No. Melt is the 'base' option when all other's have been explored. Melt value will probably pertain to 99% of the coins you have, but there is always the possibility that the 1% worth more than melt may outvalue the other 99%! So searching each coin with a good guide book or two by your side is definately the thing to do. If you have $4000 in face value, the current melt value, will be around 20x face... So $80k minimum value is not a stretch. But again, that is value of last resort. Good luck, welcome, and questions/pictures are always welcome!
I'm sorry for the loss in the family. WOW you have some fun work ahead of you! I wouldn't worry about posting pics or a list of what you have, just be very vague on location or don't mention it at all. Anybody that knows you, even "friends," I would be prudent about letting anybody know what you are holding. The wife looking good in the Levis might not have been a good idea, but then saying it wasn't true was defiantly a bad idea. I hope she has a forgiving heart or you might be up the proverbial creek. I will have fun and learn a good bit just following this thread, hope you find some coins that will make the melt value look like chump change.
MERC CRAZY --I finally took the advice from my CT members and friends and submitted it to ANACS. It came back MS-65 red. Still have it. I wish I was in this guys shoes with his " mother load ". It's hard for me to even imagine bags and bags of Morgans and quarters and whatever else he has. He has a veritable ' silver mine'.
I'd probably take a short leave of absence from my work (Say, a weeks vacation time?) and hammer away at it. It would be insanely enjoyable for me.
I noted that you stated there was quite a bit of Silver Quarters. I recently sold a few rolls of those on eBay. Afterward I searched online Silver Dealers to see how my auction fared. Well, the dealers were listing silver Washington Quarters as "unavailable" or "out of stock". Now that made me have second thoughts about selling any more of my silver. Point is, that I feel you should be very careful about selling the quarters at this time without examining every coin and all aspects of a sale. These sell readily on eBay in any amount of lot you want to sell and the return is much higher than a broker or dealer will pay for them. Also it is thought that there could be as many as 20 million people who collected the State Quarters. A percentage of these expanded their collections to include all the Washingtons. Of course the 32 S and D are considered keys because of their low mintages, but the 36 proof was the lowest mintage. Since you don't have the need to sell them right away, studying them and compiling a complete list of what you have before proceeding is the way to go. IMHO gary