Went through just part of my dad's coin collection...and they're worth a lot...but how much?
dast1983
Posts: 18 ✭
So my dad had this old coin collection that I knew about but forgot about for a long time. For whatever reason, I decided that coin collection would be interesting to check through to see the value of it.
Well, I went through just a small part of the collection, and calculated the melt value (this small part is all silver), and it's worth a significant sum of money (to us anyway)! The amount actually shocked my mom. And, I was reading about some of the coins on Google and it turns out they could be worth much more. There was both bullion (rounds) and coins in there.
This won't cause any family rifts. My dad is deceased, leaving me, my mom, and my sister.
So far as I can tell, the next steps from here are to:
1) Take to a numismatist and get exact value on this collection. They charge between $100 - $200 per hour, right?
2) Figure out when/how to sell. No one is interested in keeping this collection (although I might keep a small portion as sentimental value). My dad kept it in case the dollar/society crashed. It could be extremely difficult to figure out when to sell because of all the drivers of demand of silver - it's expected to have a strong year in the year ahead. And it might be very strong for several years ahead, given that AI needs it, solar panel production needs it, and so do EVs. Not really sure how to approach this.
The most likely outcome of this is that I get most/maybe all of the money/proceeds from this eventually (which could be months or years, who knows?). My sister isn't interested and is financially well off. I am financially in a rough place. And my mom is doing fine financially too. I don't know what exactly what will happen, but something like that is my guess.
I'm pretty much in charge of the whole operation, with my mom and sister weighing in on decisions as they come up.
FYI, I am a newbie coin collector. Just started in the past few weeks. So, I am open to any tips or insights you may have!
Comments
How much gold ?
Just a couple coins.
Howdy and welcome.
The first order of business might be to keep your expectations low. I realize that might read odd, but if you are Googling coins then you likely have hit upon click-bait material. Since you are new to numismatics, you should buy the most basic, and possibly most valuable, general book on the hobby. It is called the Red Book. Buy one copy of it and you never have to buy another, or perhaps you need only buy a new one every decade or two. An image is below-
It will cost perhaps $15-$20 and you can buy one online from most major booksellers. Your local coin dealer likely sells them, too, and many libraries have copies you can borrow. It will teach you the basics of grading coins, which goes a long way to determining value.
In my experience, a coin dealer rarely charges such high fees of $100-$200 per hour. Most coin shops evaluate collections for free with the hope of buying the collection. Inquire first as to cost or if you will get a written estimate of value. You appear to be concentrating on many bits of minutia (AI needs, solar panel production, timing the market) which shows you really might not know what you don't know. That is fine, you are new.
In the meantime, if you have a cell phone and are competent at taking halfway decent images, you can start a new thread and ask folks if certain coins might have some value. Just make certain the images are in focus, so don't move the phone too close to the coins, and made certain we can tell which obverse shot goes with the paired reverse shot. You may be quite surprised at how little, or how much, individual coins might be worth.
Good luck!
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Also, if you actually want useful information, it is best to give us details when we ask questions. That goes a long way to establishing helpful estimates.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Others will have better advice but I'll give my impressions.
Your comment that "My dad kept it in case the dollar/society crashed" tells me it might include a lot of bullion value coins. If that is the case then you certainly don't need to pay anyone to look at bullion. If you post photos here then you can get a lot of good free advice.
As for the future of silver, if you are going to speculate over the future you should still get things sorted out now.
Be very careful what you read on the internet (except here 😆 ). There will be lots of misinformation as well as lots of things you don't yet understand.
What @TomB said...
...and pictures would be helpful.
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post pictures of those first
If you go to sell at a local dealer make sure you have studied a copy of the Red Book. Do not let the dealer know that you just want to sell for cash as quickly as possible. He is going to "read" you to to figure out just how low an offer he thinks he can get away with.
Post some photos here so the board members can give you some idea of just what you have.
I wish you the best of luck for this New Year. Hope you do get the red book, but please be careful jumping to conclusions re:value. It is highly tied to condition, grade and desirability that, usually a beginner finds nearly impossible to grasp.
Some steps of advice that I would offer, 1) separate silver, copper and gold into groups, 2) separate silver into bullion and coins, 3) note the coins by date and mintmark(shown in redbbook)
4) take any coins considered more rare than others to a couple of dealers for opinions only, 5) if capable of photographing, take good, whole coin photos, front and back, and post them here. There are many, many quality folks here who would give excellent advice on best way to dispose of these items, 6) take total face value of bullion and again list here for recommendations.
Repeat for copper.
Again, so sorry for your loss and wish you the best.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
And above all, do not try to clean them in any way!
Start with the gold coins first.
Agree with the earlier comments. At a minimum get the Redbook, sort the coins (makes checking values a lot quicker) and write things down.
While learning to grade accurately takes time highlight instances where you notice big jumps in value between one grade and the next.
Ditto, ditto, ditto...don't attempt to clean anything.
The Redbook is a good place to start but one needs to know how to grade the coins to get some idea of their value from the Redbook. Also, as already been stated, don't clean or otherwise mess with these coins since you will hurt their value since collectors want coins with original surfaces. Your greatest challenge will be deciding where to sell them. There are many sharks in the coin industry who will size you up as being someone who is unknowledgeable about coins and then try to buy your coins for cents on the dollar so be very careful. We have many fine coin dealers who are active participants here so if you let us know where you live, someone here may be able to recommend a local dealer that can help you evaluate your collection. Good luck and let us know how you make out.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I dont charge for appraisals, and as stated most shops dont mind in order to assess and value in hopes of buying.
The only time I actually charge, is if its a legal type issue with formal paperwork, or a family has made clear intention of not selling or its being dispersed to another family member, then I do. And even though I dont mind helping others value thier holdings, I usually will do if off times if extensive because Its not worth me spending 2-3 hours of shop time to make a hundred and take away time of actually being able to buy with folks coming in to sell.
Couple years ago, I had a family come in and had me evenly disperse thier inheritance. (about 500k) They wanted me to close the store (to keep private) and spend all day helping them, but they wanted to come during regular business hours . We finally compromised on times, and aprasial amount, They first offered( just to buy lunch) if you can believe that!!
It's amazing how detached from reality some people can be.
I work in HVAC and every now and then we'll have people that have never used us before call because their heat or AC isn't working and they expect us to drop everything and go help them right away. When they're told we can't get to them for a day or two they are appalled that we won't blow off other customers that have previously scheduled appointments or have already called in ahead of them.
Just a couple of weeks ago we had someone call Friday afternoon because their water heater was leaking. They were expecting us to come out on Saturday to replace it. They couldn't comprehend that a business is closed on the weekends. Yes, we have afterhours service for emergencies - burst pipes or no heat in the winter etc. - but replacing a water heater is not an emergency. Shut the water supply to the unit off and we'll see you Monday...maybe.
Very believable.
Lay it out on a table all heads up a take a decent resolution picture and them flip them over tails side and repeat. Post them here and people will be able to tell you in a few mins what they are worth sell and retail.
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
Did you look hungry?
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Just a couple coins. > @jdimmick said:
Interesting. I went to my local shop and they said they charge $200 per hour.
Agree with that.
Yep. That makes a lot of sense. The good thing is that we are in no rush to do this.
I will do this at some point. I live about 1.5 hours away from my sister, who has possession of the coins. Will post some high-res photos the next time I get the chance, or I might ask her to do so.
Definitely won't do that.
Speaking from experience here, and everyone in my family gets along great….
If your dad passed within the last few months, you might want to get things done relatively quickly. While everyone might be on-board with dispersal of the collection now, if it’s neglected for a bit, their feelings and emotions might change. After a while, just sitting on things becomes “normal” and making a move to sell something might seem less agreeable to the others than it does now. At least take possession of them, if you can. Once that’s done, there’s no rush on your part to sell.
As for timing the market, your ability to predict the future is probably on par with everyone else.
