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 Replies: 39 / Views: 3,071 |
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Valued Member
United States
95 Posts |
Vaq ... I'm a woodwind afficionado, and if he had any interesting wind instruments in his collection I would love to have a look. I played oboe and clarinet for most of my childhood, and became interested in Bagpipe in my early college years. Since then, I've been collecting and playing wind instruments. I'd especially be interested in whistles, recorders, flutes, fifes, or any type of bagpipe. Sorry this is off-topic! Good luck with your coins.
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Valued Member
United States
138 Posts |
One more thing that's VERY IMPORTANT. Don't clean anything. Don't do ANYTHING WHATSOEVER to try and preserve or enhance the coins.
If you try to determine value that's fine but I'd reccomend you leave the coins in the books and holders for now, just as they are.
It's my sincere hope that as you begin learn about these coins that you'll become a collector yourself and decide to keep the collection and add to it, rather than dispose of it.
Keep posting here, there's tons of help on these boards.
Nick
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Valued Member
United States
382 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
138 Posts |
Yeah we're matchies, eh? I'll change it when I get a min, didn't mean to copy ya.
BTW I really liked the point you made about how collectors should document and catalog everything to make it easier on the heirs, as well as preserve the value and keep it in the family rather than letting some shyster steal it.
Nick
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
Uh Oh!!!!!!! I heard Morgans!!!!!!!!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2365 Posts |
Welcome Vaq! I too understand your dilemna! I inherited my Mothers collection also. She and I collected together and separately for many years so perhaps I had a little insight that you may not have. I totally agree with "Dianes" comments above. It sounds like your Father loved to collect things and has left you with a wonderful legacy. Personally, I would just enjoy what he valued and left for you to enjoy. It may take you years to go through his collections but, what a beautiful experience for you. There is much to learn and this forum will definitely help in many ways. Most of all - enjoy and have fun! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
751 Posts |
Just to sound in:
Bryan and Nick gave excellent advice: get appraisals from dealers (don't be afraid to pay for the service), making it clear that the collection is not for sale (although the author of the Coin Collector's Survival Guide, when he gives this advice, notes that ultimately EVERYTHING is for sale).
Diane, what a beautiful and personal sentiment.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
I also agree that if you were interested in coin collecting that it would be a great way to remember your father and add to and catalog his life's work. But if your interests are different as you have stated I agree that it could be a great way to pass the torch per se' to other collectors that are looking for some of the very coins he has collected and took out of the market for some time, and give you funds to persue your own interests. You just have to see that you are talking to coin collectors on this board and we would love to see someone in your place join the ranks with us as another collector but with that being said if you arent interested in coins then there is no need to keep the collection unless you are just hoping that one of your own children may want to collect someday and when he looks back at the coins his grandfather left him he will remember the times he spent with him. It can be very overwhelming to aquire a large collection, I myself have aquired just half of my grandfathers collection of many years and even though I am a collector I still find it overwhelming because he didnt seem to have any focus at all, he just collected everything. The only difference is my grandfather is still with us and he just decided to give me half of his collection, if something had happened to him and I had aquired the whole thing and if I hadn't been interested in coins I dont know what the outcome would be. Just take your time with the collection and dont be in any hurry to sell it off, some large collections like the one you have aquired takes years to finally sell off all the peices when done right and unless you are just strapped for cash I think that is the best way to do it because it gives you not only time to reflect the thought process your father put into the collection it also gives you time to study and be sure that the person buying certain things arent trying to take advantage of you because you admint you know nothing about the collection
Edited by Bryan1315
07/05/2006 2:28 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
You have been given some great advice - the best is that YOU need to learn for yourself about the coins that you have. There are a lot of fellows here who will gladly help at no charge. I do that all the time. Start simple - country, denomination, age. Get cheap reference books first ( Overstock book stores are best - or used bookstores) a book a couple years old is good enough for starters. Don't spend big money until you know what you have. Your father should have had some books - start there. You can in a few minutes find out how many LIKELY candidates you have. If you have 10,000 wheat back US cents from the 1940s that is a far cry from 1,000 Large cents or even Indian Head cents. If you have some real value - then decide where to go. There are fellows who do attribution and evaluation. Most are found by word of mouth. I do that myself and have attributed 12 collections this year. You were advised that you DON'T sell to an authenticator/evaluator. That is a cardinal rule - which is why I sometimes refuse to evaluate a collection for a fee. Some collections - I want to bid on myself. You will meet a lot of honest people who will give you accurate information and will help at no cost - but you will also run into a few thieves. Some dealers will fall into each category so DON'T BE IN A HURRY. Your father's collection should not be thrown away and selling it short is doing just that. My specialty is foreign (Spanish Colonial and Mexican) counterfeits. So if you have any coins that you suspect might not be real I can usually help or if you have any world coin I can try. Let us (me) know what you need and I know someone will help. Perhaps your father left his collection unattributed in the hopes that you or some other family member might get the "coin bug" by hunting through the collection and learning a bit about it. You never know. I hope you give coin collecting a shot - it is a worthwhile pursuit. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
