How to assess 5 old coins

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and a complete ignoramus about numismatics. Back in the 70s, I got talked into taking investment advice from a friend of a friend. One of the investments were some "rare" coins that turned out to come from the New England Rare Coin Galleries. Sometime in the 80s, I took them to someone who told me they actually decreased in value. I later learned that the company had been sued for fraud and went out of business. I packed the coins up and more or less forgot about them.

I was cleaning out some old boxes recently and came across them. Now I am wondering if after all these years, they are worth anything.

I tried to upload scanned copies of the photos that came with the coins, but I got an error message, so I uploaded them to this Dropbox folder.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dmtvzt15k5924l6/AAC3ONmGWpnlm88Vc4euMSjQa?dl=0

There are 5 coins including,

• 1883 US dime (I think it's a dime)
  
• 1898 US dime
• 1908 $20 gold coin
• 1917 US quarter
• 1929 US dime

What's the best way for me to get at least a ballpark estimate of their worth?

Thanks

 

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Wellcome to CT, those are really nice quallity coins I think you should in invest in having them graded. After that you should have no problem to auction them or try getting the best price you could!
Acording to the Red Book the ballpark prices they literally are as follows:
The 1883 5 cent V nickle is listed at $300.00 plus in MS63
The 1898 Barber dime 10 cents is listed at $500.00+ in PF63
The 1908 Double Eagle is listed at $1450.00+ in MS63
The 1917D Quarter is listed at $375.00 in MS63
The 1929 Mercury dime 10cents is listed at $75.00 in MS65
These are the highest grades listed in the book. I hope this gives you an idea of the kind value you may have if your Coins grade higher . Good Luck to you.

 

Wow. Thanks for that detailed information.

What should I expect to pay tp have them graded?

There is a local coin dealer. Is there any way to find out if they are reputable?

Again, thanks for the help!

 

You could check with your local coin dealer about his charges to send you coins to be graded. If you are not a member of a third party grading servicce EG: NGC. PCGS.OR ANACS!
You might want to go to their sites and see how much the sign-ups fee is because when you join they offer so many grading credits per membership and you"LL have to end up just paying postage which is not so cheap either. So check with your LCS (local coin store) about grading them after you check the grading services your self, Save money! Smiles! Happy Trails!

 

I checked out those three grading services. The number of options were a little overwhelming, especially since I wasn't totally sure of all of the terminology. That said, I think for the type of coins that I have, these would be the costs:

ANACS: Membership is free, grading is either $19 or $29/coin. I think most of mine would be $19, so my cost would be $95.

NGC: Grading is $25/coin. A $149 membership includes a $150 credit, so my cost would be $125 without a free membership or $149 with a $149 membership.

PCGS: Grading is $35/coin. A $69 membership has 0 grading vouchers, a $149 membership comes with 4 grading vouchers. So my cost would be $244 with a 69 membership or $184 with a $149 membership.

I hope I got all that right!

 

I 'm glad you did your home work. So you need to decide which route to take now. I hope your Coins grade to the description on them right now. You would be in very good shape. I like the name Hairy Houdini.

 

One last question: You said something about an auction. Where would I go to put them up for auction? Are there other ways to sell the coins? I imagine that the LCD may make an offer.

 

Depending on the value of the coins after you have them graded, If some are high valued coins you could research auctioneers in magazines like Coin World, maybe your LCD could recommend some one locally. You could research more dealers in your part of the state or throughout the state you live in. I would get many opinions and check many coin value sites and publications if the value warrants it!

 

online there is a company called Great Collections. Very reasonable. good luck.

 

GC will handle getting them graded, photographed and put into the auction.

You will need to be firm at the minimum price you want (the higher the value the more likely that coins might not sell).

Don't put any stock in those Red Book prices, they're High Retail at best and usually out of date due to publication deadlines. Current retail is at http://www.coinprices.com (which is a collector price guide by the people who put out the wholesale GreySheet).

 

Let me second the advice offered by Burton Strauss III. GC is a first-class outfit, based on my frequent dealings with them. Good luck!

 

The fees for grading charged by the various services aren't the whole picture. You also have the postage to send the coins, the postage for the service to return the coins to you, etc. Also, not mentioned here is eBay for auctioning the coins post certification. Another possibility is David Lawrence Rare Coins. They've got pretty good terms for their auctions.

