Please Help Me With My Inheritance

You will do yourself a great disservice if you fail to check your hoard for dates. Many early Canada silver coins have collector value much greater than their bullion value. It's possible that this large pile of coins is 100% "junk" silver with no extra value, but do you want to take that chance?

As a starting point, you could at least sort the coins by portrait: Elizabeth in one pile, George VI in another, George V in pile #3, Edward VII in #4, and Victoria in #5. Then work your way from oldest to newest and check dates using that Charlton book as Dollar recommended to identify any potential "keepers".

Just a suggestion....

Some good advice has been given here. Buy a book and do a little study.
Other advice (if taken) will cost you A LOT OF MONEY. 7 Times face value is ONE THIRD of what it should be.
Please buy a charleton's. Do a little research yourself. Then feel comfortable with the decision you make. Not all info offered on chat boards is correct.

This information comes from a guy who I really respect when it comes to all things Canadian coins.

"1920-67 silver .800 coinage has .6 oz of silver per dollar face. If you multiply .6 times the current scrap price, you will get the full value of the silver. Most buyers will give you 88-90% of scrap at any coin show, so $40 silver gives you $24 full value X90% =$21.60."

He also points out, and I agree with the many people here who have pointed it out, that's a minimum target you should shoot for.

.715 ounces per dollar is US, Canadian are lower purity and weight. $ Canadian is .6 oz, exactly.

WWF buckle

great advice everyone thank you very much

to answer come questions and give some comments....

I am in the Edmonton area

pics lol sure I'll work on some tonight (have to read the rules again to make sure a newbie can post pics lol) its mostly silver dollars and half dollars and mostly in rolls currently as for years I would have to look more but the bulk of it is 40's to 60's some coins older some newer. There was some early pre 1920's coins but they are too worn to be worth much

I do have a 2009 Charlton book but reading it confused me more somewhat, I do have a friend who is a amateur collector and even he said he was in way over his head on this

I am not in a hurry to sell the coins but I am about to get married and buy a house so we have been wondering if selling the coins would help with the debt. I have considered becoming a collector, even considered burying it in a closet for my kids to deal with lol, but I am trying to find out how much of a difference this would make on our down payment for the house

as for picking rare coins out I agree I should sort and organize it by year and have someone who knows what they are doing help me with that... I tried once with one of the years that was big in the group but either I did not have any or I have no idea what I'm doing probably both lol

I think you guys have convinced me to at least organize things better and learn more about what it really is that I have... I had someone offer me 10k for it but I think accepting that knowing as little as I do now would be a very bad idea

Thank you everyone who gave me advice, now where is that camera lol

Lets hope you find a 1948 in those silver dollars!

The advice given earlier, sorting by the portrait (kings and queens) is an excellent start:

- generally, anything circulated with Elizabeth II is most likely to be sold for silver content. There really is not much of a premium on varieties for that series.
- for George VI coins (King without a crown), there are some dates that have considerable premiums. Also, if you find coins with lots of details preserved (hairlines in the King's portrait), they also could have a premium.
- for coins that predate the modern designs (e.g., older than the Caribou, Bluenose, or Coat of Arms), you might want to find someone to help you sort those, preferably someone who can also grade. If they are worn down to the point where you can no longer read a date, then it has no premium over silver.

I used to live in the Edmonton area, there is a good collecting community there who could help. Perhaps attend one of the Edmonton Numismatic Society meetings and talk to people (Google the name for information on when the club meets). As mentioned earlier, collectors love hoards, and love to search through them - even when those hoards are not theirs! No collector I know would ever charge you for their time to search such a hoard - that is like asking someone to pay you to ride a roller coaster! Some collectors may even offer to buy some pieces, and will usually pay more than a dealer will offer. Even the monthly coin club meeting in Edmonton has little auctions that allows you to sell your pieces to other collectors.

Ultimately, it depends on how much time you are willing to put into this. If you want it liquidated immediately, that is easily done (as you know), but you may lose out on true value of the collection. The more time you put into doing the legwork and searching, the better the outcome for your pocket!