In my dad's possession is my grandpa's coin collection. You might just say he was a hoarder. Grandpa owned a gas station for twenty plus years and at one time had two. There is a over abundance of almost every coin except for any gold. Some are in bank bags, mostly in rolls but not all. There are a few books (not completed) from what I've seen. A few are slabbed but mostly cardboard protectors. He had most of them sorted by decade. Some by year depending of what it was. Well I think you get the drift. Dad wanted to take them to a bank/dealer. That's when I jumped in. Yes it needs to be sold (except for the few I might want). Dad's plan is to use the money to help buy grandparents house back from medicare/medicaid? I get those two confused. For a few months I have researching, reading and trying to learn the most I can. It's all very fascinating! I thought I would start with the pennies (50% of collection). So I concentrated on that learning pennies. Then dad wanted me to take a look at some other coins stashed away. I then turned my attention to silver coins. That's when the steam came out of my ears of my brain being overloaded with info. So here I am. What coins should I focus on first? How do I remember key dates? Can I find a list of error coins? (already started reading cherrypickers) Can't wait for your suggestions
Look for coins that are in higher grades first, then key date coins. The Redbook will be more important to you at the beginning than the Cherrypicker's guide. Searching for varieties can wait till later.
Make an inventory list of everything. It may help you focus and you will probably want one anyway when you go to sell the coins you are not keeping as it will make it easier for a dealer to give you a price. Bottom line is there isn't a quick and easy way to determine what's good or not. Enjoy the hoard and patiently look at everything.
I agree with getting a Red Book if you don't have one. Don't use it for pricing other than comparing relative values of coins within a series and for determining key dates . (ie Washington quarters for instance). Separate the coins by denomination and series and then by date and mintmark. Just do one series at a time, it'll be easier to keep track of what might be valuable.
Take some samples of what you have to a dealer when you go to purchase a red book, the dealer will be able to give yo a realistic idea of what you have and what it's worth.
When I first started coin collecting I received a redbook as a birthday gift from a family member. It was the best tool I could have received, as a beginner, for learning what I had and what to look for in coins. Redbook is very simply laid out with charts to determine value based on dates and a general guide of the grade(quality) of a coin, brief descriptions of what features on a coin determines grade. There are pictures to help you identify what series or type of coin you have. Redbook is the book you need, it will be the best tool you can have to help you.
Red book (even read it cover to cover) I already have. Actually 2 (1 was gramps). For the most part they are already separated by denomination, year, MM. Except maybe 10% of them. I have already started listing them. Higher grades are my weak point. I am constantly reading and rereading grades when trying to decide. I'm sure that will always be a ongoing challenge especially with older era coins. There's so much wear with some of them i wonder if i should bother. Thanks all for your help
You should get a loupe to help you make any determination on grades. Since you are starting out you might want to try a Jefferson nickel book or Lincoln penny book. Make sure you keep all the silver coins regardless of wear.
A loupe I have also but would like another. Did you mean fill a penny/nickel book? Or start examining them first?
When it comes to reviewing lots of coins, there are probably people here much more experienced than me, but I went through this twice in the past year. The higher grades are indeed tricky, and some of the high-quality circulated coins can look Mint State, or almost mint-state until you get the right lighting and a good glass, and take the time to really look. After I had reviewed way too many closely, I realized that the true MS were more easily revealed by looking at the edges (only works for reeded edges) where brilliant fields and hard-to-discern high-points were betrayed by their edges. Hopefully this tip will save you some time.
Last one looks like a mason coin. The rest look like circulated "junk silver" with the exception of the proofs and 1970-s Lincoln. Might have some key dates, just check the mintage in the red book. If the first price is higher than the ones around it, it could be a key or semi key date. Coinflation is a great site to see the price of US silver coins. Good Luck! forgot the Morgan! Those will carry a premium with key dates bringing more.
Thanks Bigtee. I did'nt get a chance to take pics of the good stuff. I started to take pics to do inventory and this is what I had. I'll see what I can do next wkend in regards to better pics.
It's good that it came to you fairly well organized. Seems like oftentimes an "inherited collection" comes to folks in a coffee can or something like that. But your grandpa obviously was a collector. If you have any questions about any coin in particular, feel free to ask.
