Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

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malabargold
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Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by malabargold »

Going through my deceased parent's belongings I have
discovered a large cache (1,000's) of silver and gold coins,
unusual bills and stamps - most date from mid 1800's to 1920's.

Guessing 95% of currency and 50% of stamps are US origin.

I know nothing about collecting these items.

Is there a best way to go about getting these appraised and sold?
Bud
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by Bud »

I am following because I am in a similar position.
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windaar
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by windaar »

malabargold wrote: Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:35 pmI know nothing about collecting these items.
Putting a little time into first figuring out what you have and if it is valuable or not would really be worth your time. I've dabbled in coins over the years and have helped a few friends who were in your position. The rules of thumb for many collections seems to be: silver is worth melt value, gold really depends on type, dates, and condition, used currency not worth much, stamps worth nothing, foreign anything (except silver) worth nothing. BUT YOU MIGHT have a primo collection in which these rules would not apply. So learn a little first before you let anything out of your house.
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psteinx
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by psteinx »

A starting point to assess the value would be:

For much of the silver (though not necessarily rarities and/or all really old stuff) and any MODERN gold:
https://www.scoins.com/pricelist/tradingsheet.aspx

For OLD gold (pre 1933):
https://www.scoins.com/pricelist/pre1933gold.aspx
Last edited by psteinx on Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
psteinx
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by psteinx »

Note that the main modern Scotsman link prices things in relation to spot prices of silver and gold, and those spot prices change often. But the spreads (how much above/below spot they buy/sell for) change more slowly. They do change some though, as demand for coins ebbs and flows. At the moment, modern silver US coins command a high % premium over spot.
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bhwabeck3533
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by bhwabeck3533 »

malabargold wrote: Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:35 pm
unusual bills and stamps - most date from mid 1800's to 1920's.

Guessing 95% of currency and 50% of stamps are US origin.

I know nothing about collecting these items.

Is there a best way to go about getting these appraised and sold?
My Dad collected stamps, he was very proud of his organized and vast collection. He thought it was a valuable collection. It wasn't.

After he passed away I "shopped" the stamps around, and had a dealer in Atlanta evaluate the collection. Literally worth pennies on the dollar. Good luck.
Bud
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by Bud »

Thank you all for your input.

In doing a bit of research, came across this website which lists ten websites on which to sell coins.

https://wellkeptwallet.com/sell-coins-online/

After doing a bit of research, I will inventory mine and attempt to sell online. There seems to be some valuable pieces in this collection.

All the best.
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Kenkat
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by Kenkat »

If you want some basic coin pricing guidance, this site is helpful:

http://www.numismedia.com/rarecoinprices/fmv.shtml

You need to grade the coins a bit to know value but for ballpark numbers:

If a coin looks very worn, look at G and VG grades
If a coin looks like a “normal” coin (i.e., not worn out but not brand new either), look at VF grades
If a coin looks brand new, look at AU and lower MS grades

The list is organized by type, date and mintmark. Date and mintmark are critical and can make a huge difference in value.

These are retail values and I would consider them best case of what you might get selling them yourself. A dealer might give you 40-60% maybe. It’s good to know general value so you don’t have someone offer you $1000 for everything when it might be worth 10 times that or more.
Tellurius
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by Tellurius »

Lots of good advice here

I would say, if you find you have rare stuff there, the stuff collectors dream about, the stuff they yearn for, why don’t you learn about them and keep them?

From someone with the collecting bug
“And how shall I think of you?' He considered a moment and then laughed. 'Think of me with my nose in a book!” | ― Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
biscuits
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by biscuits »

Following. I too have inherited such a collection, and appreciate the advice here.
pshonore
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by pshonore »

The vast majority of US stamps issued in the last 100 years probably have little value in excess of their postal use. The are some exceptions such as the Zeppelin issues of the 1930's being one example and there are others. Condition also comes into play. Collectors at one time used glassine "hinges" to mount stamps in an album. That tended to disturb the gum and now "never hinged" stamps are preferred. Centering of the design is looked at as well as complete perforations, etc. And of course errors that make it through the printing and inspection process can be quite valuable but very hard to find. Unfortunately the number of stamps collectors has declined greatly.
roamingzebra
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by roamingzebra »

Tellurius wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 12:04 pm Lots of good advice here

I would say, if you find you have rare stuff there, the stuff collectors dream about, the stuff they yearn for, why don’t you learn about them and keep them?

From someone with the collecting bug
I have a world coins collection that my Dad and I started long ago. I was planning on selling it, but when I started researching the values, I became interested in coins again. :) They don't take up much space so it's not urgent that they ever be sold.

But IF I wanted to sell (and I will eventually), I notice there is no such thing as a "local coin shop" in my area and I'd rather go local than online. I did find one outfit that serves as kind of a middleman between local coin collectors and auctions, but I haven't contacted them yet. I figure they'd be more concerned with volume than quality. Overall, I'd rather form a relationship with a local coin shop, but they seem to be an endangered species.
barnaclebob
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by barnaclebob »

These threads always remind me of the fallacy of valuing collections. 1,000 items worth $10 each is not worth $10,000. Its worth $10,000 minus the costs and effort of selling.

