Newbie question

[Carnage]

As you can see by my Avatar I'm here for comic book collecting, but I was given a decent size coin collection by my grandfather some years ago. While I'm sure most of the collection does not have much of value, I'm just wondering how I should get the collection appraised?

How much money does it cost?

Do I need to sit in on the appraisal so I'm sure the guy isn't palming coins?

 

Any help w/ any of these questions would be appreciated. I'm completely lost w/ this stuff....

 

Best regards,

Matt

[Architecht]

Bumping this for the author, who had placed it in the wrong forum at first. Moved to U.S. Coins.

[Architecht]

BTW, seems like a good WYNK post? What you need to know about inheriting coins?

[WaxonWaxov]

First of all, I would just say that these coins have two different kinds of value...

 

1) Their fair market price. The amount of money a collector would be willing to give you for them.

 

2) The value that they have to you personally seeing how they came from Grandpa.

 

So the question for each coin is: Does value #1 out-weigh value #2?

 

There comes a point where the heirloom value is exceeded when selling the coin means being able to put you kid through college or something like that.

 

First of all, I would suggest you start by sorting the coins by date and denomination. This should be fairly easy... all you got to do is read.

 

Then go to a coin shop and ask for "The 2007 Red Book" This spiral-bound book lists pretty much every US coin ever made.

 

It also lists how to find mint marks on various coins. Assuming you're a total newbie here: Look a few of the pennies you have in your pocket right now.. see that "D" below the date on some of them? That indicates the coin ws minted in Denver, as opposed the pennies with no mint mark, which indicates Philadelphia. Other mint marks you might find ae P,S,CC,W, O

 

Anyhow, by looking up the coins in the Red Book you should be able to find which ones are more scarce than others. For example, a 1950-D Nickel is much more scarce than the 1949-D Nickel.

 

The Red Book lists values, BUT they are based on condition. As a comic book guy I'm sure you understand that. This is where it gets dicey... some books exist that tell you how to begin to determine a grade, but it takes practice.

 

Once you've done this, you shoudl have a good understanding of what you have.

 

Eventually, you'll have the "pick of the litter" coins in front of you. At that point, you might consider sending them to NGC for certification and encapsulation.

 

Just be caerful who you allow to mess with your coins. As you said, "palming" can be a problem.

 

hope this helps

[Carnage]

Thank you to both Arch and Waxon w/ the help w/ this. It is much appreciated.

 

As for the collection itself, I plan on selling the majority of it, save for a few choice pieces for sentimental value.

 

Organizing the collection alone will take some time, as most of the collection is loose and disorganized.

 

Again, thank you for the help with this.

 

Best regards,

Matt

[WaxonWaxov]

Also,

 

I you know, condition means a lot.

 

So when you're handling the coins, try not to jack them up: don't bang them together, don't let the oils from your fingers get on them, etc.

 

and most important: do NOT for ANY REASON try to CLEAN any of your coins... you can very easily RUIN them.

[Bruceswar]

If you can tell us what area of the country you are, we will be able to recommend a dealer who can appraise the coins for you. Touch the coins only on the sides. Do not clean them. I am sure you know this. Get a Red Book, and take your time with the coins. You will get more money that way.

[Carnage]

I live a little east of Pittsburgh, and I'm willing to travel a bit for someone good for this.

[EZ_E]

Excellent advice has been given so far. Sort your coins, as suggested, and look them up in the red book according to their respective date and mint mark. Even if you can't grade, at least this will give you a ball park figure of the coin's approximate worth. Keep in mind that just because a coin is old doesn't mean that it is necessarily worth much.

 

Another reason for this approach is that it will aid you when it comes time to sell.

 

I will never forget a story relayed by a NGC board member 3 or 4 years ago. He stated that he was in a coin shop when an individual came in desiring to sell a small hoard of Indian Head Cents. The dealer said that they were all common dates with little value and made him an offer. The guy took it. Once the seller left then the dealer was bragging how he ripped the 1877 key date among others. Point is that many dealers are unethical and depend upon the unknowledgeable to turn a profit whether by sales or purchases.

