"Triage" a box of old coins

[dropdeded 0]

So how does one find out just what exactly is in an old box of old coins nowadays? Zero interest in selling, just like to maybe take them somewhere and have someone that knows what they are looking at check em out here in SoCal. Any suggestions?

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The Dude Abides.
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[jackwallace 3]

Pawn shop.

U only make 2 jumps: the first one for some weird reason and the last one that you lived through. The rest are just filler.
scr 316

[turtlespeed 220]

jackwallace

Pawn shop.

Call Rick Harrison

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[jimjumper 25]

Don't clean them! Send me a PM. I am with the Hemet Coin Club (Past President) and also on the Board of the Numismatic Assoc. of Southern California. I can certainly make some recommendations and provide general info.

[FrE3minD 0]

Unfortunately the answer in almost any of these cases is: Near to nothing :)

I've come across 4 big to huge collections during the last two years, all out of the last wills of deceased, two in our family and two with some good friends.

3 have sold them for the price of the metal, and I myself kept it as a memory of my Grandpa.

The times of collecting coins seems long gone.
There are only very few collectors left, and most of them are in an advanced age and collecting for decades, so they might already have "everything". If you or someone near to you would have a collection with some real rare and worthy coins you just would know it.

Same for stamps, and model railways, but for the latter there are some chances left.

And even the metal price ain't normally worth selling them, as I got offered 200$ for 3 albums.

The other problem is really to find someone trustworthy to have a look over it :(

But hey, maybe there's something within your collection, so you still should give it a try :)

[jimjumper 25]

Actually, I just appraised a collection for a person who's husband had past and she wanted to know if any of his coins were worth anything. I looked them over and recommended a dealer in the local area and the collection sold for $32,000. The American Numismatic Assoc. (ANA) currently has 28,000 members and even with that many, most smaller collectors aren't members. The Long Beach Coin Show is held 3 times a year and attracts over 600 dealers each time. While coin collecting doesn't have the membership it used to have 30 years ago, the Internet has made it much more easier to collect and do research without leaving home.

[jonstark 8]

If you have the collection appraised just remember that you will probably be able to get only 60% of that value. If it is just a box of old coins that a collector had laying around it may have been picked over for any value. You can buy periodicals with coin values if you wanna do the looking yourself.

[turtlespeed 220]

jonstark

If you have the collection appraised just remember that you will probably be able to get only 60% of that value. If it is just a box of old coins that a collector had laying around it may have been picked over for any value. You can buy periodicals with coin values if you wanna do the looking yourself.

google image search works too.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun