This string is timely as I am faced with a similar dilemma. Not sure what is considered substantial, but my sisters and I have inherited my dad's collection and the task of cataloging every coin or set seems overwhelming so I am also looking for advice. More specifically, I count over 100 various US proof sets, probably 500 + pre-1965 silver 1/2 dollars, quarters, dimes, and then maybe 50 various foreign coins. I supposes we need to take the time to understand what we have in case there is a real find in the bunch, but don't think I have the patience to eBay them 1 at a time. Perhaps the auction house is my best route or maybe grouping all the proof sets in 1 bunch and all the silver coins in a 2nd bunch on eBay is a better solution?? Either way, I suppose I need to figure out what we have. Any specific recommendations based on what I have here?
Coin collection value
- Thread starter GalaxyBoy
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This string is timely as I am faced with a similar dilemma. Not sure what is considered substantial, but my sisters and I have inherited my dad's collection and the task of cataloging every coin or set seems overwhelming so I am also looking for advice. More specifically, I count over 100 various US proof sets, probably 500 + pre-1965 silver 1/2 dollars, quarters, dimes, and then maybe 50 various foreign coins. I supposes we need to take the time to understand what we have in case there is a real find in the bunch, but don't think I have the patience to eBay them 1 at a time. Perhaps the auction house is my best route or maybe grouping all the proof sets in 1 bunch and all the silver coins in a 2nd bunch on eBay is a better solution?? Either way, I suppose I need to figure out what we have. Any specific recommendations based on what I have here?
jfn111
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I will second the recommendation of visiting local coin shows. Bring a batch of coins each time and visit 5 or 10 dealers and ask them what they will pay.
Coin Shows & Events | NumisMaster.com
Coin Shows & Events | NumisMaster.com
COcheesehead
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To make it easy to eBay, I grouped them. Proof sets were sold as singles because they had enough value on their own, but I would bunch together 10 - 25 silver half dollars or 5 - 10 silver dollars and would sell them as a lot. Gold coins were also sold as singles because the value was so high.
athena53
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If these are mint US plate blocks, they may be worth their face value. Period. Back in the '60s and '70s, collecting plate blocks (a block of 4 stamps with the engraving plate # on one of the margins) was hugely popular. The Post Office loved it because collectors were paying for the service (delivery of a letter on which the stamp would be attached) but never used the service. They churned out a ton of new commemorative stamps every year. When I was de-cluttering I threw out a bunch of mine. Many were 4 and 5-cent denominations. I'd have to put 9 or 10 of them on a letter!
FiveDriver
Full time employment: Posting here.
An extensive coin (or stamp) collection should have all the Purchase invoices stored somewhere -- what did he pay for it and when. Did the Collector do business with 1 or 2 primary coin sellers ?? I would get in touch with them first.
Complete sets are always worth more taken as a whole, like the Walking Liberty Half Dollars from the war years ?? Are his coins encased in the Plastic Holders with the grade indicated ??
Grading is always going to be a bone of contention. There is a very fine line between Mint State number 63 and MS-64.....and a big difference in price.
What we see here is the downside of collecting coins. A person can get a lot of pleasure by looking over his collection thru the years. But when it comes time to liquidate the coins, it can be difficult. If there is anything of value in the collection....please get in touch with one of the Dealers that Dad did business with.
Collectors -- please make sure you have a paper trail on all your collectibles. And maybe even written instructions as to your wishes when the time comes.
Complete sets are always worth more taken as a whole, like the Walking Liberty Half Dollars from the war years ?? Are his coins encased in the Plastic Holders with the grade indicated ??
Grading is always going to be a bone of contention. There is a very fine line between Mint State number 63 and MS-64.....and a big difference in price.
What we see here is the downside of collecting coins. A person can get a lot of pleasure by looking over his collection thru the years. But when it comes time to liquidate the coins, it can be difficult. If there is anything of value in the collection....please get in touch with one of the Dealers that Dad did business with.
