When I moved into my family home, (my grandparents had lived there for 50 years before passing). I cleaned out their garage and found a burlap bag filled with "all silver" US coins. This bag had dimes, (lots of mercury dimes), quarters, half dollars and silver dollars. There must have been a few hundred coins as the bag weighed about 5 pounds. It had been stashed away and from the looks of it had been forgotten for many many years. These coins looked to have been circulated and just collected by the grandparents prior to their passing. What's the best way to determine the worth of these coins? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Hello 50. If they are all dated pre 1964 then they are silver. You can look on several sites and find the current silver value of each coin. That will give you there total value in silver to start with. I would suggest going to any one of the popular book stores and purchase a whittman red book. The book will help you determine if any of your coins could be rare dates and give you a little background on the different coins you have. I would suggest you do some internet surfing such as Ebay and other sites as well as try to find a local coin dealer to get different prices as this will be your hardest challenge. Take your time and figure out what all you have and seperate any coins that look really nice as they will bring a better price. Post some pics on here also and everyone will be more than glad to help.
Learn where the mintmarks are on each series, that will be a key factor in determaining the value. Have fun in your search and don't rush out to sell them, you may end up on the losing end...
My grandmother collected a halfs and dollars for many years. Not as a hobby but just for silver security. When I was a kid she gave me (and my sibs I would think) twice face for the 64 and earlier. They're still in the safe but my father is reluctant to let us look without the 3 of being there at the same time. I have no idea why but he's 82 and has earned the right to do whatever he wants. Well, within most laws.
Here is my favorite link for calculating the value of silver in your coins -- I love it because it is multidenominationaly, you just enter in how many silver dimes/nickels/quarters/halves you have and it gives you a total. http://www.silvercoinstoday.com/silver-calculators/us-silver-coin-calculator/
I agree with another poster in that you shouldn't try to sell what you have until you get a good idea of the value. One poster suggested buying a "Whitman Red Book", which is officially called "A Guide Book of United States Coins" by R.S.Yeoman. That is a good start. It gives a summary of how to grade each series (although just written guidelines, no pictures for grading), and an idea of the retail value of US coins. However, since your coins are silver, and I would assume common dates, the value of most of them will probably depend more on the current silver market than on the values published once a year in a guidebook.
Also U can post photos someone will help you!!! Morgan Dollars, Walking Liberty half dollars& Mercury Dime.you may want to look for the mint marks.there a few date and mint mark worth far more than melt value. spend $12.95 on a Red Book,and have find out what you have before you have them melted
I agree. You might want to sort the coins by type and year. Then record what you have by type, year, and mint mark. It will go faster than you think. You can then easily post the list by type and others can comment on which ones will have a premium over melt. In a 5 pound bag you are certain to have a few worth more than melt. Good Luck, Ask questions. Darryl
