Grandma's Collection

Grandma's Collection- New pics posted 9:45am MST 2/1

I just got back from Texas and helping my husband clean out his Grandmother's estate. In her safe deposit box, we found about 600-800 coins. I know absolutely nothing (less than that!) about coins, and Grandma has Alzheimer's and can't help. I posted the first 6 coins at http://www.monshaugenfamily.com/coins.htm Any information, history, neat facts, value, etc... would be greatly appreciated!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

The only thing I see wrong is the 1866 is with rays, not keys.

The best and easiest way to determine value is to check completed auctions on eBay. Some of the prices look reasonable, some low.

Have you been bitten by the collecting bug? Enjoy!!:kewl:

 

A great source of info & coin values is the Red Book - A guide to United States coins by R.S. Yeoman. You can probably find a copy on-line, or at any book store. It has facts about every U.S. coin from colonial times to present, and clues on how to grade them.

 

Thanks for the info! I just posted a bunch more pics. Specifically two that are maybe Roman? Any ideas what those are?

 

They're in a thick plastic case. Any suggestions on how to get a better pic of them? Also, did you click the smaller pic to view the larger one?

 

Welcome to the forum!!

Looks like you have some nice coins that potentially have some value. Your best best is to catalogue the collection carefully, noting the denomination, date, and mint mark. You can check out http://www.bestcoin.com/ to get a general idea about values. There is also a section on this website about grading that you should consult. The condition of your individual coins will greatly impact their value.

That 1881-CC in the holder could be worth from $500 - $750 depending on the condition and the 1884-CC in the holder could be worth between $175-$300.

Importantly, take your time, and do not rush to sell the collection quickly (if that is your goal), as you will likely get less money for them.

Feel free to ask questions!

 

I think two of those seated dimes are worth about $50 each, and the AU one is probably worth around $200, so she bought some wonderful coins [and she has over 500? wow]. The mint sets and proof sets might be worth more than the listed price depending on how the coins are in the holders, most today have been picked over for the good ones. I certainly wouldn't sell anything until you get a handle on all this.

 

Welcome and congratulations,

Head down to your local bookstore and buy a copy of Yeoman's RedBook for US Coins. It'll list all the retail prices for all US coins.

As mentioned, you can check on ebay to see what some similiar coins are going for.

Take your time deciding what to do - grandma did putting this collection together.

In the Red Book it'll give quite a bit of history behind some of your coins and you have a very nice collection from which to do this.

The Carson City dollars were discovered stashed away in some vault by uncle sam and the mint decided to sell them packaged the way you see them. Do a google on Carson City and the Comstock Load and Mark Twain.

As I said, the history is amazing.

good luck and again, take your time if you decide to sell any of them,

rono

 

greetings and congratulations! you have some nice coins there. love those carson city dollars and seated coinage. please feel free to ask if help is needed. perhaps after looking at them more, you may feel compelled to learn more about them and get bitten by the coin bug! best wishes regardless of your plans.....steve

 

Hi and welcome to CoinTalk from the UK :thumb: looks like a couple of Philip the Arab Roman silvers you have there can I suggest that you have a go at scanning them on a decent flatbed scanner, you can get good results that way. I love those Morgans

De Orc :bow:

 

maryhm:
Welcome, and have a good time with grandma's collection.
There are some very nice coins in there.

 

GDJMSP- I'll get those pics later this morning, after my battery charges back up!
Rono- Thanks for the clues on how to search the history of the Carson City dollars- that's what I'm really interested in...the history.
De Orc- Yes, it looks like those Roman coins are Philip the Arabs. I'm still searching to find the exact ones I have.

We aren't going to sell the collection. Much of it is going into the safe deposit box this afternoon and the rest will go in tomorrow after I get pictures of everything. We're going to save it for our sons, and hopefully they'll appreciate it. That's one of the reasons I'm cataloging everything- because I know they're too lazy to do it!

I just uploaded pictures of coins in vials 1-10. It seems to me like these vials are a bad way to store them. Am I correct?

 

Howdy grand daughter,

The history of the carson city mint is wonderful. The comstock lode was basically this nuggest of 75% silver and 25% gold that was about 5 miles long and a mile in diameter. They had already hit pay dirt, but later hit the Big Bonanza - and that was the Mother Lode.

They built this city on top of this rascal called Virginia City (ever watch Bonaza?). The original Silver Dollar saloon. Young reporter named Sam Clemens.

Actually, Mr. Comstock was a weasel who convinced the actual 'owners' of his particular parcel that it was his but he "settled" for 1/3 of the action with them having the other 2/3. He later sold his portion for $11K and it later actually produced about $20MILLION. This was the Ophir mine. He died broke. This was on a documentary the other night. But here's a link to the overall history in brief.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstock_Lode

enjoy,

rono

 

Just posted pics of Vials 11-20. Coin count is over 500 now and there's still lots more to go. Found more of the Morgan's, and posted more pics of that 1881 CC Morgan. I'm getting better at taking the pics! At least everything isn't yellow anymore!

 

Welcome and very nice collection Maryhm. Your sons will appreciate all of the hard work you are doing now. Hope you get some time to enjoy the view while you are doing all the work.

Best Regards

Darryl

 

Awesome collection!!! Your sons will definetly appreciate it. Love the collection.

 

I would be selfish to sell it. I would get all that good stuff slabbed and buy a safe!

 

Maryhm,

You may also want to leave instructions with the coins on how to handle them. No touching except edges, No cleaning, handle over a soft surface just in case one gets dropped, etc... Also may want to slab some of the more valuable coins as mac10mac suggested. Be careful though not to send any coins to PCGS or NGC that may be scratched or damaged as they may not grade them and still charge you. Read the terms carefully prior to sending them. You can also just buy nice coin holders if you want to avoid the costs and issues with dealing with a TPG company. Document all the stuff that you wish your grandmother did.

Darryl