Busthead Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Hello, I found my grandfather's coin collection. I have taken some photos and scanned in all of his notes/inventories. I know nothing about coins and would like to understand which are valuable and which are not. I'd like to keep the best of the best for my children and sell or donate the rest. Do non-profit coin dealers that support local charities exist? Thanks! GoldFinger1969 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenstang Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Welcome to the Chat Box In order to help you, we will need a clear photo of both sides of each coin you would like us to look at. Place each coin on it’s own thread to avoid confusion. Are these all US coins or are they foreign? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKK Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 On 5/22/2024 at 11:40 AM, Busthead said: Do non-profit coin dealers that support local charities exist? No. You might actually have to pay someone to evaluate your collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busthead Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 On 5/22/2024 at 1:01 PM, JKK said: You might actually have to pay someone to evaluate your collection. Happy to pay someone. How do I find a reputable assessor in/around Sacramento, CA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandon Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Welcome to the NGC chat board. It is difficult to advise you specifically without having any idea of the content of the collection or how serious a collector your grandfather was. Many people casually collected coins years ago and have numerous items that are still of little value. Others who were serious collectors may have left pieces of substantial value. I assume that there was no inventory and appraisal of the collection made in connection with the probate of his estate. State laws generally require such inventories and appraisals of valuable items, though sometimes these legal obligations are not performed. I suggest that you obtain a copy of a current (2025) or recent edition of A Guide Book of United States Coins, commonly known as the "Red Book", where you can get some idea of what your grandfather had and whether there may be any particularly valuable pieces. This book is available from its publisher at whitman.com and at some booksellers and coin shops. If it appears that you have items of substantial value, you may wish to have the collection professionally appraised. See https://www.pngdealers.org/af_memberdirectory.asp and Find Coin Shops & Dealers | Coin Dealer Locator | NGC (ngccoin.com) to locate dealers who might perform such appraisals in your area. You should expect to pay a reasonable fee for this appraisal, and you should not sell any of the coins to the dealer who conducted the appraisal. Bear in mind that any dime, quarter or half dollar dated before 1965 is composed of 90% silver and at current high silver prices is worth over 22 times its face value no matter how common the coin is. Silver dollars dated through 1935 are currently worth about $24 just in silver. Half dollars dated from 1965-70 also have some silver value. See U.S. Silver Coin Melt Values | Silver Dollar Melt Value | NGC (ngccoin.com) for current values of U.S. silver coins, which change daily. Although you may post clear, cropped images of both sides of individual coins as separate topics for our opinions, there is a limit to what we can see from photos, and it would not be feasible to assess large numbers of pieces in this manner. Busthead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKK Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 On 5/22/2024 at 1:09 PM, Busthead said: Happy to pay someone. How do I find a reputable assessor in/around Sacramento, CA? I would suggest you contact your local coin club. Just show up to a meeting and ask around. There is an excellent chance someone will offer to help you for a reasonable fee, and they wouldn't want to besmirch themselves or their club by doing you wrong. Busthead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busthead Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 (edited) The information you've provided is immensely helpful; thank you! On 5/22/2024 at 1:12 PM, Sandon said: I assume that there was no inventory I scanned in my grandfather's notes. Although likely not entirely accurate, they should provide an idea of what I have: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/z4h1gpokrspm7vm51dwm0/HA-Decker-s-Coin-Notes.zip?rlkey=md4u6z6ftit0m3q6sd887ikaw&st=ak5vwyjp&dl=0 For those interested, here are some photos I took: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/zjyndw2sh8vjj9d5ka0qp/AEYYyMAQvkzaw3hpI-C7hJk?rlkey=t091zmuvaojxviwo0r8zm8kf5&st=diz19zt6&dl=0 Edited May 24 by Busthead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busthead Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 On 5/22/2024 at 1:34 PM, JKK said: I would suggest you contact your local coin club. Wonderful, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busthead Posted May 24 Author Share Posted May 24 (edited) On 5/22/2024 at 1:12 PM, Sandon said: See U.S. Silver Coin Melt Values | Silver Dollar Melt Value | NGC (ngccoin.com) for current values of U.S. silver coins Assuming a coin has no other significant value, what percentage of the melt value would a reputable buyer offer? Edited May 24 by Busthead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandon Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 How much dealers will offer for common date, circulated silver coins varies from dealer to dealer and with the perceived volatility of silver prices. I would suggest getting several quotes before selling. I haven't sold such pieces to dealers in recent years but would expect that you should be able to get at least 80-85% of melt value. Before you sell any