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Anyone here into collecting coins?

While I can not say it's a calling or a hobby, im involved in it in any case, due to a large collection my Mother left to me in 2005.

It literally has sat in my closet cased up since 2005...
My wife brought it all out this afternoon and we started going though it.

More then 400 Silver dollars from 1878 to 1921
Hundreds of 1/2 dollars.
Dimes, nickles, Penney's, some paper currency and some coins worth face value or a bit more.

We have sorted by denomination and type (year group), mint, and now trying to sort by condition...
That is a gray area if ever there was one.

Lots of online info, but much of it conflicting.

If there are "good" resources, I'd love to have a link.... If there is a shop in CENTEX willing to give some help with grading info, vice just a sales pitch, Im willing to listen.

We decided to just start SOMEPLACE... just separating them into to types and years was a task.
Then we moved them in the holder pages to sort by mint.

Now is the hard part, sub sorting them by grade.

There is SOOOO much info and photo grading available online,, it is easy to get a basic guess going.

Time consuming, but not hard.

Now Im sure I will be shown many times over why I choose wrong and a self graded Very Good (VG10) 1878 Morgan is really a Good (G4).
Perhaps if lucky, a coin I grade as Very Fine (VF35) is really Almost Uncirculated (AU50) :-D

Eric, what a find! I can't really tell you much about numismatic value in terms of "collectibility," but in pure "value of silver" terms, you have inherited a small fortune there. In that aspect, your nickels and pennies are worth their face value, and no more. The very last coins containing any silver were minted in 1976, and not ALL pre-1976 "silver colored" coins have any silver in them. But for instance, at today's rate, those 400 1921 and earlier silver dollars are worth approximately $8,829.68 at this morning's silver exchange rate ($22.0742/coin).

We inherited a small amount of "junk silver" (as it is known) from my FIL when he passed, although not nearly as much as you have. Here is the link I have used to calculate the value of our coins: http://www.coinflation.com/silver_coin_values.html.

When I check their rates against other sites, they all seem pretty close to one another. The things to remember are that A) a silver coin has far more value in silver than its face value, and so it can be a little confusing until you forget the actual face value other than as a general "this has more silver than that" comparison; B) No silver coin is ALL silver and there are some date ranges for some coins where the the percentage is very different than for other coins (1965-1970 half dollars are only 40% silver, for instance, and 1971-1976 Eisenhower Dollars are also only 40% silver); D) silver rates fluctuate up and down daily, but the overall trend seems to be always upwards.

I made myself a simple spreadsheet so that I can simply plug in the quantity by coin type and the current silver value rate for that type of coin, so I could come up with a total value in silver for our inventory. It's not real fancy, but it works. I would be happy to email you a copy of that spreadsheet if you like. Just let me know.

TAM;
Thanks

What we have found so far is.. Mom knew what she was looking for.

Other then some paper money and a few coins collected for sentimental value.(dates of birthdays, special events in her life, ect.)
Most everything she collected is in the 90% silver content. Nickles, Dimes, quarters, Morgan, Peace, Seated Liberty dollars... Heck even the Eisenhower dollars she collected are from the San Francisco mint in '71-'74 the only mint that made Eisenhower dollar with any silver content (%40)
Overall
About a 1/3 in very good condition, with decent Numismatic value.
A few in the Uncirculated category, scattered about in Morgans, Peace, and a few quarters and dimes, having significant Numismatic value.
1/3 in the "some" Numismatic value (meaning worth more then just the silver)
and 1/3 in what the proprietor at the coin shop yesterday called a "Daily Dollar".. No numismatic value, but still worth much more then face value due to silver content.
The penny's we have are a mix... but so far, all have numismatic value well above intrinsic value.
So even the worst shape Morgan we have is worth $29 or so

alas, no truly rare Date / Mint/ Mint error / Condition coins have been found yet... but we are still looking.

The Annoyed Man wrote: 1971-1976 Eisenhower Dollars are also only 40% silver);

TAM of note, my research has shown ONLY Eisenhower Dollars minted at San Francisco (mint mark "S")had silver content. And only up until 1976.
1971
1971-D
1971-S 40% Silver
1971-S 40% Silver Peg Leg
1971-S 40% Silver Partial Peg Leg
1971-S 40% Silver
1972 "High Relief Earth" Type I
1972 "Low Relief Earth" Type II
1972 "Modified High Relief" Type III
1972-D
1973
1973-D
1973-S copper/nickel clad proof
1973-S 40% silver
1974
1974-D
1974-S copper/nickel clad proof
1974-S 40% silver
1776-1976 Bold reverse letters
1776-1976 Thin reverse letters
1776-1976-D Bold reverse letters
1776-1976-D Thin reverse letters
1776-1976-S Bold rev. letters proof
1776-1976-S Thin rev. letters proof
1776-1976-S 40% silver
1977-D
1977-S copper/nickel clad proof
1978-D
1978-S copper/nickel

Just be careful. I'm sure there are honest coin dealers out there. I just haven't found one.

