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 Replies: 21 / Views: 2,405 |
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New Member
United States
16 Posts |
My father-in-law passed away and left us with boxes of coins. A few very old, some foreign, confederate, silver, etc. I have been trying to organize the coins and my first step was to separate the silver quarters and dimes. I have approximately $80 of silver coins and was going to take them to a coin shop. The coin shop said they are giving 7 to 1 for silver. Is this a wise thing to do.
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Valued Member
United States
277 Posts |
Many old silver coins aren't worth the silver value for collecting, but collectors will pay that for them, I used to when I was activily collecting back in the 80's. Haven't been doing much lately, however.
Fatcat
Edited by Fatcat161
08/23/2007 10:22 am
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Valued Member
United States
155 Posts |
Selling anything without really knowing what you have is taking a chance you will lose out. Assuming that most or all of the coins are US issues you could at the very least go out and pick up a RedBook (Popular US coin yearly price guide with a red cover)either for $10-15 at a coin shop or book store. You should probably even be able to find a copy at your local library. Some coins even in very worn condition could be worth substantial amounts of money. If you have any questions once you start going through them, everyone here would be more than happy to give you some tips and pointers, and you might even find out you have a new interest before long. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2797 Posts |
Goldie,
To put the dealer's offer into perspective. Yesterday's close for silver was $11.58/oz. A half dollar (walking liberty, franklin) contains .36 troy oz of silver or $4.17 at yesterdays' spot. The dealer offered you $3.50 or 84% of the actual silver value. That's not unreasonable. As others have advised, before offering these for melt, let a numismatist (coin collector) ascertain any collector value.
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Valued Member
United States
144 Posts |
I agree with Myst.
But in any case, "junk silver" (coins with no value other than their silver content), typically contains anywhere from $8.37 to $8.96 of silver per dollar of face value at today's prices. So getting $7 per face value might be reasonable from a dealer.
But, if you're wanting to keep it easy, here's my best idea: run an ad somewhere, find a local coin club or show, or something. An amateur collector would easily give you full silver value (about 8.5x) just for the chance of being able to search through a pile that hasn't been searched before.
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New Member
 United States
16 Posts |
Thanks everyone for all the helpful info. I do have the red coin book and am trying to learn how to use it. For instance a 1964D, Doubled-Die Rev dime seems to be one to watch for but, with my very very limited knowledge I do not know what doubled-die Rev is. I tried to find a definition in my book but no luck. I think it means the coin is doubled stamped on the reverse side.
Oh, and I have cancelled all plans to run to the local coin shop today. Thanks again for helping me get some type of direction.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
914 Posts |
The double die are a very rare animal indeed! It is when the mold for the coin is struck twice in two slightly different positions. It leaves a 'doubled' image on the coin. use a 15x magnifying glass to see if letters look like they are stamped twice. As much as I would have liked to, after several thousand coins, I have yet to find one. Here is one of the 'kings' of double dies just so you understand what I'm referring to.  It would probably be best for you to just worry about the dates and mint marks. And Welcome to the Boards! Edited by Vaslin
08/23/2007 11:33 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
you can post dates and denomination here and we can tell you if they are any key dates in the mix, and if you have any coins (that are not keys) that look good (has allot of detail) you can post pictures of those coins and chances are they will be worth more than the price you were quoted, that price is for junk silver which can barely see the design on the coin or ones that have been defaced in some way, so if they aren't junk coins then please post pictures of the coins (because I know I have some holes in my dansco I would like to fill and others do also and could offer you more than the dealer is wanting to pay)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1984 Posts |
Welcome! In general, I would not recommend unloading any of your inherited coins quickly unless you are hurting for cash. I would also not recommend selling all the silver as junk until you decide that it is really junk. (You may decide it's junk just because it is so much work to discover what is and is not junk!)  I would say don't worry so much about the "varieties" at first. First separate by denomination, then by date, then by mint mark. This will be your basic list. Then you can start worrying about condition, variety, and value. While it's not likely you will have much more than junk silver, you could always post a list. If most of the dimes are Roosevelt, and most of the quarters are well worn from the 1960's, you probably will only have melt value coinage. If you get a list together and/or some pictures, I'm sure many members would be happy to help you figure out which coins might deserve a closer look. Even though it's unlikely, it would be a shame if you sold a 1932 Denver quarter for less than two dollars. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
764 Posts |
i don't know if you would go for this but if your location is close to me (philly metro area), I would be happy to take a look at what you have in person. I will appraise and also buy if you are looking to sell. if not, I can at least give you good information on how and where to sell when you decide to for maximum value.
