[Rick Lee]

I looked into this a few years ago, as I have some nice coins I just don't care about anymore. I bought a bunch of Franklin Half Dollars when I was about eight with a savings bond my great grandmother had given me. My mom insisted I buy some kind of investment with the money. Problem is that the grading system was different back then. It was much simpler. All the ones I bought were "BU" or "brilliant uncirculated." But the grading system is much more complex now and appraisals can cost more than the coins are worth. I need to just run into someone in person who can give it a look over and maybe buy them. I would not be able to list them properly on eBay to get fair market value.

And unlike having a really rare, one-off baseball card, like a Honus Wagner, everyone knews uncirculated silver coins were worth keeping in that condition. So there are a lot of them.