Where Do I Start Learning And Researching?

to the forum. I am sure you will hear this repeatedly, but regardless of the condition of the coins, don't clean them. If any of them do have value, cleaning can ruin them. As for education, you made a great start by coming here. There is a ton of helpful information on this site and everyone is super friendly and very willing to help.

To get a rough idea of value, there are several ways to go. You can download the one of the mobile applications from the major coin grading services. That will give you an idea of price and some other general information. There are several price guides on the Internet (just search Google). The Red Book is a good place to learn more about each coin and get a general value. You can check prices on ebay as a ton of coins are sold there. Generally, I would start with the oldest coins and work to the more modern ones as they are less likely to be worth more than face value. The key thing to remember is condition is the key. The less wear and damage a coin has, the more it is generally worth.

If you have questions about specific coins, post them here and people will be glad to help. All of this is just my opinion, and I am relatively new here myself. These guys know there stuff, so if they contradict anything I have said, listen to them. Once again, welcome to the forum!

OK The automatic link thing was amazing. Great trick and perfect! Also thank you Chris! That makes sense on working backwards.

It isn't to complicated. To start simply look up places like coin shops or hobbby stores. Try to buy what is called the Red Book by Whitman Publishing. Also, you may want to try the Whitman web site for a list of books on coins.

When you say a "ton", would all of them fit into a shoe box, or would you need a large plastic tote, or maybe several? Are many of them in cases or are they loose/ in tubes?

You don't want to make a spreadsheet with a listing of 1000s of recent Lincoln cents, at least not right away, that is for sure.

Definitely get a Red Book, separate the silver from the non-silver, the older (1964 and older) from the new, attempt to grade a few (on-line guides, etc) to get a sense of the values.

Thanks All! What a Great site! I will get on the Red Book now. And good to know about the Silver vs Non Silver - Sticky Note created. As for amount, I have hard to say. At this point, I have opened one small safe. Probably 2- gallon Ziploc bags full? I am sure that many are just memories. For example, there was a coin in an envelope that said- found out side of some bank in Montana, dated 1973. So, who knows. Might just be how my grandma remembered things.. and then in the same pile, I found a Julius Ceasar coin. So.. It has been fun! I will post some this weekend. This is going to be fun, so thanks for helping me in my journey!

Welcome and please do not hesitate to post some pictures of any coins you are curious about.