MIL and coins

[Bugsinrugs]

My Mother in law inherited a coin collection that she hasn't a clue of its worth. Should she pay an appraiser? She took a few books of pennies,nickels and dimes to a coin collector and he offered her $700.00. I would think an independent coin appraiser might tell her the real world value. Anyone with any experience in coin collecting?

[URY914]

"Let me call a buddy of mine....."

[Admin at Pelican Parts]

My only advice: Don't clean them!

[Baz]

Am I the only one who thought the thread title said "MILF" at first glance?

[aigel]

Considering now old everyone is on this board, I'd say your MIL may be retired and have some time? How hard is it to look up coin values online and get an idea? It'd be a fun activity. I have looked up values on coins I own or found in my wallet with the help of my curious kids. I.e. I know what a wheat penny or a pre-64 silver containing quarter is worth ...

Also, if any of it is precious metal like silver or gold, you can get a good idea on the spot value of the material as well. I would not be surprised if the coin dealer's offer was based on spot price and everything above it (numismatic value) will be his profit.

G

[masraum]

FYI, when you look up the values of the coins in a price guide, I assume those prices will be retail. If she wants to sell those coins to a shop, she won't get nearly retail. Also, if she tries to sell them privately, she's probably not likely to get retail either. She could probably get closer if she had them appraised, but that's not going to be free or cheap either I wouldn't think. Good luck.

[aigel]

You can group them in sub-sets and sell them on Ebay and get close to retail. key will be to have good pictures and proper name etc.

How big is the collection? Maybe you can just post some high res pictures here and people can help. You'd be surprised at the capability of this board.

Again, nowadays everything can be found online. No need to buy a catalog. You just type "1902 Silver Dollar" and it will come up ... even if you don't know the exact name of the coin ..

http://www.coinstudy.com/1902-morgan-silver-dollar-value.html

G

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by Baz

Am I the only one who thought the thread title said "MILF" at first glance?

Oui, but I had to google it.

[MMiller]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

My Mother in law inherited a coin collection that she hasn't a clue of its worth. Should she pay an appraiser? She took a few books of pennies,nickels and dimes to a coin collector and he offered her $700.00. I would think an independent coin appraiser might tell her the real world value. Anyone with any experience in coin collecting?

Going to follow your thread... Curious of advice. My gun safe is "full" of coins and stamps that my grandfather collected that my Dad inherited and now he has passed and my Mom and I have no idea what there value is or how to liquidate. We have researched online but there seems to be a lot of nuances that can effect value considerably. Hard to tell if value is closer to a few hundred dollars or a hundred K

[RKDinOKC]

Takem to Gold & Silver in Vegas and see what the Pawn Stars will give you.

[PorscheGAL]

This is the American Numismatic Association. Very good place to start. Most areas there is a monthly meeting where the members are more than happy to help your MIL.

https://www.money.org/

[ckelly78z]

This story really has nothing to do with the OP, but a few years back my MIL was going through her mother's coins that she had amassed while taking yearly trips to Canada. In face value, it came to $67.00 for the quarters, dimes, nickles, and pennies.
She asked me if I wanted to buy them (I would have given them to me, but that wasn't her speed). I bought them, and took them home, and on a snowy Winter day, I spread them all out on the kitchen table to see what I had. Most of the quarters, and dimes were the ones with high silver content before 1965, and the rest of the nickles, and pennies, I was able to make sequential year sets to sell on Ebay. The high silver content coins I was able to get a couple bucks for each coin.

I think all told, I made 1000% on these coins.

[Bugsinrugs]

[QUOTE=aigel;9712141]Considering now old everyone is on this board, I'd say your MIL may be retired and have some time? How hard is it to look up coin values online and get an idea? It'd be a fun activity. I have looked up values on coins I own or found in my wallet with the help of my curious kids. I.e. I know what a wheat penny or a pre-64 silver containing quarter is worth ...

Also, if any of it is precious metal like silver or gold, you can get a good idea on the spot value of the material as well. I would not be surprised if the coin dealer's offer was based on spot price and everything above it (numismatic value) will be his profit.

She is 92 and has no computer skills what so ever. I think it's up to her daughter ( my wife) to do the research. Thanks.

[widebody911]

[QUOTE=Bugsinrugs;9712499She is 92 and has no computer skills what so ever. [/QUOTE]

Ah, so the correct term is GILF

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

This is the American Numismatic Association. Very good place to start. Most areas there is a monthly meeting where the members are more than happy to help your MIL.

https://www.money.org/

I did this a few years ago on a cold, snowy weekend. I had a lot of singles and those "Blue Coin Books" from when I was a kid...dozens of them from pennies to Morgan Silver dollars. My parents, father especially, was a minor collector. The collection filled a book box and was sitting in a closet.

I started with similar websites and walked through each coin and coin book...nothing of spectacular value but on the whole worth a lot more than I thought.

I created an excel spreadsheet and kept track of the websites I used.

A women I flew with was a numismatic and gave me great advice: Whatever you think the condition of the coin is, unless the coin is wrapped and graded already, lower the condition significantly. That way you won't be disappointed with the value.

I may revisit this winter and join the site posted above.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by aigel

Again, nowadays everything can be found online. No need to buy a catalog. You just type "1902 Silver Dollar" and it will come up ... even if you don't know the exact name of the coin ..

1902 Morgan Silver Dollar Value | Discover Their Worth

G

Are they just loose coins or are the certified already? Finding the value of certified coins is easy.
If they aren't certified (graded), web sites like this will be helpful in understanding what you have. Some coins have specific features that make a big difference in grading. I would have coins that look like they might be grade fine looked at by an expert.

[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.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

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

My father's stocking stuffer gift to my sister's and me every Christmas was a UC Mint Set and a White House Christmas Tree Ornament.

I have them all and they aren't worth much!