 

Do you have to be a member there to get access to all of the prices? It says that are free. I was only able to find 2 of my coins, but then I am not sure what I am doing.

Here's what I found:

• $228 1883 US V Nickle, MS-65
  
• $1,170 1898 US Barber Dime, Proof-65
• $??? 1908 $20 Double Eagle, MS-67
• $??? 1917-D US Quarter, MS-65
• $??? 1929 US Mercury Dime, MS-65

Did I at least get the 2 I did find right? Are the other 3 there? Can you post the prices?

 

Thanks

 

Thanks

 

The coins have been sold and I probably got a bit of a haircut.

After reading the responses here, I posted a question on our local neighborhood email group. I was referred to two local dealers, so I went to see them.

The first one spent a lot of time telling me that the coins were graded way too high. That raised a red flag. Then they told me that the $20 gold coin was counterfeit. They showed my mine and one from their display case using a loupe. They claimed that mine was stamped, whereas the genuine coin was poured. They said to look for little bubbles in the gold. I couldn't see any difference. Another red flag. They then weighed it and said that it weighed exactly what it should to be gold and offered me $900 just for the gold. They offered me $400 for the other 4 coins, for a total of $1,300. I told them I'd think about it.

I then took it to the second local dealer. He told me that the coins were in excellent shape and that some of the grades were maybe a little high. He didn't say anything about the gold coin being counterfeit. He offered me $1,786 for all 5. I had read about New England Rare Coin Gallery being a con outfit and being sued, so I decided to take that offer.

When I got home, I found that I had several more responses from the neighborhood group. Two were from people who collect and sell coins as a hobby. One told me that my coins would be worth at least $10,000 if the grades were confirmed. He later came back with individual prices that added up to $7,015. The other neighbor estimated the value at $6,750. Both recommended that I send them in to be graded.

I was kicking myself in the rear for not having more patience. But then both neighbors said that they were going off of the grades from New England, but if they true grades were lower, they value would also be lower. One of them said he has worked with the second local dealer since 1970 and trusts him to be fair.

I still wish I had been more patient and had sent them in to be graded, but maybe I didn't lose out too badly. (sigh)

I uploaded a summary of the price quotes I got to the same Dropbox folder:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dmtvzt15k5924l6/AAC3ONmGWpnlm88Vc4euMSjQa?dl=0

I tried to upload it here, but got the same error. I don't know why I can't upload here.

 

I don't want to say I told you so. Patience is a virtue, so are the grading companies! Smiles!

 

Exactly opposite of the truth. Either you mis-understood/mis-remembered or s/he's an idiot. MINTING coins uses a press to stamp designs with a die. CASTING FAKE COINS pours metal into mold.

Best recommendation you can get...

Buying raw coins - even as a dealer - always has an element of risk and also the need for a brick & mortar store to make money to cover costs. Plus s/he will have the expense of sending the coins off to be graded, cost of money for the weeks or month it will take, plus tying up capital until they're sold.

All of which nets out to if the coins were over graded by one grade on the original invoice... you probably got paid a fair price. Not top dollar, but fair.

Top dollar would have taken a couple months through GC. And even there, you might not have come out any better. Auctions are a gamble. We've seen ordinary Morgans go for 4x what they should have. And people cherry pick for 1/4 of what a coin should have sold for...

I was watching Heritages Tuesday Internet Auction last night (i.e. where the not so spectacular coins quietly shuffle off to dealers cheap and/or to new owners)… There were about 100 lots of nice Wheat cents. For each coin, HA lists several prices - wholesale, NGC and PCGS price guides - and populations of each.

• TopPop coins were selling a little above wholesale.
• One grade below were selling a little below wholesale
• Two grades below were selling anywhere from $2 to $40. At $2, the $19 minimum buyer's premium makes it a $21 coin... ouch

 

Go ahead and say it. I deserve it.

 

I've been watching this thread for the outcome since it was posted.
But Quite a drastic difference from dealers.

I would have started from scratch due to that drastic difference in stated valuation/fake.

And I would have Sent one coin in to be graded (or sold one to see the results) to see what the result was. If that was positive, then send 2 more in to be graded. If that was positive, then the last 2 in to be graded.

That would have been a "self litmus test" and losses would have been minimal while looking at the potential positive outcome.