coins, however, I strongly recommend that you determine the market value of the collection or at least of the specific pieces you want to sell. It's not possible for us to make any determination from the handwritten lists and photos of large groups items you provided on another site. It appears that your grandfather amassed a large variety of mostly lower value items (circulated coins and modern, mint-issued proof and uncirculated coin sets), but he could have had some valuable individual pieces among them that you would be unable to identify as such. For example, your grandfather apparently had a binder of circulated Washington quarters, most of which would be worth silver value, but a 1932-D or 1932-S could be worth $85 retail even in well-worn "Good" grade and much more in higher circulated grades. You should have the collection appraised or at least get a current or recent "Red Book" to get a preliminary assessment of the collection yourself. You may as a result find that you want to become a collector yourself. For more resources that would help you to learn about U.S. coins as well as assess the collection, see the following topic: Busthead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKK Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 On 5/24/2024 at 8:34 AM, Busthead said: Assuming a coin has no other significant value, what percentage of the melt value would a reputable buyer offer? I think most dealers give you around 95%, unless they're drowning in junk silver--the hobby's rather crude term for what you're describing. (What they really hate is gold.) If you have winnowed it out to the junk silver, a precious metal house will probably give you the best value (or a private collector who likes it might do just as well). The way this works is that pretty much all dealers have to deal in junk silver on some level, because too many of their customers are precious metal people and that's what they want. Also, they mainly restock their inventory from buying out collections like yours, and thus they end up with a steady supply of it, so they want that ready stacker market and try to be reasonably competitive, but that can vary a bit. Every time I've thought about starting a B&M coin shop, the first reason why not is always the bullion stuff. You can't really make any money in a shop without doing the bullion part, which means listening to all the bullion bull[waste] from people who need to be listened to and at least nodded at for validation or they'll go somewhere else. I'm absolutely terrible at pretending to validate something I don't, and I know I'd gutshoot my prospects from the beginning. So I just don't--but I know how it works for dealers, and most of them don't have to pretend as much as I would (or are better actors). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWB Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 The notes and photos suggest your grandfather enjoyed selling coins at small local events. Do not take the values in the notes as reliable - they seem to be greatly inflated. As others mentioned, please get a knowledgeable person to examine the coins and separate bullion-value pieces from those with a meaningful collector premium. (One thought on the rolls of halves -- sell as full rolls by type on ebay (etc.) -- you will probably net well above melt value.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halbrook Family Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 On 5/22/2024 at 11:40 AM, Busthead said: Hello, I found my grandfather's coin collection. I have taken some photos and scanned in all of his notes/inventories. I know nothing about coins and would like to understand which are valuable and which are not. I'd like to keep the best of the best for my children and sell or donate the rest. Do non-profit coin dealers that support local charities exist? Thanks! I'd pay you 100% silver melt. Get down to OC Much? Interested in the pre 64 quarters and barber dimes especially. If you want to hold some for your family I would suggest keep the Morgan's and Peace dollars. Those I would think are the easiest to sell and the best to keep. The Mint sets you can get very cheap. Pre 1964 for about $25 if in good shape and after that as little as $4 each. 1955 mint set I paid $100 the other day. 1956 I paid $35. The blue envelope and brown box silver dollar go for $10 each. American Eagle's go for $50 at my store. 1994 I believe goes for more. Hard to tell what shape the Indian Head nickels are in but the early ones do very well. 1913 - 1925. Hard to tell from the photos. Roosevelt dimes are worth $2.19 1964 and before. The ones after that are worth .10. Rolls of BU wheat pennies are worth about $20 to $40. 1940's to 1950's. If you have earlier red cents pre 1930 those could be worth money. The last photo you got to get that coin out of that pvc. Busthead 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWB Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 Please make purchase offers on the Marketplace or via Private Message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busthead Posted May 26 Author Share Posted May 26 On 5/24/2024 at 10:46 AM, RWB said: the rolls of halves -- sell as full rolls by type Thanks for the suggestion. Can please elaborate on what "type" means and provide examples? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWB Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 (edited) On 5/26/2024 at 6:38 PM, Busthead said: Thanks for the suggestion. Can please elaborate on what "type" means and provide examples? A roll ($10) of Franklin halves, Walking Liberty halves, Washington quarters (pre-1965). Each roll containing only coins of the same design. Edited May 27 by RWB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePhiladelphiaPenny Posted May 27 Share Posted May 27 could you show us some uploaded photos I would love to see what you've found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
