hunting, and buying a few current proof sets don't have any high value coins.
These are the majority of inherited collections.

Obviously these were not his only sources, since you don't get a $5 gold coin in change.
So he must have bought or was given a few of the coins. Perhaps at a local coin shop or from a magazine ad.

Your question about value in 1980 relative to today would be relevant if he had been purchasing expensive coins.
Common coins haven't gone up in value, since the number of coin collectors has been declining.

Most likely there is an old Red Book included in the collection.
It will show you the more valuable coins, like the 1c 1955/1955 .
And it will provide a guide for grading circulated coins.

Or you can look through the folders for coins that have low mintages, and look them up with an online price guide.
For example, if he has a folder for Barber Quarters 1892-1916, the high value dates are 1896-S, 1901-S and 1913-S:
https://www.pcgs.com/prices/detail/barber-quarter/716/most-active
Numerical grades for circulated coins are in the 1-58 range.
Most circulated Barber coins are AG-3 or G-4.
To reach the VG-8 grade, at least 3 letters of LIBERTY on the headband must show.

MsMorrisine

you did well wit your question. I think the hard part is the word recent. there are recent discoveries but listing them ... wow.

a redbook/guidebook.... won't contain most varieties. there are a scant few in there -- like the 1955/1955. since it is printed once a year and auctions are fluid, ::checking out a recent redbook from the library:: would give you an idea of value. but skyrocket? hmmm. tough one. the older guys here will definitely know.

the hard part -- for both values and varieties -- is the different types of coins. that's a lot of knowledge.

for those posting replies as far as varieties:
what he is assuming is the collection was put together and known varieties would have been dealt with. what the question he is asking is: have there been new varieties discovered since the 1980s.

I think so:

1969-S Doubled Die – Eclipsed by the 1955 doubled die cent in popularity but not in rarity or price, the 1969-S doubled die easily claims the top spot as the most valuable Lincoln Memorial cent. Fewer than 100 authentic examples are believed to exist (far fewer than the 10,000 to 15,000 surviving 1955 doubled die cents). While extremely rare, 1969-S doubled die cents have appeared, even in recent years, in the most ordinary of places, including an unemployed woman’s 1995 discovery of the coin in pocket change and the variety’s 2007 appearance in an unsearched roll of 1969-S Lincoln cents by collector Michael Tremonti. The rare variety has scored several five- and six-figure auction appearances in recent years, including the headline-worthy sale of an MS64RD specimen at an April 2018 Stack’s Bowers auction in which the coin took a whopping $126,000. However, among 1969-S doubled die cents, RB specimens are more common; MS63RB specimens are listed in CPG at $60,500 while MS64RBs notch $90,800 apiece.

1970 Small-S – The most common of Lincoln cent varieties listed here is also among the most overlooked by collectors who don’t commonly handle Lincoln cents as a specialty. Two varieties of the 1970-S cent exist, including the more common large date and the scarcer small date. It’s unknown how many were made, but they exist as both business strikes and proofs. Perhaps the easiest way to tell a 1970-S small date apart from the 1970-S large date is by looking at the tops of the numerals in the date. If the “7” appears lower than the adjacent “9” and “0,” it’s a large date, but if the top of the “7” appears aligned with the tops of the other numerals, it’s a small date. 1970-S Small Date cents trade for about $20 and up in MSRD grades.

those are examples

I am not nearly knowledgeable enough to provide a list or even a free source of info for recent discoveries.

davewesen

cheerio's dollars

silver (except for one spike) and gold

MsMorrisine

perhaps you could change the title to "questions about recent (80s-now) variety discoveries & coin pricing trends since 80s"

Namvet69

@ScottA yes, coin collecting is deep and wide. Complicated, okay but in a good way. There may be individual coins that have increased in value for various reasons like rarity, silver content, condition, etc. You'll never know if you don't try. Good luck with your inheritance. Peace Roy

MsMorrisine

hmmm there is something to consider. even common 1964 kennedy coins have significant silver value now

and 1957-1970 half dollars have silver value but have less silver

isaiah58

Great responses.

Be patient.

I recommend focusing on one coin group at a time. Pennies, nickles, etc.

I like online sources. I look over the cherry picker guides and note the better dates to watch for. Then some speciality sites by coin type for additional recommendations.

I have an inexpensive scope in addition to magnifying loops. If something unusual catches my naked eye, those come into play. They help on coins in my list which I put aside regardless of condition.

My experience with a LCS under normal conditions is, they are not interested in sorting through our piles of coins: that is our responsibility. They will assess individual coins, as long as we have culled ones that deserve the attention.