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 Replies: 40 / Views: 5,471 |
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New Member
United States
10 Posts |
Hello. This is my first post. I have carefully read the rules and am not offering anything for sale. I'm a member of a duck hunters forum and the newbies are truly maddening. I want to do all I can to minimize that here.  My father and his father have been longtime collectors of coins. My granddad died in 1998. My dad has Alzheimer's and we have decided to unload his coins. The advice I seek (beyond finding a trusted Numismatist) is how you would go about categorizing the value of these coins? For example, there is a Lincoln Wheat penny collection and one of them is apparently valuable (1909 S-VDB). Beyond this, there are Roosevelt dimes, Half Dollars, Nickels, some silver. Also a bunch of Roman Coins. What would you do if you were me, completely dumb, not wanting to get taken advantage of, and simply wanting to capture the fair value of this collection so I can give the money to my Mother? Here is a pic of some of the collection. Thanks in advance. I'm Todd from Dallas TX.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8137 Posts |
To turly know what the value of your stuff is, I need to get a closer look.
Also Welcome to CCF!
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New Member
 United States
10 Posts |
This is one of those situations that should probably be on a TV show.
My dad's trunk full of coins has been in the garage for a year.
I just did a simple lookup on Google of his half dollars. One of them is a 1919-D Walking liberty worth $18,000.
I have basically just freaked out looking at all this and looking online.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1211 Posts |
1919-D half worth $18,000? According to what?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8137 Posts |
sry to burst your bubble, but there is nothing rare about this date
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
 to CCF Just reading your post on the 1919 D half dollar. How did you determine the grade? The RedBook, which is high retail, list the price from a grade of Good is $26 to a grade of MS 63 at $18,000 So as you can see a lot depends on the Grade and condition of the coin. For us to help you, we would need a good list of the coins you have and good pictures of the better coins. Edit ... Just so you know all three 1919 half dollars are better date coins, when they are in the higher grades. They take off around VF grade. Edited by GR58
11/01/2013 1:48 pm
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New Member
United States
10 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1745 Posts |
Edited by The_Duke
11/01/2013 1:49 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1745 Posts |
I guess it depends how badly or quick you need the money. I wouldn't take to dealer yet. But first catalouge what you have and spend a little time learning. If you can shoot a duck, you can collect a coin. Happy Hunting |
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Pillar of the Community
872 Posts |
First of all, I would find a local coin dealer that has the PNG designation. If you want a quick estimate. Those dealers are typically bound by ethics and have to hold up to strict standards. Do not instantly take an offer from a dealer, not matter what they say. I have a lot of integrity and even the best dealer in the world is going to have to make a profit on what they buy. Tell the dealer its so you are putting these coins on your insurance and aren't planning on selling them. You'd be surprised how much the collection will go up. Additionally, ask the dealer if they charge for a quick estimate. YOU can do this with the help of the community on here. I suggest going on line and buying a dozen or so of white gloves that are used to handle coins and photos. The cheaper ones are ok. The less fingerprints on your coins the better. You can take one coin out at a time, post a clear picture of the coin front and back. Ask us for a grade and if there are any errors known that may increase the value. Keep good honest records of what you have. Do one type of coin at a time. Visit a site like http://www.pcgs.com and look under the coin prices. Find the type of coin you are looking at, and find the year. IF the far left column has a '+' Plus sign next to it, that means it can be expanded and may show errors or varieties for the year. By clicking on that listing, you might get to see a picture of what they are talking about. For pennies, it can be a bit overwhelming and time consuming, but http://www.coppercoins.com is a great reference, but you will more than likely be doing one year at a time. For error and variety coins, generally speaking the Whitman's Cherry Picker Guide, Fifth edition, Volume I and II can be used to find some of the more rarer coins. It is NOT a complete listing of all rare coins, but it should list the most expensive ones. Do NOT try to clean any of the coins, it will reduce their value. Realize that you will probably never get "full book" for most coins. The collectible is only as valuable as what the collector is willing to pay for it. Edited by Collector-Corner
11/01/2013 2:03 pm
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New Member
United States
10 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1903 Posts |
Being that there is a 1909s-vdb in this group, it bears note that if he went to the trouble to get one good coin, there may be others. I say...for starters...pick the five best coins (or what you believe to be the best five) and post them here. That should give you some perspective on what the overall quality of this collection is like. And like others have said...don't be too hasty...learn first, sell later.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1745 Posts |
From a quick scan of the photos, all around Good with some not quite Good.
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New Member
United States
5 Posts |
I have been a dealer for 50 years and one of the best ways to get ideas as to the value of your albums is to take them to a coin show and there is one in Fort Worth this weekend. most likely you have a bunch of silver coins worth roughly 15 times the face value and the a few more valuable items if they are in the boards or albums. this show will be a competitive but friendly environment and there will be many differing opinions.
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Valued Member
United States
461 Posts |
Its all about grade, a 1919d Walking Liberty half "can" be worth (optimum word being here can) $18,000 but it also can be worth as little as $24. Coins are valuable for three reasons primarily. Grade, scarcity and demand. Grade is the condition the coin is in, closer to the state the mint produced it the more valuable it will be worth (also minting technology wasn't as good in 1919 as it is now so grade even coming straight from the mint then could vary). Coins grade on a scale of 1-70, the 18k figure is for a coin that grades at MS63 (the ms stands for mint state). This means the coin is very near what the mint produced it in. The highest grade given to a 1919d is currently a MS66. I have numismedia giving a ms63 in a value of 15k, a ms62 in 19k, and a ms61 in 6k. You can see each grade down takes a huge bump in value (there is clearly a lot less 63s then 61's hence where the scarcity of the grade comes into factor). Its very unlikely your father had a MS63 coin in his collection so you need to get the coins graded before you can just start jumping to the high end of the spectrum. If the coin is an XF a much more likely scenario it would be worth a 1000 dollars so there is a chance of value there. Just looking at the albums its impossible to tell how much value you have. I would think you might have some if he had a 1909s VDB Lincoln as that shows some value right there. The 1909s can range from $750-6k typically so even in its lowest grade its still a valuable coin (because of rarity not many were produced and demand as there is a high demand for it to complete sets). |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
919 Posts |
Welcome. I hate to be the one to tell you but that 1919 D is not the $18000 coin you had hoped for. Yours is a well circulated version worth the lower end of the range given above. Most dealers would offer around $10 for it. Some only melt value which is around $8.
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Replies: 40 / Views: 5,471 |
Posted 11/01/2013 1:32 pm
