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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Hobo, post: 1064088, member: 11521&quot;]Billy,</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>My answer depends on how you answer the following questions.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>How are the coins housed? Are they loose in cans and boxes, in 2X2s or in coin folders or books? Are they slabbed? </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Are they common coins pulled from circulation or are they &quot;collector&quot; coins? </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I would recommend that you first buy a Red Book (A Guide Book of United States Coins) by Yeoman. Don&#039;t pay too much attention to the values of coins given in this book; instead use the relative values to identify key coins.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Next you should segregate your coins. Divide them into groups based on metal content - copper, nickel, silver, gold. Then divide the groups into denominations - copper into cents and two cents, silver into three cents, half dimes, dimes, twenty cents, quarters, half dollars, silver dollars, etc. Next divide the denominations into design types - Large Cents, Flying Eagle Cents, Indian Head Cents, Lincoln Wheat Cents, Lincoln Memorial Cents, Lincoln Zinc Cents, etc. Next divide the design types dy decade (e.g., for Lincoln Wheat Cents divide them into groups of 1909, Teens, Twenties, Thirties, Forties and Fifties). </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Now that you have your coins divided into manageable groups start looking for key coins. (In the Lincoln Wheat Cents you will be looking for the 1909-S VDB, 1914-D, 1922 Plain, and 1931-S.) Keep all the key coins and semi-key coins separate from the common coins. The time you invest in doing this will help you get a higher offer from a coin dealer. If you ask a coin dealer to make an offer on your &quot;collection&quot; of several thousand coins he will probably base his offer on all the coins being common dates. The dealer is simply not going to devote several hours to go through your coins for free. But if you have taken the time to pull out the more valuable coins the dealer&#039;s offer will likely be higher. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If you have some especially valuable coins you may want to consider consigning them with an auciton house (e.g., Heritage). </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>And, and please <b>DO NOT CLEAN YOUR COINS!!!</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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