i have a few questions also.. are the coins organized in any way (in albums, rolls, separated by date)? are any of them in brand new condition or do they look their age?
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Valued Member
United States
54 Posts |
i have a bunch of silver coins as well. I was thinking about just ebaying them out.
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New Member
United States
16 Posts |
littleboy, thanks for the offer but I am not close to the Philly area.
The coins are not organized, just the little I have done. I have had these coins for 3 years and decided it was time to do something but was not sure where to start. The best thing I did was find this website. With everyone's help I am getting an idea of where to start. As suggested I am going to compile a list and post it on the forum. This may take me a while because I am busy at work right now and do not have a lot of spare time, but at least I now have a plan.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7123 Posts |
Hi Goldie First off ,,my condolences to you and your family on the loss of your Father in law ! and then a welcome to the forum ! Please do not get in a hurry to sell your coins ! No assumptions can be made as to value with the limited amount of info that we have ! they need to be treated as treasure until they are proven otherwise. If you would like to post a list of coins we can start by date and mint mark to help to sort them out and perhaps Identify any specific key or semi key date coins for you,, any that may have potentially higher value can then be posted with pictures to determine an approximate grade which equates to value in the Coin World. another thought I always have when I hear about coins being left to family members ,,is that your Father in law left a piece of himself ,, coin collectors are for the most part very individualistic in what and how they collect ,, the legacy that resides with in your collection can sometimes be worth more than dollars ! once again welcome to the forum ,,and I hope you will take advantage of the knowledge that is present here ,, Helping is one of the things that we enjoy most about this Hobby ! Metalman |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19935 Posts |
Welcome to the forums! You made a smart move by coming to this forum! I was in a similar situation and I've learned a LOT from these kind folks and by studying my butt off. - The best advice so far....do NOT be in a hurry. Those that rush the sale by just dumping a whole collection on ebay or to a shop will not realize the full value of their collection. Unless you're desparate for cash, take your time! - My advice on silver....DO NOT SELL FOR BULLION VALUE. The price of silver is at a very low point right now and it's predicted to rise rapidly. Hang on to your silver for a bigger pay-off down the road. - Get a digital camera and take some pics for us!  Post the coins and dates for some great help! |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
62064 Posts |
I would say the 1932-D & S mint would be the Key ones to watch for. In the 1950-D coins watch for the D/S or the 1950-S Look for S/D mint coins. I love the sound of silver coins. You can here just one in a cash drawer as it makes a different sound that the others.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
As already noted, learn what you have. You wouldn't just sell a dar without any idea of what it's worth so the same with a coin. Sit down and go through the coins, make a list of the dates and mint marks. If you look in that Red Book there is usually a explanation of where to find the Mint Marks. For general types of error coins, there is a section in the back of that book explaining most. As for values, that book is useless. The prices you will bind in most places are what a dealer will sell those coins to you for. If not sure of anything, come here and ask. Also, there are numerous other coin web sites but this one is kind of a better one. For example there is a PCGS web site. The trouble there is if you ask a question, and it is not answered in a few minutes it vanishes to page 2, then 3, etc. Soon you question is lost. Note there are web sites that are specific to certain coins, https://www.coppercoins.com is an example for Lincoln Cents. Just don't rush off to a coin shop and regret it later. |
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Replies: 21 / Views: 2,405 |
Posted 08/23/2007 10:06 am
