A couple of notes: I checked with Para before posting this and he okayed it. I do not have any coins in my possession and they will not be sold here. I don’t even know exactly what coins are in the collection.

Now to the topic: my parents have a widowed friend who has a large number of coins she is wanting to sell. There is a mixture of coins bought for their gold/silver value but also some older collectors-type coins. The number of coins is roughly 1000. The only thing I know about coins is that one slight variation could really impact the value of one.

Any advice on where I can direct her for help with this? We have one coin dealer locally and I don’t know if they can be trusted. I’m trying to help her out so she doesn’t get taken advantage of.

Thanks in advance.

I've had to deal with a similar situation. What I did is I went to several reputable coin dealers, pawn shops and let them make their offers for purchase. I did it in smaller batches as it can be very overwhelming. I made note of the more valuable coins to do additional research. If you have anything of great value, someone with integrity along the way ought to point it out.


I'm convinced that coin collecting is more of a hobby than an investment. I found that to get anywhere near the current value of the coin there's a lot of effort and waiting to find the right buyer. There's no shortage of bargain buyers who will offer 50-70% of what it's worth or the auction houses/dealers who take 10-30% off a lower valuation. On the lower value stuff it's probably worth it to take the hit and move on with your life. I'm leaning towards it as time goes on.

Junk silver is easy to price , you can look at what it is selling for at online retailers
Pawn shops will likely offer you 50% or so , don’t do that
A good local coin shop will likely offer you 60-80% of the value, likely still under melt value
I usually pay about 100% melt or a little higher when I buy it local , if you can find a local buyer keeping it for themselves this is the best deal

Gold is high now , so even US coins bring a small premium over spot , maybe $75-100 an ounce more

Older US coins and anything graded in slabs should be researched online

Morgan and Peace dollars should be searched for key dates and mint marks

This can be a lot of work for a large collection , but of you said 1000 or so coins it’s not that bad

If you get some pics or a list I’d be glad to help

Where in KY are you ?
I’m across the river in WV and know a lot of people in the gold/silver business

Bulk gold and silver- David Troung. Mimis Jewelry will send her a shipping label.

I'd ask David for a collectable coin dealer recommendation.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935/m/2630099194

This message has been edited. Last edited by: braillediver, February 09, 2024 08:52 PM

Please email me. I tried to see your email and could not find it in your profile

quote:

Originally posted by cooger:
A couple of notes: I checked with Para before posting this and he okayed it. I do not have any coins in my possession and they will not be sold here. I don’t even know exactly what coins are in the collection.

Now to the topic: my parents have a widowed friend who has a large number of coins she is wanting to sell. There is a mixture of coins bought for their gold/silver value but also some older collectors-type coins. The number of coins is roughly 1000. The only thing I know about coins is that one slight variation could really impact the value of one.

Any advice on where I can direct her for help with this? We have one coin dealer locally and I don’t know if they can be trusted. I’m trying to help her out so she doesn’t get taken advantage of.

Thanks in advance.

Please Email me I am partner in a coin shop and I have purchased and given fair market value on many estates and collections. In this situation the hardest thing would be to determine condition from pictures and raw coins but we can establish a baseline for the collection. I always give a fair market value to purchase so the family or owners can determine if they would like to separate estate evenly.

quote:

Originally posted by ElKabong:
Where in KY are you ?
I’m across the river in WV and know a lot of people in the gold/silver business

I’m near central KY, about 3 hours from the WV border.

We have a local coin shop in St. Louis that will put collectible coins in a regional auction. There is a beautiful auction booklet and also online website to peruse the auction.

Perhaps you have a similar option in your area?

My suggestion, is to look here for valuations. https://www.ngccoin.com/

This website lists the current, more or less, dealer retail selling prices. It has both US and World coins sub pages. You can search by coin type and date; just a little tricky for newbies in using, especially if foreign coin.

Grading is very subjective, and unless the coin is in truly Uncirculated (UNC) condition, just as if it came directly from the Mint, anything that is circulated (showing visible wear), will be no better than Very Fine (VF) to Extremely Fine (XF). Dealer offer-to-buy price will be around 30% below the listed selling price.

Only gold and silver (minted before mid-1960s) will be of interest to dealers.

Common post-WW2 circulated coins are mostly minted in CuproNickel (CuNi), and won’t command much interest, but could be given to youngsters in order to get them bit by the Coin Bug for educational purposes.

There is a youtube channel called coinhelpu, I think they also have a website with a forum where you can get help with valuations.

Love it or hate it, eBay is the price setter for coins nowadays. If you wanted to get the maximum return you could list them individually from an established account, but that would be a gargantuan time-suck. Unless dealing with finicky buyers and answering tons of emails is something you would love, the idea of soliciting bids of the whole collection or smaller lots from some of the coin folks who have already chimed in would probably be your best bet.