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Question about what to do with coin collections?
cszafran
Posts: 19 ✭
My Dad died many years ago and left several collections, one being coins. There are a couple of proof sets, pennies, dimes, foreign coins, etc. What is the best way to deal with these coins? Should I make a personal appointment with an expert, search on-line or is there another way? Any help or suggestions are appreciated.
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Welcome to the board, you've come to the right place.
Ebay is your friend, searching completed auctions that actually sold will give you an idea of retail value. If you are willing to do the work yourself, you could go that route. OR you could settle for a wholesale deal to a dealer, depending on where you're located, the board has experts literally all over the country.
Some photos here will also get you many opinions on value, as would an inventory of highlights.
Good luck.
Your own research and your own ebay account are best.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Welcome to the coin forum! Many of us have known, worked with and talked to folks in your position, and one of the things that always concerns me is when acquaintances or greedy relatives take advantage of folks' lack of knowledge.
Knowledge is your friend.
Don't hesitate to post photos of what you have, and ask questions. You've gone several years (apparently) not doing much with the collection, so I would suggest that you continue to take your time.
If there is gold and silver, make sure to secure it. If you keep the coins in your house, try to keep as much to yourself as possible - in other words, avoid talking at work or parties about having Dad's coin collection at home.
We look forward to your posts.
Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
^Words of wisdom, heed the advise of @BlindedByEgo^
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
In my opinion, The first thing to do would be to make a list of the dates and mint marks of each coin and just a ballpark of how nice you think the coin looks, perhaps in an excel file. You don't need an exact grade, but does it look horrible? Does it look brand new? Does it look mostly used? You can check eBay auction sales and you will be able to get an idea of how much the coin is worth if it looks kind of like yours. Depending on how many coins you have, you can get a 'Redbook', it will quickly tell you what the rarer 'key' dates (generally the lowest mintage of a particular issue) are that are worth more than the average date and you can see if you have any of those.
I wouldn't just go make an appointment with an expert. If you find with your basic search that you might have things that are more valuable than the average coin, then sure, make an appointment with an expert. I would post some photos here, especially if you find one that is a rarer date than the others.
Good luck!
Successful transactions with: wondercoin, Tetromibi, PerryHall, PlatinumDuck, JohnMaben/Pegasus Coin & Jewelry, CoinFlip, and coinlieutenant.
Be sure to verify any possible errors/varieties.
I agree with @BlindedByEgo... Excellent advice.
Yes very sorry for your loss, you did come to the right place for some info. Post a sample of what you may have just so we can give you some info of what you may have and a some what price you may be able to get. There is no cut and dry way to sell a collection some are no big deal some are and you can lose a lot of $$$ offing it at a loco shop or E-Bay. Ask a lot of questions sell when you want it not a big rush. some time you will get I'll buy this one but don't sell look it up for your safe 1st then make your decision, Welcome to the board.
Hoard the keys.
Don’t clean them, rub them, polish them, and learn how to hold/handle them correctly. Of course, this is more important for valuable coins in excellent condition. Some unfortunate souls ruin all collector value of their new treasures value before they even get started.
THIS for sure.
The absolute FIRST thing to do is post a couple of photos. This forum can save you A LOT of time and aggravation. Dont' bother driving around, making phone calls, writing things down. All those things could be a waste of time.
In 40 years, I can't tell you the number of people that have walked into my shop with 9 pages of written material about their inherited collections. After looking through them, I ended up telling them to just take the stuff to the bank.
No kidding. Coin collections aren't always coin collections, so to speak.
For $10 or less, you can get a copy of Beth Deisher's book Cash In Your Coins: Selling the Rare Coins You've Inherited. Look for the 2nd edition.
Pendragon1998 posted a nice article on the Billboards here a decade ago but I can't seem to find it here. Perhaps the billboards don't exist anymore.
Fortunately, it exists across the street. It contains some great information to get started.
Here is the link: https://ngccoin.com/boards/topic/73947-what-you-need-to-know-inherited-coin-collections/
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
@Cameonut Perseverating is a beginning sign of mental illness
Unless they are silver and have all that nasty toning on them. Then you should dip to make them blast white, worth much more and many more collectors will be interested when not all nappy looking.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
@cszafran... Welcome aboard... there is very good advice in the posts above.... Most 'collections' are really 'accumulations' of coins... and most are not valuable. Silver or gold will have the precious metal value of course... and could possibly have numismatic value - posting pictures of those coins here will get you excellent advice....Foreign coins can be posted on the World Coin forum for information. Proof sets may have premium value depending on the year/mint etc. Again, post that information here and you will get good, honest feedback. This forum will save you a lot of labor and let you know if any have added premium value. Good luck, Cheers, RickO
create an inventory of your coins or sets & post it here. That may give us a "ball park" idea of what it's worth.
Thank you all so much for your help, I really appreciate it. My sweet Dad seemed to think his collections would someday be worth something but I am not so sure. Any money I get would go into an existing account and be given to his (adult) grandchildren which is what he wanted. I will look through some of them and post a picture(s) so all of you can have a starting point of what I have and thanks again.
Some of what I have.
Believe me..The value of the coins will be very high. Just go to ebay and check it prices. Then you can decide what to do with the coins.
The Lincoln cent on card is a novelty with little wholesale or retail value. The 64 proof set is about 20 bucks. The Mercs are common date circs worth about $1 each (value of the silver). If that is the main thrust of the collection, eBay will not be the best venue for you. The bid/ask spread on that material is smaller than the eBay fees. If you have a coin dealer (NOT a cash for gold place) in town or, better, multiple coin dealers, then take the collection around for offers. That will give you the quickest, best estimate of value.
Thank you all so much for the help. I am ready to this and won't look back. I have several coin dealers in my area and will start there. Thank you again so much.
