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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Publius2, post: 7567880, member: 105571&quot;][USER=104563]@kookiez[/USER],&nbsp; I strongly recommend that you purchase a copy of the Red Book.&nbsp; They are available on Amazon for $15.95 but can be purchased on eBay, at your local coin shop and usually at coin shows.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Red Book will tell you some very valuable information regarding US coins, such as:</p><p><br /></p><p>- 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.</p><p>- which coins in a series are key dates or semi-key dates.&nbsp; These are valuable in pretty much any condition.</p><p>-&nbsp; which coins are common and are low value in heavily circulated condition but have significant value in the higher grades.</p><p>- 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.</p><p>- a tiny bit about grading for each coin series.&nbsp; This won&#039;t teach you how to grade but it will make you a bit more comfortable with the nomenclature and the framework of grading.</p><p>- important information about damaged coins and how it relates to grading and value.&nbsp; Note that damage can be much more subtle than a drilled hole or flattened on the railroad track.</p><p><br /></p><p>Let me give you an example from my 2019 Red Book.&nbsp; You say you have 231 dimes from 1877 to 1970.&nbsp; 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).&nbsp; 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).&nbsp; Let&#039;s say your dime is the Philly issue:&nbsp; That coin has a $15 value in Good-4 condition but a $250 value in MS (Mint State)-63 condition.&nbsp; Big difference, isn&#039;t it?</p><p><br /></p><p>But for $16 invested in a Red Book, you can get a feel for value even though you don&#039;t know how to grade.&nbsp; Surely you can tell the difference between a well-worn coin and one that looks like it just rolled off the presses?&nbsp; The Red Book will also tell you that for Liberty Seated dimes, the grading follows these guides:</p><p><br /></p><p>G-4:&nbsp; LIBERTY on shield not readable.&nbsp; Date and letters legible.</p><p>F-12: LIBERTY visible, weak spots.</p><p>VF-20: LIBERTY strong and even.</p><p>EF-40: LIBERTY and scroll edges distinct.</p><p>AU-50: Wear on Liberty&#039;s shoulder and hair high points.</p><p>MS-60: No trace of wear, light blemishes.</p><p>MS-63: Some distracting contact marks or blemishes in prime focal areas.&nbsp; Impaired luster possible.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now the Red Book won&#039;t tell you anything about currency since its focus is strictly on coins.&nbsp; But there are other resources for currency including another forum here on Coin Talk.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, let me prepare you for something you may not want to hear:&nbsp; Some of what you have described is going to have little to no value.&nbsp; For example, all those Lincoln Wheat Cents dated 1940 and later?&nbsp; Unless they are high grade or rare, unusual errors they are worth little more than face value.&nbsp; That&#039;s a hard thing for many people to hear but it is often true.&nbsp; The common, low-grade stuff just doesn&#039;t have much value even if it&#039;s over 100 years old.&nbsp; To illustrate this point, my Local Coin Shop owner paved his shop floor with Lincoln Wheat Cents.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.&nbsp; Dealers will not offer anything close to what the Red Book says, unless it is an unusual coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>Good luck and have fun with it if you can.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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