Collectors -- please make sure you have a paper trail on all your collectibles. And maybe even written instructions as to your wishes when the time comes.
I suggest you not look as you will be sad. Stamps, even quite old ones, sell for less than face value often. It's a little known way of sending mail for less than 48 cents or whatever it costs now. Stamps can be very cool looking but have not turned out to be a good financial investment as far as collectibles go.
Yes, you are correct. A lot of people make the mistake of looking at "for sale" on Ebay rather than "sold" on Ebay. I look at the sold completed auctions which is one of the boxes you can check in advance search. The asking prices people put are ridiculous and mean nothing as they will likely never sell. If you want to sell you need to check the sold listings. Coins (proof sets and silver) are very easy to value doing that as they sell in pretty tight numbers. That is a 1960 silver quarter, from a specific mint, in average condition sells for a set price. Not a lot of guess work involved. Sell 10 in a lot and you just multiply.
Paracelsus
Recycles dryer sheets
My father was a coin collector that had hoped to go into a coin business when he retired - lots of his retirement fund was used to purchase the coins. Unfortunately he died from a severe heart attack three years before his planned retirement. We had records of his purchases, but could get nowhere near that in trying to resell them after his death. He graded his own coins which aren't matching anything we get from resellers and are not the official grading service that is now used. He also tried cleaning the coins which resulted in some loss in their finish so was inappropriate and lost a lot of their value.
I still have a few coins - one gold coin that I bought as a 10 year old kid with my life savings at the time ($200), and a few that were bought as an investment for me and my brother. Their greatest value now is my dad's handwriting on the paper holder for the coins. Official grading would likely cost more than a lot of the coins.
GalaxyBoy, sorry you're having to go through this aspect, but congratulations on your retirement!
I still have a few coins - one gold coin that I bought as a 10 year old kid with my life savings at the time ($200), and a few that were bought as an investment for me and my brother. Their greatest value now is my dad's handwriting on the paper holder for the coins. Official grading would likely cost more than a lot of the coins.
GalaxyBoy, sorry you're having to go through this aspect, but congratulations on your retirement!
Sunset
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Interesting, and funny as when I mail to foreign countries or large packages, I have to use a number those 1c, 2c, 4c, etc stamps to make up the difference. Maybe I'll just check my inherited stamp collection instead of buying stamps.
athena53
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I do know of one possible success story. A friend of my mother got over $1 million when she liquidated the stamp collection of her late father, a retired Navy Admiral. She's over 90 now so her father would have accumulated it many years ago. I say "possible" success story because who knows- he might have spent $2 million on them.
I had a small collection of stamps from Hawaii, which issued its own for a short period in the 1800s. The only ones that got any real traffic on e-Bay were the ones in pristine condition (mint never-hinged). Even then, I got little more than what I paid for them nearly 40 years earlier. Fortunately, I switched to investing in stocks after I got my first real job out of college.
I use the NGC grading site at: https://www.ngccoin.com/ under the "Resources" heading there are guides on pricing, auctions, and other information that can help you.
Thanks... good starting point for me. about 150 mixed, many of which I'd never heard of three cent nickels and half dimes... Plus a lot of old paper money from other countries, silver based bills, and some rolls of zinc pennies. Think maybe the old Barber quarter may be worth something.
Thanks to all for bringing back some interest. Will poke around, but think it will be too difficult to sort out... will leave it to the kids.
Sunset
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You might as well poke around and sell them, from experience, the kids will be overwhelmed with lots of other stuff and simply toss them.
Yes... you're right!
athena53
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Any 20-cent pieces? Those were cool.
friar1610
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I don't know anything about coins and stamps. But when I was disposing of my parents antiques/semi-antiques/collectibles I quickly learned that if you sell to a dealer, you are selling at wholesale because he wants (and deserves) a profit. If you try to sell them yourself you are faced with trying to place a fair value/price on them. That may be easier these days via the Internet and eBay but it was a real challenge for me 20 or so years ago. I know I was way off the mark on some items and was probably influenced by "Mom always loved this vase" in pricing some items too high. Dunno if it's easier with coins and stamps
Souschef
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It is a lot easier with coins and stamps as there are a finite number of them issued. The problem comes when you try to value antiques (if they really are).
tHEN THERE ARE THE hUMMEL FIGURES, llADRO, wEDGEWOOD, ETC. THAT HAVE DROPPED IN VALUE.
athena53
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Souschef
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I apologize for the caps. I accidentally hit the caps lock and could not edit it for some reason
harley
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And here I thought you were just pissed off over inheriting all those worthless collectibles.
Koolau
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Only inheritance DW received from her mom was a few "antiques" or "collectibles" AND a duffle bag full of (mostly) US Silver coins. Her mom thought they were extremely valuable 'cause she had a book (the red one) which she often went through. She always counted the highest value as she had no concept of condition. I recall she was most proud of her paper $5 CSA (Confederate States of America). I never had the heart to point out that on the back, it said in small print: Fac simile.
We sold most of the old watches, clocks, figurines, Damascus Twist barrel shotgun, etc. at an auction. The coins, we kept as I figured they were silver and would always be worth the melt value (plus the small premium usually held by US Silver coins.) I suppose there was even a small sentimental value attached to her collection as she had so lovingly placed every coin in a cardboard holder and labeled it and "valued" it.
I had a buddy at w*rk who was a part-time coin dealer, so I asked him about the collection. His advice was to look for the "key dates" - there were maybe a dozen he listed (I lost his little cheat sheet, but I could look it up if I ever take an interest.)
He indicated there were really just a few US Silver coins that had any value over their silver value. If they were in really good shape, they could be worth a significant amount but probably not a fortune. He stated that the chance DMIL had collected a truly valuable coin from circulated coins was near nil, though in such an extensive collection there were probably a few which would command at least some premium over melt value if I wanted to take the time to go through them and look.
Key date coins would need to be graded to have any chance of bringing any significant premium - and I would still be at the mercy of a dealer. Alternately, selling to collectors could bring more money, but could also (more likely) invite a break-in - which my buddy had experienced with significant loss.
"Mint sets" and "Proof sets" rarely keep their selling price - especially in the relatively short term - but there are exceptions. For a first approximation (to see if it's worth the effort), there are books and internet sites which show "values" for such readily-traded items. They may be far from accurate, but would offer at least a clue whether one owns something of enough value to mess with.
My buddy loved coins but was disgusted with the business by the time he got out. He'd made a bit of money, but not enough to justify his time even as a dealer. My suggestion is not to expect more than the melt value unless one is willing to put in a lot of time - and then be prepared for probable disappointment. Stamp collections are even worse as they have little intrinsic value (face value if they haven't been used - if you want to lick them and stick them on a letter.) But, that's another story. Now, again, I've told you way more than I know, so YMMV.
We sold most of the old watches, clocks, figurines, Damascus Twist barrel shotgun, etc. at an auction. The coins, we kept as I figured they were silver and would always be worth the melt value (plus the small premium usually held by US Silver coins.) I suppose there was even a small sentimental value attached to her collection as she had so lovingly placed every coin in a cardboard holder and labeled it and "valued" it.
I had a buddy at w*rk who was a part-time coin dealer, so I asked him about the collection. His advice was to look for the "key dates" - there were maybe a dozen he listed (I lost his little cheat sheet, but I could look it up if I ever take an interest.)
He indicated there were really just a few US Silver coins that had any value over their silver value. If they were in really good shape, they could be worth a significant amount but probably not a fortune. He stated that the chance DMIL had collected a truly valuable coin from circulated coins was near nil, though in such an extensive collection there were probably a few which would command at least some premium over melt value if I wanted to take the time to go through them and look.
