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 Replies: 16 / Views: 3,146 |
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
Hi, My grandmother saved a lot of coins. She passed away and I inherited all of them. I don't really know if they are worth anything. She collected the State Quarters. Some of them are in the cases and some are loose (but in a hard plastic cover). Are they really worth anything? Should I try to sell them as is, or just separate them all and take them to the bank at face value? And them what do I do with the cases? I am always trying to recycle things. Is there a place to give away the cases to someone who is collecting State Quarters? She also saved a lot of wheat pennies and Mercury dimes. I have done a little research to know that they are worth more than face value (based on price of silver). But I have no idea where to sell them. Is there a place I can go to and get a fair price? Or should I save them for awhile? Will the value really go up that much in a year or two. Any help would be appreciated. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
The State Quarters are not worth anything unless they're proofs. Uncirculated rolls of some states might be worth more than face, but not a whole lot. The Mercury dimes are worth the silver content if they're common dates, and can be worth a lot more if they're in mint condition or if they're rare dates. The wheat pennies are worth 3-5 cents for common dates, more for rare dates. Again, mint condition ones may be worth more too. All the valuable dates for both of these series are before before 1934. 1934 and later are common. |
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Valued Member
United States
214 Posts |
if it was me, I would keep them, because I collect coins. The old ones anyways. If you don't want them, I would try ebay. Maybe do separate auctions. Wheat pennies as one, Mercury dimes as one, and State Quarters. I think your Mercurys will do very well on ebay since they seem to go a little over silver spot. Hope that helps a little. Rob |
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New Member
 United States
3 Posts |
How do I know if they are proofs? She received the quarters directly from the mint. I think she bought the new sets each time they came out. Does that mean they are proofs? Here are some pics of the cases and quarters.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4132 Posts |
They are not proofs. Proofs have mirror finished fields (the flat background part) with frosted devices (the images and lettering). They're regular circulation issues, but since she got them straight from the mint and put them directly into air-tites (the plastic cases), they'd be considered uncirculated. They're probably worth more than face value, but they would be hard to sell because a lot of people saved them. I would just hang on to them for now.
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Valued Member
United States
333 Posts |
If anything, the small amount of money you would get in cashing these in or trying to sell them is nothing in comparison to the memory of your grandmother. I suggest you keep them in the airtites and put them someplace that you will forget about them without them being a nuisance.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3276 Posts |
I would love those quarters! Worth more than face value because they are straight from the mint and they are in air-tites as someone already stated. Keep em!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
584 Posts |
I guess it all depends on your situation. Do you need the money right now. If not I recommend picking up a 2012 Red Book. http://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/redbook.html That link will lead you to a decent price on one. The Red Book is the best place to start. Take some time to look up your coins in the book. I'm sure that would make your grandmother happy,. You never know you might just turn into a collector. A few have touched on this, but this is something you grandmother cared about. (It had to take a lot of caring to put each quarter in an airtight.) The Mercury dimes sound really interesting, if you can could you post some pics. Enjoy! |
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Moderator
 United States
14463 Posts |
I don't recognize that blue holder for the quarters, but they could have been bought from a 3rd party vendor in uncirculated condition already in those air-tite holders. Perhaps she was trying to assemble a collection as a gift to someone. Do you have more of those blue holder pages for different years?
Not to get your hopes up, but you need to find out if those are business strike coins (clad coins for circulation) or possibly silver coins. They look very bright in those pictures.
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New Member
United States
18 Posts |
ive been looking for a year for a collection like that listen find out about all of them the dates prices everything and if your interested in still sellem look me up on facebook under tank9833@aol.com and friend request me ill buyem all but please do your research on your own or with another collector dont go to a coin dealer they'll tell you its crap even though its not see what your grandmother did for you is the same thing I'm tring to do for my daughter so just do your research cant stress that enough then get back at me and give me a number based off your research with pics dates etc and ill prob match it there beautifull btw and godbless her for thinking about you like that my prayers are with you as well take care
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Pillar of the Community
United States
927 Posts |
I don't recognize the blue holder either. It looks like a third party selling these. They must be uncirculated P and D State Quarters because the blue holder has 10 spots for 1 year. The coins do look beautiful in those air-tite holders. You might want to keep a complete set of the quarters and sell the rest. However, you won't get much for them. I have asked a few dealers about buying State Quarters and they don't even want to buy uncirculated rolls. There are just too many of them. Are the wheat cents and Mercury dimes just sitting loose or are they in holders? If they are loose then they are most likely circulated common dates. If they are in holders then they are probably worth more. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1817 Posts |
The advice that you received about keeping the quarters until you learn more about them is sound. I seem to have a hazy recollection of the outfit the marketed the blue clamshell holders with the quarters in air-tites inside them. The quarters are clean and probably stored in the air-tites during the year of minting, and some might have condition rarity status (MS67 and up) if they were from business strike rolls. Keeping them in memory of your grandmother is good advice also.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
764 Posts |
I suggest keeping the State Quarters. the packaging looks very nice and you'll never get much for them anyway. however, the wheat cents and Mercury dimes may be worth selling to dealers. how many of these do you have? is it a few dozen? hundred? thousand? many thousands? if you do choose to sell, learn about the coins first. spend some time separating the ones that could be worth more than the common ones. you will not find a dealer that will pay you for each individual coin if you have a bunch of them. you'll get a flat rate: for example: 3 cents per wheat and $2 per Mercury dime. so you'll want to sell only common ones at the flat rate. then, if you singled out some better ones (more valuable dates), you can make a bit more. also, dont simply go to one dealer and sell them. find some dealers in your area. call and ask how much they pay for wheat cents and Mercury dimes. you could potentially make a whole lot more by just taking some time to do that. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
 welcome to the forum. You've already been given the best ideas for now. Do not even consider selling any of those coins until you well know what they are and what they are worth. As noted acquire a copy of the Red Book by Whitman Publishing. That book, if a late version though would have prices in excess. If you could find one a few years older, the prices would be closer to reality. Some coins, like Mercury dimes, have errors or varieties that may make them worth more than a nomal one. For example in the Mercury Dimees there are large and small Mint Marks. Also, a 1942/41 and 1942D/41. Some may have excessive rotated reverses since thost Dimes were famous for that. You really should get to know what you have. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3283 Posts |
Learn about them, keep them, get more, give them to your grandchildren.
The only way to go In my opinion
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New Member
United States
3 Posts |
Thank you everyone for your advice. It's great that so many people replied. I bought a 2012 Red Book. I guess I have a lot of research to do. Just to answer a few questions... My grandma got the blue clamshell cases from U.S. Commemorative Gallery. Some have 10 slots for D and P mint quarters, some have 5. I believe all the quarters arrived already in the air-tites. She also had a bunch of the blue folder books. Some are completely full and some partially full. We will keep those. For the Mercury dimes and wheat pennies, I think she just went through all the change she ever got over the years and saved everything before a certain date. I think it was to pass the time. They are all loose, along with some nickels/half dollars/etc. We will go through them all and compare them with the Red Book. We'll save some good ones to give to our daughter. As for the State Quarters, I think they are so common, it's not worth saving them and taking up our limited space. I will do my research first (per your advice) before getting rid of them. Our daughter is only 9 months old right now. You can imagine how much free time I have. So, the research will be here and there when possible. But I think when she is older, we will go through coins together and start a collection of whatever she chooses. More for the memories then the value. Thank you guys again. If I run into any issues and have more questions, I know I can come ask here. |
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Replies: 16 / Views: 3,146 |
Posted 08/25/2011 8:13 pm
