What Do I Do Now?

So you're saying they are pennies? Well US pennies are not silver. The ones you say you have are a mix of wheat cents and Lincoln cents. Please take photo's of them and upload them on your next reply. This way we can help you with some stuff. For the wheat cents, take them out and put them inside a bag not mixed with other cents. Wheat cents were made from: 1909 to 1958. A bag of 500 wheat cents sells for around $20.00 dollars. But a dealer might give like $13.50

I've read and reread your posting. There are a lot of people in your position, and quite possibly some of our descendants will be in a position that you are now. The way that I see it you have basically few choices. You are unknowledgable about the subject matter so you have to either do some learning or just wrap up the coins and deposit them in your bank account for some other person to go through and profit at your expense.

The only one who knows what you have is you and you need to determine what you have. In reality 50 to 100k in coins is not an awful lot of coins to someone who just searches for either dates or copper.

If it were my situation I'd first seperate the coins down by decade and then by mintmark. Purchase a book that describes what constitutes a coin grade plus gives some idea as to what value is. If you want to look at pictures of graded penny coins there are sites out there that will accomodate you. However, you will have to do your own research or due diligence. For after all without knowledge you are at the mercy of others and will not do well.

Once I have made a cut I would then seperate the coins down by appeal. After all an appealing coin in the end is going to be worth more than an unappealing one.

One thing that you need to keep in mind is that not all old coins are worth a lot of money simply because they are old. That is where your own research will pay off. Is it time consuming, You bet you life it is. Coin collecting and coin grading is not a one answer for all situation.

For the record, I personally have 20x the penny count that you have and did what I've suggested that you do. I'm not an expert, but my descendants will have a much easier time than you will have, because I have prepared the ground for them.

I wish you luck in your endeavor and would hope that you do come back and visit us from time to time to relate both your experiences and finds. There are some pennies that are worth big money and a lot that are not, research will tell you the difference. None of us can do it for you. If you don't want to do the work then I would suggest that you just roll them up and deposit them in you bank account so perhaps that I will have an opportunity to go through them.

By the way, I am not posting this to be mean spirited but do sincerely hope that you do take the time to learn what you have.

Good luck and drop in again.