You may also like to try our BST forum to sell the entire lot after getting an estimate value from local dealers.
..and get sharked just as easy as anywhere else.
You got me. I was planning to make an offer on those world coins if they are nice.
I should've been more clear. Research is just as important for selling here as it is for selling anywhere else. Thankfully here though there does seem to be some level of respect and accountability.
Curious on how many messages OP got just for making the thread. =P
Thank you all for helping and keeping me from getting taken advantage of. I have no problem going to the BST forum and will be very careful. Azurescens, the day I made the original post I got one message simply saying be careful.
Great googly-moogly, more than a decade ago! Surprised anyone remembers it. Looks like my pics are long-gone.
Howdy, guys! [Pendragon waves wildly and disappears back under his rock]
Good luck in your endeavor.
Under a rock or not, I saved your post because this question comes up all the time. I saved a copy in my archives so I knew what to look for. It's great advise and has value because it is an "uninvolved" third party opinion as opposed to what people get from dealers (honest, or not-so-honest), friends, or whomever.
I have probably sent your info to about a dozen people as they work to liquidate a family inheritance. (Most small, but they don't know that when they start).
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
unfortunately, most opinion from "experts" will take the form of buying the coins from you as cheap as possible.
Best avenue is to list each coin or set on ebay, post good pics of both sides, and use auction format starting at 99 cents. The market will bring you, on average, what they are truly worth.
Are they really this stupid, or are they destroying the dollar on purpose?
I've been liquidating my collection, and in my experience derryb is right on.
Three different GreatCollections auctions since January have been absolute disasters (no complaints about GC; they've been great. I'm just commenting on the venue and the results). A stab at handing the whole thing (drecks as well as the good stuff) to a major auction house was met with lack of enthusiasm. Some of the best stuff I did consign to a major auction where they are marketing it wonderfully; I'm not sure about that outcome of that, of course, but I do think for that material I'm likely to do as well as anywhere.
As for the rest of the stuff, though, $.99 starts on Ebay with good descriptions and pictures were definitely the way to go. That has been very successful.
And, of course, I'm keeping my Box Of 20.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
@cszafran
Welcome to the forum and my deepest condolences for your lost
Many forum members here is truly an expert in their perspective fields and very wise in many facets of coin collecting.
Make the list, browse eBay for ideas and post some pictures here. Don't be in the rush, take your time learning each and everyone of them. I hope you will find some enjoyment in this endeavor
How refreshing to come back more replies, I really appreciate it. I take notes and check out every link to be educated on what I have. Thanks so much.
Here is a free online book that may help you with the process
http://coinzip.com/book.php?b=1
Coin Club Benefit auctions ..... View the Lots
The Original Poster (OP) mentioned grandchildren.
Give the coins to the grandchildren.
That's what my mom did with my grandmother's coin collection.
The Mysterious Egyptian Magic Coin
Coins in Movies
Coins on Television
Why not just keep them in a safe place as a memory of your dad?
What all the other have said above, most of it is good except for making the coins blast white. If you are in no rush to sell, then that is a good thing, you won't be pressured to sell. Who knows, you might get hooked!
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
Let us know how rotten your local dealers are.
Lots of good advice here but the key advice is to take your time, do some research and do NOT clean any of the coins. I inherited a coin collection from my great uncle and I'm still sorting things out. It takes a lot of time and it's easy to make mistakes. You should not got to a local coins shop until you are a little bit more prepared on the value of what you have. The coin shops will be there next week, next month and probably next year.
Take your time and good luck.
Successful BST transactions with lordmarcovan, Moldnut, erwindoc
It is a presenting symptom of an already established complex of neurotic defenses associated with OCD.
Translation.... It's likely already too late for help.
Collecting coins is a common activity for those thus gifted and afflicted.
To the OP, welcome
From what you've written and your images, very little has much value. Way under $50 so far.
Forget any assumed values and, for now, images.
just dates of the coin/sets as an inventory would be most useful way to get item-specific advice here.
Possible example... likely oversimplified (for now)
Proof sets from 1950-64 have silver coins and are worth many multiples of issue price due to their intrinsic value.
Proof sets from later years (except 1976) do not, and are almost always worth less than the US Mint sold them for to the public during those years.
Oh the humanity.
I agree. Start out with the Red Book, first, and get an idea what you have as many of the experts specialize in different coins.
My local dealer gives 70% of grey sheet bid price. Roughly 50% of retail.
Several years back I took some modern silver proof sets in and the offer was less than coin silver price. Then a few clad sets were less than face value. No it wasn't worth my time but it pays to know what the base/silver value of coins are.
I am starting to see how very little I know about coins even though I saw my Dad's collections for years. I saw the Red Book on Amazon and will continue to check replies and hopefully I can get this done. Thanks.
Good luck and let us know how it goes....
I don't know where you are located, but see if there is a local coin club in your area. Take the coins to one of their meeting and tell a member you want to know the value of the coins. Tell them you do not want to sell them at this time, just get a value. Most clubs will offer this advice.
DPOTD-3
'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery'
CU #3245 B.N.A. #428
Don
I use the PCGS price Guide APP on my phone and whatever retail price it shows, I usually divide it to half because those prices are higher then what you will be offered in most cases but it is a guide. I also like to use the photo grade app to get an idea of the condition of the coin. Better looking coins can get higher prices especially if they are scarce/rare.
Quick links are at the top of this forum
Best place to buy !
Bronze Associate member
Sorry for your loss. Good luck. There is a lot of good advice on here.
Please remember that cleaning/polishing or messing with a coin REDUCES the value to the collector. Don't do it.
Good luck, sorry about your father. If he collected coins I'm sure he was a great Dad.
bob