Thread: Hi I think my late husband was one of those hoarders

Hi,
After 7 years and floor dipping due to weigh I have undertaken the task of examining the thousands of coins that my husband and grandmother held. It may take me another 7 years to go through everything. He kept everything, foreign prewar, foreign post war, mercury, pennies nichols OMG what a chore. I will probably visit often for assistance.
Thank you for this service.
Sandy

Welcome - That's what we are here for. Pictures help, regardless ~ ask away!

It is a big job, think of it like it is eating an elephant, you cannot swallow it all at once, it can be done, one bite at a time. If you want to take the short cut, you could have someone buy it all at once, but chances are you will not realize anywhere near the true worth, because they will have to take all the time to sort out the different denominations. Check out a redbook, from your library, and a copy of world coins, those two books will probably cover 99.9 percent of what you have as far as sorting out those things that might be very expensive.

Plus you can ask questions here and see what the group consensus might be.

Another good place to find good info would be the PCGS website. What are you look to do with all of the coins? I am looking to past mine down to my kids.

sounds like not really high-end stuff since it is described as a hoard vs. a collection.


The first thing to do is seperate any silver coinage ( pre- 1965 dimes and up). Those are worth about 18X of face value, and they stick out like a sore thumb. Then you can choose wether or not to learn more about coins and look for rare dates.

Take your time. It can be overwhelming at first look but if you do it as the others have recommended, it could be a rewarding project.

It's funny actually. So many collections wind up in the hands of family members who know very little , if anything about numismatics , or even if that the individual who initially assembled the collection, was a hobbyist .

Originally Posted by coinman0456

It's funny actually. So many collections wind up in the hands of family members who know very little , if anything about numismatics , or even if that the individual who initially assembled the collection, was a hobbyist .

Described as a "hoard", not like a real collection.

Very limited info given. I of course could evaluate very quickly...as could most here.

Pick out the silver first ( it might be all Silver ?) It could be virtually anything...including trash coinage from the 80's...get a taste of what is there, then go forward, I'd guess there might be some silver in there, but it could just be the guy's change bucket from 1980 to date, and be nothing.

See if there is silver first, if not you have nothing.

You seem to be doing quite a bit of speculating there Doug21. There is no way for anyone of us here to say what is or isn't valuable in this COLLECTION . It's apparent the heir is totally unfamiliar and ill prepared to even properly grade any coin in the collection . Your suggestion that she has nothing if there is no silver, is absurd and undermining at best. I know you know better than to do that.

Originally Posted by coinman0456

You seem to be doing quite a bit of speculating there Doug21. There is no way for anyone of us here to say what is or isn't valuable in this COLLECTION . It's apparent the heir is totally unfamiliar and ill prepared to even properly grade any coin in the collection . Your suggestion that she has nothing if there is no silver, is absurd and undermining at best. I know you know better than to do that.

Not really !

We need to see this stuff in hand....It could be anything under the sun. Even if it's just silver and just Rosy dimes, Washy Q's, and Franky Halves, it's junk silver ( basically). A non-Numismatically inclined widow ain't gonna find Gold in there.

Now if it is all stuff from like before 1950, worth a look.

If there is little/ No silver , then just is 80's pocket change thrown in a can.

I evaluate stuff with the info I'm given.

I could tell in a minute.

My advice is sound....see how much of it is Silver first !

I'll guess this man threw coins in a 5 gallon jug starting around 1980, and he died in 2010, I could be wrong !

If I'm right, the coins are worth face value basically.

That's why I say look for Silver first, then go from there.

Even just an old can of pennies could still have an '09-S VDB in it and be worth more than 10 pounds of silver. One excellent coin is better than a truckload of junk. You are oversimplifying it.

Edited: Did you not read the OP? Thousands of coins, husband and grandmother, Mercury Dimes, prewar and postwar. That there is silver is a given. What might not be silver and be worth REAL money would be the issue to me when you have someone who doesn't know coins (keys, semi-keys, etc).

Originally Posted by fisherwomen3325

Hi,
After 7 years and floor dipping due to weigh I have undertaken the task of examining the thousands of coins that my husband and grandmother held. It may take me another 7 years to go through everything. He kept everything, foreign prewar, foreign post war, mercury, pennies nichols OMG what a chore. I will probably visit often for assistance.
Thank you for this service.
Sandy

Please, if you can post a photo's of both the obverse and reverse of any coin you have questions about, will only assist us in providing you with our best appraisal for you. Had you husband kept any written records about his coins ? Surely there must be some reference for you . I would suggest that a collector who has a totaled collection as you suggest, surely kept some records , especially for pieces he knew had a good market value. How was the collection kept ? coffee cans, flips, 2X2 's ?

Photos would be good & fun for everyone! Have have enter a whole new world!! Get ready for a crash course education!

Originally Posted by Doug21

See if there is silver first, if not you have nothing.

hey doug, be sure to give me all of your 1955 ddo lincolns, 1909-s vdb lincolns, and 1913-s type 2 buffalos. they aren't silver, so they must be nothing.

to the op- good luck with this endeavor. i know it may seem like quite a bit, but follow the advice given here. take it slowly, get a red book, and post pics please. we would love to see some of this "hoard."