Hi. First time poster... Both my wife and I came into relatively large "collections" (read: piles) of old coins (mid 1800's on), commemoratives, and paper bills from our fathers' estates (both passed on in the last year). Can anyone reccomend Dealers or collectors in the Central New York (Syracuse) region who could help us sort though these to assess thier value and/or dispose of them? What we're tyring to avoid is showing them to someone and have them say "These aren't worth much... I'll give you $100." then find out later it was worth thousands... :-( Welcome! Probably not a good idea to post your e_mail address on a public forum. Thanks in advance for the bandwidth! Curious in Syracuse
Dear Curious, Some collectors consider the A.N.A. to be a reputable organization. (others don't) With that in mind, here is a list of New York dealers from their (A.N.A.) website. LINK (click here) Keep in mind that these are businesses, and many will charge for appraisal services. Good luck!
Hi Curious/Pscheu and welcome to the forum. My home of record is only 88.1 miles southeast of the Syracuse VA Hospital, so if I were in the neighborhood, I'd be happy to help you out. However, since I'm not (I'm in Arizona for the winter), I might suggest Casper Coins in Ithaca if you have any significant number of silver dollars or perhaps Barre in Norwich (mostly since I tend to trust small town dealers more than big city dealers - in a small town, if a dealer screws up, they hang him). Long time ago (early 60s), there used to be a large dealer in Syracuse (don't remember the name), but I think he defrauded a few people, so they shot him. Looks like you're gonna have to travel a little since I don't see a Syracuse dealer listed by the ANA. Fred
My suggestion would be to get copies of the Guide Book to United States Coins (the "Red Book"), and the Official Price Guide to US Money (the "Black Book") at your choice of the local public library, your local bookstore, a local coin store, or online bookseller. Do not - repeat - not pay any attention to the specific prices, but use them to identify what you have, and which items are potentially the most valuable. They will also give you some basic advice on grading the coins, which is extremely important in establishing their value. Once you have identified the "good stuff" you can return here for opinions on value, or take it to a dealer with a little more confidence that you will be engage in meaningful conversaiton with him/her. Be sure to get the paper money Black Book, as there is also a coin Black Book, that is not as good for your purpose as the Red Book. The prices are what dealers were charging at retail when the books went to press, several months before they were published, so they are not really useful as price guides, other than to indicate comparative values. A small, but important, side effect of doing it this way is that you will learn a great deal, and may decide to become a collector yourself; in which case your "piles" can be the start of a great collecting experience. Oh yeah - welcome to the Forum.
Hi skane-- I hope we don't get gigged for being slightly off topic. I'm 2 mi off Exit 69 of I-10, about 80 miles west of Phoenix, 50+ miles east of Quartzsite in a tiny (40 units on 40 acres, semi-boondocking) RV park in the middle of the AZ desert. Are you somewhere around here? My legal NYS residence in Chenango Co, NY is 11 south of Norwich. To be honest, I'm not familiar with your uncle's shop; I didn't even know there was a coin shop nearby. I've been away from home for about two years, but will stop in when I return in May. We'll have to file this with the small world department. Fred
Hmmmm. Rte 51, Rte 7, Horton's Hardware (birthplace of various of my lawnmowers). My legal home is Guilford, but I grew up in Sidney, just up the road from you. I don't have any instant messaging on my laptop, but I'll try figuring some way of contacting you off-list. I presume your uncle had more than just a little influence with you on coin collecting?
Skane, I just figured it out - there's a little email button under each of our posts. Check your inbox. Fred
BUMP I know five years have passed, but I was wondering if anyone new (or old) has information on a dealer they trust that is closer than 80 miles from Syracuse, New York.
Stopped in to see him yesterday. Seemed to know what he was talking about (although he is a little biased toward PCGS) and most importantly, he just got a big set of Lincolns.