Any coin collectors out there?

[mr.MUskie]

I was cleaning out a closet this morning, getting ready to paint and put up new shelving.  Buried in a corner I found a small shopping bag full of jars and coffee cans of old coins that my wife must have inherited from her father years ago.  There are rolls of silver quarters from the 40s, 50s and 60s, Liberty half dollars, silver dollars (oldest I've found so far is from 1881), and much, much more.  I only did a quick look through a handful of them and even found old coins from Canada, India and Ireland.  One is a Canadian one cent piece from 1876.  Literally hundreds of coins.  What's the best way to go about figuring out what this is all worth?  There is no way I could drop this off at a random coin shop (do they still even have those?), as they could pocket 100 coins and I wouldn't even know it.  Any web sites that give accurate values?

[reinko]

I will give you $50.

[brandx]

I was cleaning out a closet this morning, getting ready to paint and put up new shelving.  Buried in a corner I found a small shopping bag full of jars and coffee cans of old coins that my wife must have inherited from her father years ago.  There are rolls of silver quarters from the 40s, 50s and 60s, Liberty half dollars, silver dollars (oldest I've found so far is from 1881), and much, much more.  I only did a quick look through a handful of them and even found old coins from Canada, India and Ireland.  One is a Canadian one cent piece from 1876.  Literally hundreds of coins.  What's the best way to go about figuring out what this is all worth?  There is no way I could drop this off at a random coin shop (do they still even have those?), as they could pocket 100 coins and I wouldn't even know it.  Any web sites that give accurate values?

Most likely, they are all just worth silver value unless they are uncirculated or high quality almost uncirculated. Most coin shops will buy for silver value since they will  probably be melted down. Be aware as well that silver was used in nickels during WWII if you have any rolls of nickels from the 40s. If you have Barber coins or earlier, there will be numismatic value above the silver price for most coins.


At current silver prices (approximate):
$1 coins    $13.50
Half Dollar $6.25
Quarters    $3.15

[mr.MUskie]

Most likely, they are all just worth silver value unless they are uncirculated or high quality almost uncirculated. Most coin shops will buy for silver value since they will  probably be melted down. Be aware as well that silver was used in nickels during WWII if you have any rolls of nickels from the 40s. If you have Barber coins or earlier, there will be numismatic value above the silver price for most coins.


At current silver prices (approximate):
$1 coins    $13.50
Half Dollar $6.25
Quarters    $3.15

Thanks.  I realize the chance of there being something valuable in there is slim, but I wouldn't mind spending a few hours checking them out to see if anything is worth following up with someone knowledgeable.

[Benny B]

Thanks.  I realize the chance of there being something valuable in there is slim, but I wouldn't mind spending a few hours checking them out to see if anything is worth following up with someone knowledgeable.

You could spend a lot of time looking for something valuable that you don't have and end up having something you didn't know was valuable.  Given the nature of the coins you're describing, I would rather spend a few hours trying to document what you have and try to connect with a local coin collector who would be willing to look at your list and tell you if you have anything.  Basically, what you've outlined, only skip the step of you trying to figure out what might be valuable.

Just a thought: the most valuable coins are usually amongst the rarest of the rare... I would think there's not going to be a lot of banter online (at least not in a form useful to non-collectors like us) about the rarest coins known to exist, and even then, who knows who you can trust.

I would also think Antiques Roadshow or the like has to have a primer on coin collecting somewhere on the net... otherwise, they would get overrun by the hundreds of thousands of people out who have found themselves in the exact same situation at some point.

[D'Lo Brown]

I was cleaning out a closet this morning, getting ready to paint and put up new shelving.  Buried in a corner I found a small shopping bag full of jars and coffee cans of old coins that my wife must have inherited from her father years ago.  There are rolls of silver quarters from the 40s, 50s and 60s, Liberty half dollars, silver dollars (oldest I've found so far is from 1881), and much, much more.  I only did a quick look through a handful of them and even found old coins from Canada, India and Ireland.  One is a Canadian one cent piece from 1876.  Literally hundreds of coins.  What's the best way to go about figuring out what this is all worth?  There is no way I could drop this off at a random coin shop (do they still even have those?), as they could pocket 100 coins and I wouldn't even know it.  Any web sites that give accurate values?

