Buying A Deceased Relative's Collection

The RedBook is not a good guide to go by. I suggest that you put together a list of what you have, top level, don't try to get into details on each coin since many may only be worth bullion prices. If you post the list on this site, members will give you a good starting place and any potentially high value pieces will be identified. List coin dates and mint-marks for starters.

Hope that helps.

Sorry for your loss.

First you'll need to determine grades on said coins, at least for raw examples. Examples you're unsure of, post here for opinions. Obviously common date, low grade items can be bulked together (eg common date Wheat cents), no need to grade every one. Same for "junk" silver. Once you made your list, with grades remarked, references for pricing can be found checking sold listings on ebay, numismedia, Greysheet, and auction sales records for bigger ticket items.

It's difficult. For years I had a friend (sadly he passed away some years ago) who collected coins to raise money for a charity: he had placed donation boxes in various shops around the town. I would look through the coins, sort them out and tell him which ones were worth something, and buy current legal tender foreign coins off him if I was visiting any of the countries the coins were from. 99% of the coins he got were common pre-decimal British or current European (this was before the Euro). But one day someone donated a bunch of older, nicer coins that I really wanted for my collection. With his agreement, I took them to a reputable coin dealer, asked him for his buying and selling prices, and agreed a value somewhere between the two - my friend was happy with this and so was I!

Perhaps your Aunt would allow you to take the collection on a consignment basis, allowing you to sell a large part of the collection while still being able to cherrypick the best for yourself. As stated, Red Book is not the reference to establish pricing. Dealers use the Grey sheet with buy/bid price and associated sell price to establish a range. That however usually requires a subscription. I think the best indicator of current market value is ebay sold listings. Amazing how even some of the stuff a dealer wouldn't want can still bring a price on ebay. Of course you would have to factor in listing fees, selling fees, shipping and tax burden not to mention the countless hours of picture taking and ad descriptions.

Keep in mind that if your aunt sells these to a dealer, she won't get Red Book price. If she sell them through an auction house or local auctioneer, they will take a percentage, and there is no guarantee coins will sell at retail.

Greysheet is prob best to determine what they are worth wholesale. But as someone mentioned, they are hard to come by if you don't have a subscription.

Whitman also sells a Blue Book (12.95 on Amazon) This is supposed to be an approximation of what a coin dealer might pay you for a coin if you sold it to them. Here's what I would do. For coins you want to keep, look up Red Book, look up Blue Book, and offer your aunt Blue Book plus half the difference between the two. i.e. If Blue Book says $60 on a coin, and Red Book says $100, pay her $80.

Or 40/60, 30/70. Whatever you agree to. But agree to it ahead of time. So you're not haggling over every coin. Or in this case, you could call it reverse haggling. Since I'm sure she'll insist that you pay way too little, but you'll try and talk her up, so she gets a fair price.

For coins you want to sell, there is a "For Sale" section on this site. You need to have more post and be a member for certain amount of time. But at least it's an option with no fees.

I won't see the collection for a few weeks, but will report back as needed once I have eyeballs on it.

Thank you all for the great tips.

I hope that you are not put into a position where a full liquidation is the result and you have nothing from the shared hobby with your Uncle. That might be the toughest pill to swallow. Cash can't replace that connection for some sentimental folks.

Like others have said, get a list going with denominations, years, mint marks, estimated grades, etc. While the Red Book isn't great for actual prices today, it is a wonderful starting place to get information on the various series, grading, and identification of keys, semi-keys, and commons. This will expedite turning that list into something more usable.

I hope that you have the time to get things organized and are able to make a good decision on next steps, and I hope you are able to secure a few heartfelt pieces to hold onto as well.

@aceman920, feel free to message me if you want a copy of Greysheet. Tried to PM you but it's disabled on your end.