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 Replies: 76 / Views: 8,616 |
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Valued Member
United States
183 Posts |
Greetings all! Please forgive the long post, I'm looking for advice. I was never a coin collector, I collected baseball cards (which aren't worth the paper they're printed on now but that's a topic for a different forum). My mother is cleaning out her basement and came across my father's coins. He wasn't a "collector" per se but he did have a collection of silver coins and wheat pennies that he kept in jars, tubs, rolls, books, etc. So maybe that did make him a collector  I have started to go through it and found that he has the following that are not in books: Approximately 5,000 pennies. I haven't counted them but they fill up one of kids Halloween buckets. These are 99% wheat. 274 Silver quarters. These I counted but didn't study closely. There are several standing libertys and a couple Barbers. Approximately 2,000 dimes. Mostly Roosevelt but quite a few Mercury. 138 Silver halves. Mostly Franklin but has a least one roll of Kennedy and many Walking Liberty and a few 40% Kennedys. He had maybe five rolls of nickels. Nothing exciting there other than a complete set of WWII War Nickels in a display case. He also has mostly complete I think they're called Whitman folders. These are not included in the above totals. My questions are these: 1. Should I waste my time going through them and sorting them by date and mint? I don't expect to find anything life altering in there because I figure if he had some of those they would've been in the books already. 2. Would you keep the folders and try to finish them? This is how I'm leaning. I realize there is several thousand dollars worth of silver here. I'm just trying to figure out my best course of action. Thanks for reading |
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
 . It is really your call as to what to do. If you are interested in getting into the hobby, then you will have to learn it. Errors, varieties, high grads etc. You might want to post a few photos of the better stuff in the correct sections of the forum so we can help you futher. John1 
( I'm no pro, it's just my humble opinion )
Searched 6.5 +/- Million Cents Since 1971
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Valued Member
120 Posts |
Coin collecting is great but it is highly addictive. If you can still pay the regular bills at the end of the spending month you're golden, if not, the collection can be a vice. As one who is already completely infected, it would be awesome to cherry pick all that you have and save you from therapy bills in the future.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
I think John says it well. to the CCF! |
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
To CCF , Sounds like you have quite an accumulation of coins there . I would spend my time going through every coin .If you don't think you would be interested in Errors & Varieties then just look at dates , mints and condition of the coins . Start off by getting yourself '' The Red Book '' A guide to United States coins . It will give you just about everything you need to know about what you have . However the prices that you see are inflated so don't think that your coins are worth that much , It's just a guide if you wanted to purchase a specific coin from a dealer . Stay with us and learn a lot of info about the hobby . Have fun and good luck . 
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
16861 Posts |
I agree with the comments above. While a hassle perhaps, going through the trove--knowing what to look for in terms of the high-end errors and varieties, and just plain rarities--could be quite rewarding. And, don't discount your baseball cards. Have see what happening in the sports card market these days?
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
T-BOP said it well  . John1 ( I'm no pro, it's just my humble opinion )
Searched 6.5 +/- Million Cents Since 1971
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1937 Posts |
Since it hasn't been said yet...DO NOT clean your coins! Hope you stay with us and share (pictures) what your Father passed on to you. Have fun! Looking fwd to your postings! smat
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Valued Member
 United States
183 Posts |
Thank you for the responses thus far. Rest assured, I will NOT cleans my coins. I watch Pawn Stars, I know that's a no no I asked my brother-in-law who was over yesterday what he would do. He said he would count them and take them to the coin shop. The guy that runs the coin shop goes to church with my wife so he gives her a slight "premium" on stuff that we wouldn't give Joe Blow off the street. I'm still not sure I like that option. I may take some of the stuff to him but not all. Another question I have is, if I decide to sell the coins in rolls is it better to tell folks what's in them (roll of '64 Kennedys or 35 1958 quarters plus 5 1964's, for example) or just roll them and let people take their chances? I would think that if I did the latter they would have to assume I went through them. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
581 Posts |
In order... Q1 Answer: Yes. Q2 Answer: Answers itself and the answer will be the correct one for you. Q3 Answer: Same as above. Overthinking will only cause procrastination and/or suck the fun out of it. You are fortunate to have lucked upon an unexpected gift. This is a "no lose" situation. Whatever you decide you are a winner. Kindly get to it, have fun, and enjoy yourself. & Edited by yellow88
05/06/2021 09:48 am
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Moderator
United States
157714 Posts |
to the Community!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1667 Posts |
Just going to say, maybe you don't find anything life altering in there, but you certainly won't if you don't look, someone else might though if they look. better you than them I always say!
I will tell you this though, by what you describe in silver alone there's about $5500-$6000 in melt value there at todays rate I think, and that's not even getting into the wheat cents or folders or anything else, just the silver you estimated or counted at melt.
while maybe not life altering, it's a decent chunk of change, from what was likely pocket change saves from childhood onward.
Edited by Big-Kingdom
05/06/2021 11:26 am
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Valued Member
United States
309 Posts |
If I counted correctly you have about $340 face in silver at today's price of $27.50 per Troy ounce should bring more than $6K, a bit more than a just a "few thousand." If this hoard was pulled from change it likely holds little additional numismatic value, however, one time in a hundred these sorts of accumulations will surprise you.
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New Member
United States
33 Posts |
Coin collecting is a marathon...take your time, get to know the coins...there is some valuable stuff there, no need to be hasty
Good luck
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Valued Member
United States
183 Posts |
This is what I'm starting with, minus the nickels that aren't shown  These are a couple that I found on the top of the piles   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
581 Posts |
Awesome. Looks like a lot of fun to me!
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Replies: 76 / Views: 8,616 |
Posted 05/05/2021 6:44 pm