If you want to do this on your own, you should research and have a vague understanding of coin grading. Then I would recommend buying a copy of the Standard Catalog of World Coins, which will help you identify all of them and give you a fair estimate. Without some kind of reference it would be pretty difficult for you to figure out every single coin.

The quarters up to 1964 are worth the silver price unless they are uncirculated. If they are uncirculated (you will need to figure out how to tell that they are uncirculated), then they could be worth between $7-25 most likely.

The world coins probably aren't that valuable unless they contain silver. TBH, the silver dollars (especially pre-1921) are probably the only worth researching as there is a much bigger collector market for them and they readily sell on eBay for $25+ each if not significantly more. Do not sell those for their silver value, the previous advice will also be what a coin dealer will tell you. Then they will rob you.

If you have a lot of them I would recommend a reference book on Morgan Dollars (the silver dollar from 1878-1921). You can probably pick one up for $10.

[chapman]

The half dollars are worth 50 cents.  The quarters are worth 25 cents.  One Indian rupee is worth 1.6 cents.  The Irish money is worthless since they switched to the Euro.

Hope this helps!   

[WellsstreetWanderer]

The half dollars are worth 50 cents.  The quarters are worth 25 cents.  One Indian rupee is worth 1.6 cents.  The Irish money is worthless since they switched to the Euro.

Hope this helps!   

Crap! I had some Punts I was hoping to turn into Guiness this Summer

[Jay Bee]

Check the game of clans or clashing thrones threads. Lots of geekwads reading & posting in those threads.

[brandx]

TBH, the silver dollars (especially pre-1921) are probably the only worth researching as there is a much bigger collector market for them and they readily sell on eBay for $25+ each if not significantly more. Do not sell those for their silver value, the previous advice will also be what a coin dealer will tell you. Then they will rob you.

If you have a lot of them I would recommend a reference book on Morgan Dollars (the silver dollar from 1878-1921). You can probably pick one up for $10.

Common date, well circulated silver dollars - Morgan or Peace - are only going to fetch silver spot price or very little over that. There is very little collector premium.

But generally, as with anything you ever sell - you need to know its value before making the deal. It's hard to get taken advantage of that way.

And if you sell to a dealer, find one that has his own shop. The guys at the coin shows are 75% hustlers looking to get something for nothing. The guy with his own shop can't survive without return business.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Check the game of clans or clashing thrones threads. Lots of geekwads reading & posting in those threads.

Thought the Clash of Clans Super Bowl ad was one of the best ones out there.

[D'Lo Brown]

Common date, well circulated silver dollars - Morgan or Peace - are only going to fetch silver spot price or very little over that. There is very little collector premium.

But generally, as with anything you ever sell - you need to know its value before making the deal. It's hard to get taken advantage of that way.

And if you sell to a dealer, find one that has his own shop. The guys at the coin shows are 75% hustlers looking to get something for nothing. The guy with his own shop can't survive without return business.

That just isn't true. You'd have a hard time buying any Morgan dollar on eBay for less than $25. That is what your average circulated, well-worn 1899-O, 1921-D, etc sells for. The ones that look like they were run over by a train and found at the bottom of the ocean even sell for a premium over the silver value. Seeing as the spot price for a Morgan dollar is around $13 right now, you are telling him that he should be willing to take about half of what the coins are actually worth.

Figured I should ask you brandx, do you have any silver dollars you'd like to sell?

[brandx]

That just isn't true. You'd have a hard time buying any Morgan dollar on eBay for less than $25. That is what your average circulated, well-worn 1899-O, 1921-D, etc sells for. The ones that look like they were run over by a train and found at the bottom of the ocean even sell for a premium over the silver value. Seeing as the spot price for a Morgan dollar is around $13 right now, you are telling him that he should be willing to take about half of what the coins are actually worth.

Figured I should ask you brandx, do you have any silver dollars you'd like to sell?

You can pick up well circulated Morgans at shows for around $20 - $23 each. If you want to buy by the roll, it will be under $20 a piece. Which means a dealer is gonna give you $13-$16 per coin.

