So I've been collecting coins with my grandfather since I was a little kid, I'm now 32 and he's recently passed away. I now have his large US and Canadian collection and most of the Canadian coins came from his mother. My question is I'm not really into the Canadian coins and there are some things that are pretty valuable. I have an entire set of silver dollars, 1935 forward, an entire Half Dollar set, etc. I'm in New Jersey and I can't seem to find anyone that wants to deal in Canadian coins around me, not even in NYC. I was wondering if anyone knows of a reputable dealer that I can contact. Also, I think it might be worthwhile to get some of them graded to get an actual value and such. Any thoughts or opinions are welcomed.
With regard to the Canadian dollars, I would suggest getting the 1948 graded by PCGS, NGC, ANACS, or ICG. The bulk of the value of that set is tied up there, along with the 1947 maple lead and perhaps even the 1945. For the half dollars, does your set have 1870-1901 pieces? If so, what grade are they?
I recommend acquiring some Canadian catalogs to help you evaluate the collection. Below are 3 that should be available. No need to buy the latest issue as pricing has been fairly flat for the past 3 or 4 years. Once you have an idea of the value of the collection and still looking to dispose of it then contact Heritage in Dallas, TX or Brian Bell in New Brunswick, Canada. Both will travel to your location to confirm what you have and make an offer. You could also list what you have here and we could provide further opinions. Best of luck. Charlton - Standard Catalogue (the Canadian Redbook equivalent) - values in CAD tend to be higher than the market, usually a year behind the market. THE reference for varieties. Krause - values in USD but a) are approx. 18 to 24 months behind the market and b) are not updated with every edition. Whitman - Guide to Canadian Coins and Tokens - values in USD, not sure of how they calculate them but usually seem lower than the market.
Half dollars from that time period that I have are 1870, 1872 and 1881. 1870 is heavily toned probably AU...the 71 is toned VF and 1881 also toned and Fine. None are graded...just the best guess. I'll try and get pictures if you'd like.
Here is a website that may help you get a general idea of what is worth grading and what is not. If you have the '48 dollar, that needs to be graded .. lots of fakes of those out there. This same Coins and Canada site has another section where you can get actuall Ebay and auction prices sold, but I wouldn't take it as close to accurate. At the bottom of each page for the individual coins are known varieties for the date(but are submitted by forum members, so again, acuracy may be a minor problem: http://www.coinsandcanada.com/coins-prices.php At the very top of the link above, if you click on "quality and wear", you will see a condensed grading guide for each series/denomination. It will give you an idea of the grade (though not official) for your Canadian coinage.
