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Replies: 13 / Views: 791 |
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New Member
United States
18 Posts |
First, I'm very new to the " Coin World" and looking for some advice on whether to have some coins graded or not. I inherited some coins recently and decided to start going through some of them. I have approx. 30 quarters that I'll call " State Quarters" (they're from 1999-2016 and have a different design for each state). When looking at eBay, some sell for a few hundred, but then when looking at the PCGS app, the only pricing they show are for coins in MS (mint state), PR (proof) and SP (specimen) state. My gut tells me these probably aren't worth much since they're all loose. They look good, but they were just tossed in a bag. I know the lowest fee on the PCGS website is $17 for what they call MODERN VALUE (1965 to date). So I'd want to be pretty confident I can get at least $30 (if not more) to make it worth my time to send any of these in for grading. Can anyone provide a little guidance on what I should do here? Is it most likely these coins are worth they're face value and I should just spend them (probably on lottery tickets lol)? Thanks, Andy
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Pillar of the Community

United States
620 Posts |
 to the Forum, Andy! You've pretty much answered your own question. Unless you have a special one (i.e. error or some such), it is not cost-effective to send State Quarters plucked from circulation off to a TPG.
Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Bedrock of the Community

Canada
17393 Posts |
It sounds like they have been circulated in which case they are only worth 25 cents each. Those that you see being sold for a few hundred dollars would be a high grade.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10632 Posts |
Agree with the assessments above.
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Bedrock of the Community

United States
75091 Posts |
 to the CCF!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2345 Posts |
if those State Quarters been bouncing around loose in a bag it's likely they've picked up marks that will lower their grade far enough to not be worth TPG, but you might isolate the best of each design to keep in a coin tube hold them by their edges only so you don't leave fingerprints on the surfaces
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New Member
United States
18 Posts |
Sounds like the general consensus is that getting these graded would be tossing money away. Guess I'll just use them to buy some lottery tickets from time to time then lol
Thanks for all the feedback.
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Bedrock of the Community

United States
13952 Posts |
 Quote:I know the lowest fee on the PCGS website is $17 Well the minimum cost at PCGS may be $17.00 to have graded, you also need to account for TAX applied, registered mail shipping to their site, and the return shipping back to you, plus the cost of packaging. Generally, the total cost will end up at about $50.00 or more for a single coin. and the 'business strike' of the State Quarters will not amount to much above face value. So, no, not worth the cost to grade all of them. Better choice is to get a nice album (Like a Dansco album and fill it up) once fully filled with the coins, you may be able to sell them off at a small profit.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
718 Posts |
 Short Answer: Dont grade modern coins until you know what your doing. Better to play lotto :) You could just look up the quarters on the app or the website https://www.PCGS.com/prices and see what the potential value is for a coin if it graded a certain grade and placed into a graded holder, then compare that value as you stated to the total fees which include also shipping both ways as well as a yearly fee for membership to be able to grade. So generally with modern coins you may notice its only the very top grades that may have enough value (and the coin is uncirculated such as from a sealed roll or bag or mint set) while the other grades are of low value below grading costs, so modern coins can indeed be more like gambling since few will come back in those high grades even if they are uncirculated. Also you can check the census which is how many were graded at a particular grade, in some cases there are 1 or only a few graded at the high priced top grade so that just means its less chance to hit that grade if that is the case. Note that NGC has a lower membership fee while retaining most of the resale value so that is typically a good option when starting out until someone grades regularly with some higher value coins, while Anacs has no membership fee so its a good option for a few coins that dont have high value but with higher value coins they tend to sell for lower prices than NGC or PCGS. Of course if you were looking up coins in general and there are many grades it shows that it may come back as that are above the cost of grading then it can be more worthwhile to do so but this is not typical for modern coins in general. PS - Proof and Sp (think special finish like a satin finish) coins are found in specially released sets usually and will not be typically found in circulation unless someone happened to have opened a set and dumped it.
Edited by datadragon 12/03/2022 6:46 pm
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Pillar of the Community

United States
9199 Posts |
 to the CCF Andy - you nailed the answers to your own question, reinforced by the members comments above. 
Take a look at my other hobby ... http://www.jk-dk.artToo many hobbies .... too much work .... not enough time.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1351 Posts |
 Your inner thoughts seem about right, as you've listed no images to go by, that sending them off would be counter productive after the service and listing/auction fees when selling them. Since they were inherited perhaps an album for them as a remembrance type collection? Just my thoughts.
ANA member - PAN Member - BCCS Member There are no problems only solutions - the late, great John Lennon
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Moderator

United States
120678 Posts |
 to the Community!
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New Member
United States
39 Posts |
In my opinion only two. The Wisconsin high and low leaf Die Varieties.
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New Member
United States
32 Posts |
I recently received a clad proof 2008 Oklahoma quarter (!) in change. I'm tempted to submit it for its grade, AU-58 DCAM, and then put it on eBay as a Pop. 1 coin. (JK)
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Replies: 13 / Views: 791 |
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