 

Not all are like this nor should all dealers be considered shady. Many, especially those aquainted with the NGC boards, are highly ethical, stand up guys. But why take an unnecessary chance by not arming yourself with knowledge?

 

Then, when you sort any potential coins of value, concentrate on learning the basics of grading. However, I would imagine that as a comic book collector your instincts should be honed fairly sharp in this area as it is.

 

If any coins are determines to be of value and are unabused (i.e. not cleaned, polished, holed, bent or damaged in any other way) then it would be wise to have them certified through NGC vs PCGS since they are just as professional with a much shorter turn around time.

 

Then, after having it professionally certified, consider auctioning it on ebay. This will give potential bidders much more confidence on what they are actually bidding. This translates to much stronger money than an identical coin that is uncertified and raw (ungraded).

 

Buenas suerte and keep us informed of how you are doing.

[Carnage]

Excellent advice has been given so far. Sort your coins, as suggested, and look them up in the red book according to their respective date and mint mark. Even if you can't grade, at least this will give you a ball park figure of the coin's approximate worth. Keep in mind that just because a coin is old doesn't mean that it is necessarily worth much.

 

Another reason for this approach is that it will aid you when it comes time to sell.

 

I will never forget a story relayed by a NGC board member 3 or 4 years ago. He stated that he was in a coin shop when an individual came in desiring to sell a small hoard of Indian Head Cents. The dealer said that they were all common dates with little value and made him an offer. The guy took it. Once the seller left then the dealer was bragging how he ripped the 1877 key date among others. Point is that many dealers are unethical and depend upon the unknowledgeable to turn a profit whether by sales or purchases.

 

Not all are like this nor should all dealers be considered shady. Many, especially those aquainted with the NGC boards, are highly ethical, stand up guys. But why take an unnecessary chance by not arming yourself with knowledge?

 

Then, when you sort any potential coins of value, concentrate on learning the basics of grading. However, I would imagine that as a comic book collector your instincts should be honed fairly sharp in this area as it is.

 

If any coins are determines to be of value and are unabused (i.e. not cleaned, polished, holed, bent or damaged in any other way) then it would be wise to have them certified through NGC vs PCGS since they are just as professional with a much shorter turn around time.

 

Then, after having it professionally certified, consider auctioning it on ebay. This will give potential bidders much more confidence on what they are actually bidding. This translates to much stronger money than an identical coin that is uncertified and raw (ungraded).

 

Buenas suerte and keep us informed of how you are doing.

 

 

Will do This weekend, my wife and I are going to try to go through and at least organize the collection. Thanks for the help

[kranky]

I live near Pittsburgh and will help you evaluate what you have.

[IGWT]

I live near Pittsburgh and will help you evaluate what you have.

 

That's nice of you, Kranky.

[Carnage]

I live near Pittsburgh and will help you evaluate what you have.

 

That's nice of you, Kranky.

 

cool, that is nice of you. Many thanks. I'll organize the collection this weekend....I've got your username I'll PM you

[Carnage]

Just a quick update. I categorized all of the US coins by year. The majority of the US coins are pennies. It was a pretty varied lots w/ some going as far back as the mid-1800's. My guess is though, that condition is going to be the main problem w/ a lot of these as most of the pennies are showing considerable wear IMO. However, I am an untrained eye so I can't say for sure....Most of the coins were stored "loose"

 

Also, I'd say more than half of the collection is foreign coins. He had a lot of Canadian pennies as well that I will have to organize as well as from a ton of other countries that I will organize at a later time. I'm going to deal w/ all the US coins first.

 

As far as sentimental value, I am putting aside some commemorative US battleship coins since my grandfather was in the navy.

 

Best regards,

Matt

[kranky]

I won't be able to help with the foreign stuff but I think I have a copy somewhere with Canadian coin prices. It'll be outdated but it would at least identify any real keys or semikeys.