If you want to work with a local shop, give us a rough idea of where you are located and someone might be able to come up with a reputable dealer. A couple pictures will help, too. 50,000 foot view is fine to start, then people will tell you where more detail is needed.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Second and maybe third opinions for a large holding may be in order like doctors even thoughnone will admit to being doctors!
This is the interesting part. This means either rare dates, rare old types, or exceptional condition, or better yet some combo. What are these, please?
When a dealer charges for an appraisal, they'll sometimes tell the owner of the coins that they'll wave the appraisal fee if they sell them the coins. Is this a "red flag" that you're going to get a low-ball appraisal?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
When my mom passed away a year ago my brother and sister and I met up to start dividing her assets/belongings. They had absolutely zero interest in the coins my mom and dad had, so they asked me to take whatever I wanted and they would just take whatever was left. Value meant nothing to them…so I gave them the junk silver and told them to go sell it as it wasn’t ’collectible’ per se. They were happy with it…and we all got a pretty even split. But yes, getting it done quickly and efficiently is the key as when time passes by people tend to remember/forget things that can make a big difference all the way around. Good luck! PS…a little knowledge can go a long way in this field, so brush up a little and get several opinions before selling/trading. There are several experts here that are quite knowledgeable and always willing to help….. so don’t be afraid to ask! Cheers, karl
Bruh, your sister would probably love to hear from you. Send her a text demanding high resolution images of all the coins and tell her you love her.
Another note: Don't, no matter how tempting it is to do so, dump them all into a CoinStar. The fees are ridiculous.
This is often true but not always, multiple offers is key. That said most dealers will give you a offer for free, it when you want an itemized valuation for estate purposes or what ever they change by the hour. And as Mr Hall has stated many will waive it if you sell them the collection.
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
200/hr!!!
That makes me a bit suspicious of that LCS. Seems like a high figure, unless the owner is planning to waive the fee, as @PerryHall suggested. I agree with other posters who suggest getting calling multiple dealers. Perhaps you could try calling a dealer in your sister's area also?
I'll make a generous assumption - maybe this place is a high-volume dealer and they just want to discourage people from wasting their time with a bunch of Lincoln cents and well-worn Roosevelt dimes?...
My preferred LCS recently established a day where he's only open by appointment. Presumably it's for stuff like this, as well as visiting homebound people or running stuff to the refinery.
Serving the greater Mechanicsburg and Camp Hill, PA area
https://zenithbullionconsulting.wordpress.com/
I know a dealer (Seattle area) who will do the appraisal for free if he can make an offer for the entire collection. He makes it clear up front though if they walk out of his shop the deal is off. No shopping around and coming back later. He’s sort of a character.
Dave
Depends on what you asked for. If you want a written estate appraisal, most places will charge Nevada they need to do a formal write-up and their time is money.
If you ask for a purchase offer, they are usually free because there is no formal write-up and they would get compensated if they purchase it.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
No.
You will, however, not get the same purchase offer as formal "appraisal". But that's because appraisals are usually replacement costs not wholesale value.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Not unreasonable for a formal estate appraisal. One should not consider "appraisal " and "purchase offer" to be synonyms. An estate appraisal is a legal document.
Lawyers often get paid a percentage on estates. As a result, they will try to maximize the official value of the estate for probate. I've seen lawyers come in to my friends shop with a change jar wanting an estate appraisal.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Would never do that lol
Definitely shop around. Most dealers will throw out lowball offers, especially if they determine you don't know much about the coins. Be careful, lots of snakes in the grass. RGDS!
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
Wooooha! Did someone just say it's officially "TACO™" Tuesday????
It'll probably be pretty obvious to them that I don't know much about the coins. Good point. WIll shop around. And will post on here eventually.
Any pictures yet??
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I'm working on this. There's a lot of coins - enough to fill an average-sized plastic tote. Will have to do this in small segments and slowly over time because I am physically located about 90 minutes away from my sister, who has possession of the coins.
Do the easy part first: have your sister just take a picture looking down on the coins in the tote. Bonus points if the tote is clear and she can take a side picture also.
Better pictures would be great. But you might be surprised at how much the folks here can tell you even from bad pictures.