Key date coins would need to be graded to have any chance of bringing any significant premium - and I would still be at the mercy of a dealer. Alternately, selling to collectors could bring more money, but could also (more likely) invite a break-in - which my buddy had experienced with significant loss.
"Mint sets" and "Proof sets" rarely keep their selling price - especially in the relatively short term - but there are exceptions. For a first approximation (to see if it's worth the effort), there are books and internet sites which show "values" for such readily-traded items. They may be far from accurate, but would offer at least a clue whether one owns something of enough value to mess with.
My buddy loved coins but was disgusted with the business by the time he got out. He'd made a bit of money, but not enough to justify his time even as a dealer. My suggestion is not to expect more than the melt value unless one is willing to put in a lot of time - and then be prepared for probable disappointment. Stamp collections are even worse as they have little intrinsic value (face value if they haven't been used - if you want to lick them and stick them on a letter.) But, that's another story. Now, again, I've told you way more than I know, so YMMV.
Car-Guy
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Very true. Check out my short list on post 17 of this thread. I'm pretty sure all of these would be on your buddies list too. There are others but these are some of the most sought after modern (last ~140 years) US keys. Personally, I'd add any Morgan Dollars w/CC mint marks in MS 63 or better to my list as "keepers". (but I like CC Morgan Dollars)
There are a lot of common circulated silver coins (pre-65) that are worth more than melt "but" not by a lot of money. (depends on your POV of what is a lot) However, if in really good condition (MS63) or better, most are worth more than melt, some by considerably amounts, but very few have value margins anywhere near what the "keys" have.
Absolutely since the difference between a MS 63 and MS64 (or better) can be thousands and thousands of dollars, depending on the coin. Also there are a lot of counterfeits of key coins out there so grading by NGC or PCGS pretty much ensures
authenticity as well as accurate grading. For really valuable coins, an additional grading by CAC may be worthwhile to remove any grading disputes.
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OP
OP
GalaxyBoy
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I've been going through this dang coin collection and it's pretty overwhelming. Just inventorying it will take weeks. Last night I dug a little further in the boxes and found a moneybag with 25 rolls of silver dimes, apparently unsearched. I recall as a kid in the mid 60s Dad bringing home rolls of dimes and we'd all sit around the table picking out the silver ones, and he'd return the rest.
But there are some goodies in the collection. A complete set of Mercury dimes including the major dates and mint marks (1916-D, 1941/2 included), at least one 1909-S-VDB penny, an 1859 penny, a complete set of franklin half dollars, complete set of Lincoln pennies, silver war nickels, many proof sets dating back to 1950, etc. etc. Nothing is graded as I don't think the grading services existed when Dad was collecting in the 40s, 50s and 60s.
After a crash course on the internet at least I can now go back through this thread and at least understand the advice and terms given so far.
Since I first posted, Dad died and now I'm executor of the estate and have to sell this thing as a fiduciary. At least now I have time since I'm stirred! (Edit: retired. Autocorrect)
But there are some goodies in the collection. A complete set of Mercury dimes including the major dates and mint marks (1916-D, 1941/2 included), at least one 1909-S-VDB penny, an 1859 penny, a complete set of franklin half dollars, complete set of Lincoln pennies, silver war nickels, many proof sets dating back to 1950, etc. etc. Nothing is graded as I don't think the grading services existed when Dad was collecting in the 40s, 50s and 60s.
After a crash course on the internet at least I can now go back through this thread and at least understand the advice and terms given so far.
Since I first posted, Dad died and now I'm executor of the estate and have to sell this thing as a fiduciary. At least now I have time since I'm stirred! (Edit: retired. Autocorrect)
Car-Guy
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If you think you can reasonably estimate the grade of a particular "key" coin, e.g. poor, AG, good, fine XF, AU or in a MS, then send me a PM, or list them here if you like, and I'll give you a "current" price that you might expect to get from a honest (fair) dealer for an accurately graded/certified coin in that condition. The ones I changed to red text above would be considered key coins, but to give you a ballpark estimate I'd need to know the condition.
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