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 Replies: 16 / Views: 3,062 |
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Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
I've read articles in coin magazines that say a source of finding coins is at yard/garage sales. I've also seen posts here that mentioned yard sales. Has anyone actually found coins at a yard or garage sale? If you did get something was it of any value or was it just junk? I thought about trying a couple yard sales when the weather warms up, but it's got to be a real time consuming source. I've never seen anyone advertise coins. They always list things like baby clothes, toys, etc. OK, someone tell me their great story about finding a 1916 D Mercury dime in a cigar box at a garage sale on a rainy Saturday morning  |
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Moderator
 United States
6563 Posts |
Well it wasn't raining.........  I've gone to dozens of garage sales and so far have never seen any coins or notes. If there ever are any I'm pretty sure the seller would sell them as a lot and not individually. They want to sell everything at once. If I do find a 16D you'll be the first to know.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4867 Posts |
I have seen yard sales with sports cards and comics, but I haven't come across any coins yet.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2177 Posts |
I've never had the luck of finding any coins at yard/ garage sales either.  Yet. I'm always hoping.  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1262 Posts |
Sometimes coins are not displayed with the general goods....I find that if you ask, then maybe they will remember that they have some coins and notes putaway.
No harm in asking!
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Moderator
United States
6563 Posts |
Never really thought about just asking.  I'm pretty sure a large majority of the people in the US have some sort of stash they don't care about and don't know what they have. I'll just give em 20 bucks for it.  |
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Valued Member
United States
159 Posts |
I've found a few coins at yard sales here and there. The best deal I ever found was a "colorized" 2001 ASE for $5. |
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Valued Member
United States
112 Posts |
I have tried also, but no luck. Just the usual baby clothes and toys. A friend of mine does garage sales every Thursday/Friday/Sat and I asked him to be on the look out for coins, he said he will but he has seen very few. The ones he has seen are priced by book value...
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Valued Member
United States
470 Posts |
The thing about coins and yard sales is that they go first. My father in law is a pro fleamarketer. He travels the country looking for finds to sell in his booth. I've gone with him a few times. What you have to do is plan out your yardsales ahead of time and get there real early when they first open. Coins are the first thing to go. If you go in the afternoon, you are way to late. Any coins were long gone before lunch. You can't be casual when looking for coins or you will never find them. I had never seen any at a garage sale before either ..but now that I know the secret, I find tons. More than I can handle and some really great stuff also. Stuff I couldn't afford at the local rip off joint, I mean, coin dealer...hahahah.
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Valued Member
United States
470 Posts |
in terms of finds ..mostly silver for way less than spot. I once got a babyfood jar full of indian head pennies, a small change purse with mercs and a couple walkers, an old tobacco tin with War Nickels and a couple SLQs. The best was totally by accident. I got this magic box, the kind that you move a piece of wood and it opens. They couldn't open it and I couldn't either for about a month but rattled. I finally got it open and there were 5 CC Morgans in it. Pretty circulated but gosh darn it ..not bad for $5.00. I don't remember the dates. There are in the safe, I think. I haven't seen them in about 4 years. Edited by Andrew289
04/18/2007 09:24 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
Funny that this should come up, I had a yard sale a couple of weeks ago & advertised that I had coins for sale. Not only did I not sell any, I didn't even get an offer on any of them. My asking prices were as follows: wheat pennies....$1/roll Morgan dollars...$13(XF-AU) Peace dollars...$12(F-XF) 1964 Kennedys...$4 (AU/BU) Maybe my prices were way out of line, but I thought someone would at least have made an offer, they did on everything else I was selling. The local "Antique Mall" has several dealers that sell silver dollars in the same condition at $20 each, I know some of those dealers showed up at the sale. I guess the profit margin wasn't there for them. |
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Valued Member
United States
179 Posts |
A couple of years ago, way before I got into collecting, my next door neighbor passed away and the family held a garage sale to get rid of stuff.
They were using two one-gallon jars of coins he'd saved to make change with. By the time they got halfway through the first jar they'd hit the silver level. I was sitting there talking to them when someone realized it and offered to buy the jars. They turned him down because then they wouldn't have any change...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
882 Posts |
Well I would of gone down to the bank on the a-sap and got them some change. If the bank was close, I would break in and rob it!
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Valued Member
 United States
70 Posts |
Wow, some great stories so far. Half of you sound like garage sales are a waste, but the other half of you sound like there are "hidden" treasures to find I guess I'll give it a try. I love the thrill of the hunt. The tellers at the bank are probably getting tired of seeing me come in and trade my rolls in for new ones every weekend anyhow  I'll give them a break and go garage sale hunting for a weekend or two. |
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Valued Member
United States
173 Posts |
If I can drag my old feeble body out of bed early enough on Saturday morning, I go to every Yard Sale I can. Now be careful, there are people that have a Yard/Garage Sale every Sat.,and the items really never change. Look for the NEW Sales.
1. Get there EARLY.
2. BE POLITE and don't be PUSHY
3. ASK if there are COINS. Over the years I have found that if they don't have them out on a table, they MAY, all of a sudden, remember that old jar in the kitchen cabinet, or the really old Whitman Folder they had as Kid.
4. Did I say "BE POLITE"?
5. Should they have something that isn't priced or they do find that jar in the kitchen cabinet, DON"T TRY TO STEAL IT. Offer them a fair price. If you can't come up with a fair price "on the spot", offer to come back later at a convenient time. Believe this if you want to...this has happened to me 3 times, when I went back they had found LOTS more coins. Coins that their Father of Grand Father had, I even had 1 of those go back to's that had GOLD, nothing special, really beat up but GOLD anyway.
6. Remember BE POLITE.
7. Treat people the way you want them to treat you.
8. AND, the number 1 suggestion that may help you is "BE POLITE"
YES, there are coins to be found at YARD/GARAGE SALES, just keep looking and be patient.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
819 Posts |
I was at a yard sale last year, a lady bought a purse for 50 cents and as she was waling away found a Peace dollar (don't know year) in a side compartment. Since then I always check out purses and such but no luck for me yet. |
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Replies: 16 / Views: 3,062 |
Posted 04/17/2007 10:02 pm