you said he had a full book of Morgans, I have to tell you morgans are the most collected of US coins so the market for them is hot, especially high grade coins. then you have the just plain hard to find coins in any condition the 1879-CC comes to mind which can be worth thousands and thousands of dollars just for that one coin so do not be in a hurry and please post some pictures of the morgans (alot of others here collect morgans) and we can definately help you with attribution and prices for this series. There are many many varities of the morgan series so chances are you have a few good ones in there even if they arent in high grades. I am excited to see what your father had because the coin market at this time is RED Hot and to see something like this coming to market again after being in someones collection for a long time is always exciting (for me anyway) so if at all possible just snap a few pictures of the Morgans and I will do my best to help you with the attribution and price range and others here that collect morgans are pretty good at grading from pictures as well so that will be a good starting point for that set anyway |
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Valued Member
United States
439 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by tradernick
First, my advice would be for you to not spend one minute trying to categorize or document this collection. There's just too much to know and it would literally take you years to learn enough about coins to do it properly. Over and over again I've seen people come into my shop with a large collection that they've spent months working on, only to have me examine the collection and give them a figure within 20-30 minutes. It happens all the time.
Take the collection to several area dealers. Tell them all the same thing. Tell them that at this time the collection is NOT FOR SALE but you need a value for estate purposes. Tell then you want a real life value...what you could really expect to get for it, not an inflated retail value. Most likely they will charge you & that's ok, they're providing a service. If you have to pay be sure to get a WRITTEN estimate. Ask them that in the future, if you sell them the collection would they refund your money for the written estimate.
(I do that all the time at my shop)
Use as many dealers as you're comfortable with but I'd reccomend at least 3. Be sure to tell them all the same thing. Don't let anyone talk you into selling anything...not even one coin...until you get at least 3 estimates from dealers....COIN DEALERS, with real coin shops. Don't trust your neighbors friend or your coworkers cousin, but if they seem sincere you can certainly add their written estimate to the list.
Best advice you'll get right there Cody. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1091 Posts |
Of course you could package all the coins into a dry sealed box and store them away for a few more years. The coins will increase in value over time. By then you might decide to look thru them yourself or leave to the next generation as a treasure trove. Definitely get a " RedBook" and have a look at the history and value of a few of the interesting looking coins. A coin can vary in value from $20 to $20,000 depending on condition. After you look up ten or twenty of them you'll be surprised at the enjoyment you'll get doing this type of "Treasure Hunt". It's a lot of fun. If you don't have time to do that now, then just store them away for another day. For collectors it's heartbreaking to hear of a set being sold for $250 or $2,500 if it's true value is $250,000. Edited by toast
07/05/2006 10:47 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1327 Posts |
from your last post I would say get with Metalman see what he has to say. The way your last post sounded your dad might have been a serious collector so he might have alot of coins of value so you what to be careful. the collection of morgan might be worth alot of money depending on there grade and if he has a whole book of them it showed he was more then a collector who just got coin out of circulation. I would say after you meet with metalman you should meet with a few other dealer and deside what is the best way for you to get ried of it if you chose to. or like others have said if you are not in need of the money or have to sell it right away those morgan might be worth double what they today in 3-5 years since collecting coins in the US is at a all time high and morgan are only going keep climbing. But good luck in what ever way you go in getting reid of it.
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Valued Member
United States
228 Posts |
I would love to find out how big the collection really is. It would be a blast to look through I bet......
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Pillar of the Community
United States
756 Posts |
Or just do what I did with my inherited collection.....Keep it! I could never ever ever think for a second about selling a single gold, silver, or any coin in my collection. Years and years have been passed to me, from one generation to the next. I fully plan to collect and pass it on to my kids (if I ever have one). |
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Posted 07/05/2006 08:02 am
