I'm not a collector, but I have coins. Many coins. And I need help.

I have a family members' coin and proof set collection (mostly US, but some from other countries) and I've been trying to understand what I have. He was a collector and had Alzheimers before he passed in 1989, so it was not well organized and I have no idea what's there or it's value. I finished putting them in flips and binders (by type and year) and would like to begin cataloguing them. I'm not ready to start grading them—I just want to identify what and how many I have of each and then go back and investigate the grading process.

Can anyone recommend a quality software product that is pre-populated with reliable values and updates? It's taken me a long time to get this far and I have no idea how long each of the next phases will take so the updates are important to me.

Oh, and I'm on a Mac so need a Mac Platform.

Any other thoughts or advice are welcome and very much appreciated.

 

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I’d start by typing PCGS in the App Store and downloading Price Guide, CoinFacts and Photograde. Within CoinFacts click Value View to see what coins are actually selling for independent of the retail value listed, as they don’t always match up. Also be aware that not all coins within each grade are created equal, some are worth premiums over retail for eye appeal and choice attributes and some will be worth less. If they are all raw, even more so.

For foreign coins, I’d google search NGC and the year/denomination to identify and check values.

 

Therein lies the problem with your request. You can't just look up a coin and get a value; you will get a table of values dependent on the grade (or sometimes no values - requiring you to know the market for that coin to value it properly). If you can't grade the coin yourself, then you are not able to really assign a value. For some coins you can roughly do this (if they are not valuable in any grade), but for many coins - even common issues - the swing in value can be thousands of dollars.

Especially if you are dealing with a large collection, your best bet is going to be to take it to a professional and pay them for a valuation, or expect to spend a very long time learning how to do this yourself.

 

Thanks! I'm not saying I won't grade them or have them graded eventually, but it would be great if I could take my time and assign the grades after I've catalogued quantities of each. Do you know of any software products?

 

Thanks! Can you make any reccos for products to help me create a catalog of what I have?

 

MS Excel. I’ve yet to find a cataloging app that isn’t more of a pain than just creating tables myself.

 

Can you give us a sample of what you have? Maybe a few pictures?

Not to be rude, but it could be a bunch of common stuff worth face value or you could have some real gems in there.

 

Here are some guidelines on the Proof sets.

Most all of the Proof sets from 1968 (made at the San Francisco Mint with the "S" mint mark) to 1989 have low values. Some of them barely bring more than their face value, even if they are nice. There are some rare coins, mostly pieces that are missing their mint marks, but those coins are seldom seen. If you see any Proof coins in sets from 1968, without mint marks, they could be good.

The Proof sets from 1950 to 1964 have silver coins in them. Generally the early sets from 1950 to 1958 are good with the prices dropping as the sets get more recent.

Sets issued from 1936 to 1942 are all good, but condition is key to the value.

Beyond that, like the others said, we need more information and pictures to be able to help you.

 

I can help will other countries coins. post photos of both sides of each coin in focus.

 

Dealers often evaluate collections for insurance purposes. If you are just getting your feet wet in numismatics it may be beneficial for you to pay a fee to a qualified dealer to give you an evaluation. You would do well to handle a 10,000.00 collection differently than a $1000.00 collection. Good luck.

 

MS Excel for all your needs. As the man above said; it's just easy. Good luck with your new found hobby.

 

And if you get a dealer to appraise them, I might do it with the agreed upon condition that he/she can not buy them. You don’t want someone lowballing you, for their own benefit.

 

CoinManage is good, except I don’t know if it’s available for Mac. I used it to assess a big box of coins my mother gave me.

 

Kripes........

Welcome Kook......

 

Oh! Good point!

 

hahah. thanks!

 

I don't think you will find a program with values, that is reliable. Prices are always changing.

 

I recommend buying a current copy of A Guidebook of United States Coins. While the prices may not be absolutely accurate, you can easily see which coins are common and which are better dates. It shows mint mark locations and pics of some better varieties. It also has a basic grading guide in circulated condition for each series. It's loaded with all kinds of info. That book will help you sort out the better coins/sets. And it's only $10-$15.

 

Thank-you!