If you have one of these collections, make the high value stuff easy to identify or your heirs will not get a good price for it.
makeitcount
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by makeitcount »

rule 1: DON"T CLEAN ANYTHING!
rule 2: be patient
rule 3: educate yourself by using some of the above listed on-line resources
rule 4: seek a referral to a local dealer or collector for help with values and/or selling
"Yeah, well, you know, that's just like, uh, your opinion, man." - J. Lebowski
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alpenglow
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by alpenglow »

bhwabeck3533 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 7:06 am
malabargold wrote: Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:35 pm
unusual bills and stamps - most date from mid 1800's to 1920's.

Guessing 95% of currency and 50% of stamps are US origin.

I know nothing about collecting these items.

Is there a best way to go about getting these appraised and sold?
My Dad collected stamps, he was very proud of his organized and vast collection. He thought it was a valuable collection. It wasn't.

After he passed away I "shopped" the stamps around, and had a dealer in Atlanta evaluate the collection. Literally worth pennies on the dollar. Good luck.
I unfortunately agree. Boxes of binders full of "valuable" FDCs were recently given to me. There were still some original receipts in the binders from the 70s. Cents on the dollar at best. These things seem nearly worthless.
Tellurius
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by Tellurius »

As a friend said once, the problem is not valuing them, but finding someone who wants them, especially for post-1960 stuff
“And how shall I think of you?' He considered a moment and then laughed. 'Think of me with my nose in a book!” | ― Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
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Kenkat
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by Kenkat »

Tellurius wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:36 pm As a friend said once, the problem is not valuing them, but finding someone who wants them, especially for post-1960 stuff
With very very few exceptions, any US coins 1965 and newer are worth face value. Proof and Uncirculated US Mint sets are worth original purchase price at best.
MadHungarian
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by MadHungarian »

C.S. Lewis a century ago wrote that he was handling his deceased father's estate, and there was a stamp collection that his father had thought would be worth something. The stamp collection turned out to be worthless. Pence on the pounds.
Interesting how some things never change...
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enad
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by enad »

For US coins you can pick up the Red Book at any bookstore or a coin dealer or even Amazon. The hard part for you will be to determine the grade of the coins which are graded on a 70-point scale. For US coins you can also enter the year and denomination into Google or eBay and get more information. It's probably best to get a pair of coin gloves and wear them when examining the coins as the oils from your skin can harm the coins especially if they are a high grade and/or rare.

Most reputable coin dealers will pay 94.5% of the precious metal melt value and many consider coins made from 1960 to date to be melt value. Old US Silver dollars (1935 and before) have a collectible value that is far more than the intrinsic (precious metal) value of the coin. Whatever you do, don't take them to a place until you know what you have. If you want, pick any 10 coins that represent the kinds of coins you have Year/Denomination and I'll share with you what I know about them. You can send me a private message if you don't wish to post the information here. I am selling off my entire collection because my heirs will understand cash better than coins even if they are graded.

Many pawn shops will buy modern gold, silver and platinum coins and sometimes by up to 2% over spot or 5% under spot. To sell on eBay for spot means you pay 14% in fee's to eBay/PayPal so the local pawn shop would be a better way to go, but don't go until you have an idea what it's actually worth. If you have US Mint coins in their original government packaging, don't throw out the packaging as sometimes it can add up to $300 to the value of the coin.

I have been using all my stamps from the 1950's as postage just to use them. I have a lifetime supply of stamps now, probably my heirs will also have a lifetime supply as I can't see using that many stamps. Currency if dated 1934 or later is worth its face value unless they are absolutely crisp (not ironed). A crinkled $2 bill from 1976 is worth $2, but a crisp $2 from 1976 is worth about $15 (the problem is finding a buyer willing to pay that amount).

Coins are not that great of an investment. There is a commercial on TV with Chuck Woolery as the pitchman stating if you put $12,800 in a safe in 1976 and $12,800 worth of gold in the same safe, you'd have the $12,800 in cash today but it would have lost a lot of purchasing power due to inflation, but the gold would be worth $135,000 (the commercial was released in Aug 2020 but still airs today). The commercial is a little misleading because the rate of return on the gold is 5.375% which is not a big return.

Here's a PV contrasting the $12,800 cash invested in a bank, $12,800 in gold, and $12,800 in a Total US Stock Market fund in 1976 and their value today

Gold would not be worth holding for 45+ years. A total US Stock Market or S&P500 Index fund would have been a much better investment.
What Goes Up Must come down -- David Clayton-Thomas (1968), BST
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prudent
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by prudent »

A couple questions. How were the coins acquired - were they pulled from circulation? Did he buy them from coin shops? How are they packaged - loose in a bag or can? In labeled individual cardboard holders with a cellophane window? In hard plastic cases with labels inside the case? This can provide some insight.
Invictus002
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Re: Best Way to Obtain Honest Coin, Bill and Stamp Appraisal

Post by Invictus002 »

Me it easy. Contact Ian at greatcollections. They provide A-Z service and are trust worthy. They even provide upfront advance before selling your coins on auctions.
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