[Benny B]

Thinking about it, I recall that when my mother happened upon some old coins several years ago left behind by my great-grandmother, she and my grandmother went through her stash, and there were several "fine" (minimally circulated) coins mixed in with all the rest; all turned out to be rather valuable.  I think my mom found about six or seven fine quarters amongst a few hundred well-circulated quarters.  The fine coins were different years/mints than all the rest and sold for a couple hundred dollars each, and all of the well-circulated quarters weren't worth a thing.  My mother and grandmother suspect it wasn't strictly luck or coincidence that the only quarters they found of rare or sought-after vintage were the shiniest of the bunch... they think she acquired these coins from either a shop or another collector, knowing they had some value, but simply threw them in the box with the rest of the circulated coins.

Regardless as to whether you're going to go about this on your own (you might not have a choice since as you surmised, I don't think "coin shops" even exist anymore except online) or you're going to get an "expert" to take a look, I would suggest - at the very least - pulling out anything that looks like it might be uncirculated (or nearly uncirculated) and research those first.

One other thought I had was to call your homeowner's insurance agent and asking them for a referral or suggestion as to how one would go about getting the coins appraised for insurance purposes.  That said, you might not get a true "market" value, but at least it's a starting point.

[Spotcheck Billy]

I think there are a few coin shops left around Milwaukee unless Derzon closed. There was a shop on Hwy. 100 north of Lincoln as I recall and another at Layton & Loomis

[brandx]

Thinking about it, I recall that when my mother happened upon some old coins several years ago left behind by my great-grandmother, she and my grandmother went through her stash, and there were several "fine" (minimally circulated) coins mixed in with all the rest; all turned out to be rather valuable.  I think my mom found about six or seven fine quarters amongst a few hundred well-circulated quarters.  The fine coins were different years/mints than all the rest and sold for a couple hundred dollars each, and all of the well-circulated quarters weren't worth a thing.  My mother and grandmother suspect it wasn't strictly luck or coincidence that the only quarters they found of rare or sought-after vintage were the shiniest of the bunch... they think she acquired these coins from either a shop or another collector, knowing they had some value, but simply threw them in the box with the rest of the circulated coins.

Regardless as to whether you're going to go about this on your own (you might not have a choice since as you surmised, I don't think "coin shops" even exist anymore except online) or you're going to get an "expert" to take a look, I would suggest - at the very least - pulling out anything that looks like it might be uncirculated (or nearly uncirculated) and research those first.

The "lingo" of coin grading is quite deceiving to people not familiar to it. "Good" and "Very Good" are actually really bad, extremely well-worn coins. A coin graded "good" scores in the 4-7 range on the 70 point scale. I suspect the "fine" coins your grandma found were much better than that. A Fine coin rates at 12 on the 1-70 scale - in other words it is well worn and there would be no luster whatsoever.

Coins are graded on a 1-70 scale. 60 is uncirculated with the grades from 60 - 70 reflecting how pristine the uncirculated coin is. For an uncirculated Morgan dollar, the price range of an uncirculated coin can range from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on how pristine the coin is.

My advice from earlier stands - never sell something if you don't know its value first.

Incidently, there are still plenty of brick and mortar shops around. There are over a half dozen within 25 miles of my home.

[D'Lo Brown]

You can pick up well circulated Morgans at shows for around $20 - $23 each. If you want to buy by the roll, it will be under $20 a piece. Which means a dealer is gonna give you $13-$16 per coin.

I have bought and sold many coins in my lifetime, especially Morgan dollars. As you put it, if the OP would prefer to get half of their true value, he should really be selling them to a dealers. That way the dealer can make a lot of money off his lazy *** and maybe there is peace in the world!

If, rather, you literally have an extra 10 minutes, you could set up an eBay and PayPal account and auction the coins... That is the #1 best coin market in the world, anyone could sell their American silver on there at any time of the day with no knowledge and broken English for 90-100% of it's value. Unfortunately that cuts out the coin dealer / thief, but I've always been more interested in making money than keeping someone like that in business.