I'm Scared

I'm also thinking about telling him that the VDB on the back of that '09-S are die gouges and have no added value to the coin.

LOL Scooby. I guess that it depends on how good a friend he is to you and how honest a person you can be if the opportunity presents itself to you. When he lets you view the coins. Be sure to have a few Scooby snacks and a bottle of JD. Snacks for you and JD for him to get him drunk and make him a offer. If he really does have some or even one of the rare coins. Just be honest with him and ask him what kind of money is he expecting to realize from the collection. Depending on which coins are there...how many times would someone who has no knowledge or apparent interest in coin collecting be offered a nice premium on a coin with a face value of $0.01 :).

One thing about coin collecting. One could spend there whole life collecting and still have no to very few of the rarer more valuable coins. No matter if it is 1960 or 2010...you still have to spend some to get some. Unless your extremely lucky like some of the members here and hit the jackpot on a purchase or roll hunt. I'm still looking for my pot of gold. :)

Good luck and have fun wit it.

He said his Uncle worked on it feverishly the last 20 years of his life, like he was on a mission. I'm not concerned with price, he trust me to be fair with him and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm more concerned about their condition. I've actually been harping on him for a few months about it since I found out where they were. I even threw around buzzwords like "thousands of dollars" and it still didn't move up on his list of priorities.

He knows I'm going to be very upset if the coins are in bad shape and I can't offer a bunch!

Depends where they were stored. Desert, mountains, mid-west (humidity). Inspect before you buy!

Since these coins are raw, be very careful of added mintmarks on the keys or an altered "plain" 1922.

Pay him a fair price that is great for you and he is happy with.
For me a fair price would probably be the total of the key and semi key dates that are in it at 50% retail. I would look them over, estimate the value without mentioning which were the money coins and offer him that. When I make an offer it is a now or never offer. I have made the mistake of basically appraising someone's coins, giving them a price and then they go and shop around for a better one knowing more about what they have after I educated them. The keys are most important and the rest I would consider as just thrown in with the deal.

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I was asked by my wifes best friend to appraise her fathers coin collection. I knew he had collected for 50 years but you never know what you are walking into. What I found was a basement coin workshop that rivals most coin shops I have ever seen. He had basically a complete set of everything and had an eye for sharp strikes and quality original coins. Not to mention every mint and proof set ever made. There were 5 gallon buckets of buld silver and 15-20 mint bags just labeled wheats. I went through the sets and mint sets and gave her a number and it was high 100k +. She went and talked to her mom, she came out and asked if I wanted the coins. I told her I would need a few days to get the money around. She said no, you can have them, because she wanted them to go to someone who would appreciate them. I stared at the floor for what seemed like an hour and told her I didn't feel OK with that and I would be back in a two days with a check.

I called before I went over and was crushed when she said her brother had decided that he wanted them and they were all gone. They both came out to visit us this year in Hawaii and I was even more floored when I found out the brother took them to a pawn shop and sold them for 4K whne he got behind on his mortgage. The good thing that came of this was it made me plan for the future. I left a letter in my coin safe that directs my wife and kids who to contact about the coins, how much they are worth etc. Sad story all the way around