Large (inherited) collection; finally catalogued; now what?

OP, Original Post. To answer your other question on Numismatist, look for a Certified Ph.D.

 

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You could have something in the dollars dated 1878-1921.

 

Go to the website of the American Numismatic Association

www.money.org

and in the pull-down menu called "Resources" you will an item called "Coin Dealer Directory".

 

Sounds like this has become a monster hanging over you head and you would just like someone to tell you what you have and the worth. Having had to deal with estates before, I know your pain.
I think the best way, as some others have suggested, is to find a trusted dealer (using @Publius2 method) or arrange with a large dealer/auction, would be the easiest on you.
Some offer appraisals, for a fee, and would also sell them for you. Heritage is one of the better known and here is a link to their site: https://currency.ha.com/information/estate-appraisal.s?ic=Tab-Service-Appraisal-121913-interior
Good luck and let us know the outcome please.

 

I've sold several collections for friends, family and co-workers on eBay. Selling on eBay is not rocket science, good photos are important, but even smart phones will take good closeups and relatively inexpensive camera scopes like the Aven Mighty Scope connected to a laptop make taking and cropping photos easy. The ebay commission reasonable. If you don't want to take the time to sell them yourself, look for someone in your community that will do so for a reasonable commission. Check out coin clubs in NJ: https://coinzip.com/coinClubs.php?state=NJ EBay also lets you sell coins and donate the proceeds to charity (many to choose from) If you donate 100% to a charity, eBay doesn't charge any commission, if less their commission is proportionally reduced.

 

@kookiez, I strongly recommend that you purchase a copy of the Red Book. They are available on Amazon for $15.95 but can be purchased on eBay, at your local coin shop and usually at coin shows.

The Red Book will tell you some very valuable information regarding US coins, such as:

- an introduction that will give a brief primer on US coins, grading, etc. that you will find useful even if all you want to do is sell the coins but which you may well find stimulating in other ways.
- which coins in a series are key dates or semi-key dates. These are valuable in pretty much any condition.
- which coins are common and are low value in heavily circulated condition but have significant value in the higher grades.
- a little bit about grading such as what is the Sheldon Scale (1 to 70) with 1 being about as worn as it can be and still identifiable and 70 being a perfect coin.
- a tiny bit about grading for each coin series. This won't teach you how to grade but it will make you a bit more comfortable with the nomenclature and the framework of grading.
- important information about damaged coins and how it relates to grading and value. Note that damage can be much more subtle than a drilled hole or flattened on the railroad track.

Let me give you an example from my 2019 Red Book. You say you have 231 dimes from 1877 to 1970. The Red Book will tell you that the 1877 dime is the Liberty Seated series and was minted at Philadelphia, San Francisco (S), and Carson City (CC). The Red Book will tell you where the mintmark is located (no mintmark for Philly and on the reverse below the wreath for SF and CC). Let's say your dime is the Philly issue: That coin has a $15 value in Good-4 condition but a $250 value in MS (Mint State)-63 condition. Big difference, isn't it?

But for $16 invested in a Red Book, you can get a feel for value even though you don't know how to grade. Surely you can tell the difference between a well-worn coin and one that looks like it just rolled off the presses? The Red Book will also tell you that for Liberty Seated dimes, the grading follows these guides:

G-4: LIBERTY on shield not readable. Date and letters legible.
F-12: LIBERTY visible, weak spots.
VF-20: LIBERTY strong and even.
EF-40: LIBERTY and scroll edges distinct.
AU-50: Wear on Liberty's shoulder and hair high points.
MS-60: No trace of wear, light blemishes.
MS-63: Some distracting contact marks or blemishes in prime focal areas. Impaired luster possible.

Now the Red Book won't tell you anything about currency since its focus is strictly on coins. But there are other resources for currency including another forum here on Coin Talk.

The folks here are willing to help you but at some point if you want us to help with specific coins you will have to post full-size, in-focus photographs.

Now, let me prepare you for something you may not want to hear: Some of what you have described is going to have little to no value. For example, all those Lincoln Wheat Cents dated 1940 and later? Unless they are high grade or rare, unusual errors they are worth little more than face value. That's a hard thing for many people to hear but it is often true. The common, low-grade stuff just doesn't have much value even if it's over 100 years old. To illustrate this point, my Local Coin Shop owner paved his shop floor with Lincoln Wheat Cents.

Also, if you get a Red Book, you must know that values presented there are old at the time of publication, do not reflect actual market prices, are an optimistic guess at retail prices. Dealers will not offer anything close to what the Red Book says, unless it is an unusual coin.

Good luck and have fun with it if you can.

 

Original Post

 

Sometimes it means "Original Post" and sometimes it means "Original Poster". Which is defined by the context.

 

Although I can't help, I would hope that you would keep us informed on your progress. You may end up enjoying working with others that collect coins. I promise you that most of us have gone through this in one way or another and these guys know just about everything. Again, please keep us informed on how you are progressing.

 

Unfortunately (?) the value of a coin is not only determined by its denomination and year, but also by condition. Take as an example an 1877 (no mint mark) dime. In G (Good) condition, the Red Book lists it as $15 (that would be a retail price, not what a dealer would buy it from you for), but in an uncirculated condition, it jumps to $150, and as a "choice" uncirculated to $250. Hard to grade coins accurately. I would pick 2-3 coin shops and take some of the coins to them and have them quote you a price as to what they would offer. Another thought is to take some of them to a coin club meeting to show off and some knowledgeable members will tell you if you have anything spectacular. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

Pre-Covid, I was attending my local coin club meeting and there is a point in the proceedings where the President asks new members and visitors to stand and tell us about themselves. They are awarded a token coin for their efforts. One fellow stood up and said he was there because he wanted to sell his IHC collection. He was inundated by dealers and collectors later in the meeting.

 

It would help to see pictures or your Pre-1940 coins/notes. Those are ones with the greatest upside potential. Condition is the key to value...especially the rare ones.

"OP" stands for "Original Post"...or "Original Poster".

 

Just a few categories of interest for the novice.

Modern - Pretty much anything dated after 1964 when they discontinued most silver use in the coinage.

Other than 40% halves from 1965 to 1970, there is little in circulation of interest until very recent Mint manufactured rarities which I know little about and probably of no concern to you if it is an older collection.

Therefore, in this date range, Mint Sets, Proof Sets and specially housed Mint products or Third Party Graded (TPG) are the only coins likely to have a premium above face value.

There is a very slight premium for Cents dated before 1982 when they took the bulk of copper out of the cents. Perhaps they are worth 2-3 cents in normal circulated condition.

Any coin which is already in a cardboard 2x2 may have some interest since it indicates someone believed it had value enough to go to the trouble to place it in there.

So the best idea when grouping the coins is to separate them into modern and postmodern. Even better would be to group them into categories like Morgan Dollars, Peace Dollars, Eisenhower Dollars (Though a modern issue, they were heavily saved.)

Also beware of non mint look-a-likes called rounds. If silver, they are worth their content in silver bulk.

Each denomination has their own Type Groupings with some subdivisions within them.

All this can be done fairly quickly with the help of a guidebook or an internet search of coin sights.

Many accumulations are called collections and their value varies widely.

Good luck. I was a collector and was tasked with distributing a large collection of my Uncle's which proved to be basically bulk silver coinage with only one Morgan Dollar with a $100 premium when most were worth about $12 out of about two thousand coins. Silver wasn't that high at the time.