Eric, my FIL also appeared to have been deliberate about his collection, although it had some other coins which might have numismatic value (I doubt it) but have no silver value. We don't have any of the '71-'76 half dollars, but we do have some other 40% silver coins. Funny thing is, I never thought of him in that light. He was a JPL engineer, and he made a good salary. I don't think he collected these coins for their collection value. I think he collected them as a hedge for their silver value. I was initially surprised, but then he was a survivor of the depression and the Kansas dustbowl, so maybe that kind of thinking shouldn't be a surprise at all. Who knew they were latter day preppers?

Edited to add: none of our coins seem particularly high grade. They've all be well circulated, and he did not keep them in holders, just little manila watch envelopes. The most interesting one (to me, anyway) is an 1890 Morgan Silver Dollar. On today's spot market, it has a value of $22.0742, but I have no idea if it has any numismatic value. It is well circulated and tarnished, although it's in pretty good shape for its age.

Also, I just checked the spot silver prices using that link I gave before, and it has come down more than a little bit, and I wondered what would cause that until I remembered that the stock market has improved since the last time I checked silver; and of course when stocks go down, precious metals go up..... and visa versa.

...which is why junk silver coins are a great prepping investment. When there is no stock market and paper money makes poor toilet paper, silver is king.

Inheriting coin collections can be quite a learning experience.
Coin dealers will offer between 20-30% less than retail value..... They need to make profit too.
There are several books you can buy that will show you how to "photo grade" your coins.
This is probably the best one at about $15.00
http://www.magazines.com/official-red-b ... nAodVA8Agw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Once you have them sorted and catalogued you should protect the best ones in airtight coin shells.

Their are many different varieties of Morgan & Peace SD and are classified by a VAM number. you can read about it here.
http://www.coincommunity.com/us_morgan_ ... -a-vam.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Morgan collectors have catergerized every dollar that came off every tool used to make them.

If you come across some that you think are really valuable and want to sell them then Heratage Auctions in Dallas is the largest. http://www.ha.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; there are others and of course there is always eBay.

You really have a fine collection and can enjoy a lifetime of just getting to know what you have and possibly passing it on to future generations. Good Luck!

Hey guys, My name is Bobby and I own coincommunity,com. Saw the link coming in.

We have an extremely busy forum over there with tons of people willing to help. If you can get some images of your coins and post them over there you can get a rough idea of grade and value.

A fellow told me something interesting about coins I hadn't realized. As the value of the base metal goes up, the collectible value goes down. And the reverse is true as the base metal value goes down the collectible value goes up.

So now is the time to buy that rare date you have been looking for, as base metal prices are high.

Wow 400 silver dollars. That is pretty exciting. There are plenty of books that help you grade coins and give you an idea of value. As far as selling them, (if that is your plan) You will need to shop around if you can. I remember needing a silver eagle in Kansas City for a gift. There were no coin stores that actually sold coins. Most advertised coin stores were just pawn shops who would give you 30% of the base metal value.

Because of high base metal value, your silver coins will need to be of a high quality or a rare date to do a lot better than the base metal value.

The only coins I collect are the ones that pile up on the night stand before The_Busy_Mom finds them and uses them for kids lunches. I am not a collector or even hobbyist so YMMV with the below.

I have always been told that you should not try to clean or repair them in any way. Sometimes, the age and aged look increase the value. Also, if you can document any type of story, even if it pertains to your family, this can increase the vale.

If you think you have any "high grade" coins, and hope to sell them on a mass market venue (such as Ebay or other online sources), the only way to get top dollar for them is to have them graded and slabbed by one of the TOP grading services such as NGC, PGS, PCGS. Just putting it in a 2x2 cellophane holder and writing AU40 on it won't work. Knowledgable collectors will want to put their own eyes on it unless it's been slabbed. In recent years, there have been instances of counterfeiting almost every coin out there that has substantial value. In the last few years, there have been numerous Chinese knockoffs of US silver dollars and even the current era American Silver Eagles. There have also been counterfeited slabbed coins on the market. The top grading services are all use holographic imaging and special inks on their slabbed labeling to try and protect against it.

RX8er wrote:The only coins I collect are the ones that pile up on the night stand before The_Busy_Mom finds them and uses them for kids lunches. I am not a collector or even hobbyist so YMMV with the below.

I have always been told that you should not try to clean or repair them in any way. Sometimes, the age and aged look increase the value. Also, if you can document any type of story, even if it pertains to your family, this can increase the vale.

Absolutely....DO NOT try to clean them up. On older coins, most collectors prefer they remain in their natural state without any alteration to the natural aged "toning" or patina.

The coincommunity forums were great in helping me identify a coin I came across (ended up 800 bucks richer).

Are you planning on keeping them, Erik?

All I know is don't run them hrough your brass tumbler.

bayouhazard wrote:All I know is don't run them hrough your brass tumbler.

I like using http://www.coinflation.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for a resource also. Although I do not collect coins for their numismatic values as those values can be quite subjective.


Another good source is: http://cointrackers.com/silver-prices/#top" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;