gee-dub Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 I have some old coins and stamps from my grandfather. I have no knowledge of these things and I’m trying to decide what to do with them. The cynical part of me fears unscrupulous vendors at coin stores. Can anybody here give me any guidance? Thanks in advance. 2 Quote
wtnhighlander Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 All US coins & stamps? Some details or photos might help. Dimes, quarters, dollars, and half-dollars minter before 1964(?) are actually silver, so have that much going for them, at least. Collector value can be a real toss-up. I know absolutely nothing about stamps. Quote
gee-dub Posted January 11 Author Report Posted January 11 The 90% silver I will probably keep for buying bread and toilet paper over the next few years. Things like mint sets and coins of collectable interest are what I want to move along. We have no interest in such things and someone else may. Stamps are from various countries, in booklets, and individual in plastic sleeves. Clueless on these but notes from Grandpa to dad indicate they may be of some interest to philatelists. I get the stuff out from underfoot and someone who cares may get something of interest. Win-win, eh? Quote
Coop Posted January 11 Report Posted January 11 The only things I’ve ever collected are condom tins, years and dust. 1 Quote
Popular Post curlyoak Posted January 11 Popular Post Report Posted January 11 Seek an appraisal not a sale. Then the appraiser might be more likely to give an honest answer. 3 1 Quote
Von Posted January 11 Report Posted January 11 I expect this will be barely useful, but when I was working with a downsizing specialist on one my parent's moves, they asked him something like "Do we maybe have some vintage/rare coin/book/etc. that we don't know about?" his reply was he's never seen a case of someone owning something rare and valuable and not knowing about it. The reason we see such stories ("Picasso discovered in attic!") in the news from time-to-time is because they are so rare (the equivalent of "man bites dog.") Good luck. Sounds like an interesting collection. If you don't mind sharing, I'd welcome hearing more about your grandfather's collecting. 1 Quote
Tom King Posted January 11 Report Posted January 11 When anyone comes up with a good solution, please let me know. We have something over a hundred pounds of silver coins of all kinds and a bunch of books of stamps that an Uncle who collected them left to us. He didn't have any children and we were the closest and only ones who ever helped him with anything. They're in a safe deposit box on the floor of that room in the bank. There are some old ones in there, but I've been afraid to trust the job to anyone else and no time to take it on ourselves. I'm sure my Uncle didn't know anything about them other than just collecting them. 2 Quote
curlyoak Posted January 11 Report Posted January 11 When asking for an appraisal ask for 2 numbers. A dealer will not pay full price. They pay at a discount to retail. I dont know how much the discount is. Wholesale, retail and if highly valuable ask for auction price. 2 Quote
Popular Post Mark J Posted January 11 Popular Post Report Posted January 11 As already suggested you could get a couple of appraisals (there might be a fee), and see if they are close. Keep in mind that there's a difference between wholesale and insurance values. And that with coins values can change ovdr time. That said, I inherited a collection of various coins from my father, too. When I decided it was time to sell I took them to a coin shop that had been in business in my neighborhood for years and years and just sold them, then I went on with my life. The collection I had wasn't that large, but if you have a large enough collection with enough rare pieces you could approach an auction house. But if they sell your collection they get a commission. My father had been more of an accumulater than a collector, so no guidance there. I peeked at Ebay and realized valuing coins is complicated, and that I wasn't going to educate myself up to collector status. At the end the day, I sold the coins and closed out the safe deposit box. 3 Quote
Popular Post pkinneb Posted January 11 Popular Post Report Posted January 11 On 1/11/2025 at 9:12 AM, Mark J said: As already suggested you could get a couple of appraisals (there might be a fee), and see if they are close. Keep in mind that there's a difference between wholesale and insurance values. And that with coins values can change ovdr time. That said, I inherited a collection of various coins from my father, too. When I decided it was time to sell I took them to a coin shop that had been in business in my neighborhood for years and years and just sold them, then I went on with my life. The collection I had wasn't that large, but if you have a large enough collection with enough rare pieces you could approach an auction house. But if they sell your collection they get a commission. My father had been more of an accumulater than a collector, so no guidance there. I peeked at Ebay and realized valuing coins is complicated, and that I wasn't going to educate. myself up to collector status. At the end the day, I sold the coins and closed out the safe deposit box. Thanks Mark...We have a some from my MIL and I think this is what I will do. I did go through some online sites and put together what I think they might, could, possibly are worth so I'm not totally blind going in but after asking everyone within the family if they were interested and getting a resounding no I see no reason to leave them for our kids to deal with 3 Quote
curlyoak Posted January 11 Report Posted January 11 How do you keep an appraiser honest? Are you going to be there when they are looking? I would. It might take several sessions. One coin could be 7 figures...Set up a video? 1 Quote
Popular Post Tom King Posted January 16 Popular Post Report Posted January 16 Our plan is to just leave them to our kids where they are, which is the same place they were when we inherited them. 3 Quote
Popular Post JohnG Posted January 18 Popular Post Report Posted January 18 On 1/11/2025 at 4:49 PM, curlyoak said: How do you keep an appraiser honest? Are you going to be there when they are looking? I would. It might take several sessions. One coin could be 7 figures...Set up a video? But being there or having a video wouldn’t expose a dishonest appraisal, especially to a non-enthusiast. Just find a shop that has more than a couple reviews and ask of any are worth selling or appraising. Anything you get for them is more than you have now, and if they hadn’t made you aware of or marked any coins as notable, there’s little chance that they unknowingly had a very valuable coin. Or find a neighborhood kid and give their collection a kick-start. 3 Quote
Popular Post fcschoenthal Posted January 18 Popular Post Report Posted January 18 On 1/18/2025 at 2:29 PM, JohnG said: Anything you get for them is more than you have now, and if they hadn’t made you aware of or marked any coins as notable, there’s little chance that they unknowingly had a very valuable coin. That's basically what I did with all of the coins that my mom & dad hoarded. My mom got me into collecting at a young age and I've got my own pretty complete collection, so I pretty much knew what to look for. I picked through a little to see if there was anything that I could use and took the rest to a dealer. I got more than face value for a lot of them, which was great, but definitely better than just letting them all go to the bank for recirculation. Either way, I still had more than I had to begin with and got a couple of tools with the proceeds. 3 Quote
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