What to Do With Inherited Coins

By Jeff Garrett:

One of my favorite sayings about the work I do is, “Every day is like the Antiques Road Show.”  Because of my involvement with so many numismatic organizations and other projects, I receive dozens of calls and emails each week about coins people have inherited.  When fielding these enquiries, I am reminded how little people know about rare coins.  The abundance of information on the internet confuses things even further.  People have a hard time understanding why their circulated Morgan silver dollar is not worth the Gem prices found online.  To be fair, I would be equally confused if I were trying to figure out the value of inherited jewelry.   The complexities of the rare coin market can be hard to explain to a beginner.

What Are the Most Common Inherited Coins?

If you inherit a coin collection, the first thing to do is to determine what type of collection it is. Based on my years of answering calls about collections people have inherited, they fall into four or five distinctly different categories. The most common is for material inherited from someone who saved coins on trips abroad, especially World War II veterans. These types of coins are interesting, but generally very low in value. The exception would be gold coins of course. For this type of material, local coin shops can handle liquidation for such accumulations.

The next most common collection we encounter are those with Proof and Mint Sets. Coin collecting was hugely popular in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and the US Mint sold millions of these sets. They are very common and are relatively low in value. It is easy to establish values for Proof and Mint Sets. The annual Guide Book of United States Coins (Redbook) lists values for these. Wholesale value (what you could expect to get) is around 60% of the listed prices. Once again, your local coin shop can usually handle such a transaction. 

Another commonly encountered estate of coins inherited includes mostly beginner coins such as Lincoln wheat cents, common Morgan Silver dollars, Silver Eagles, and odd coins pulled from circulation over the years. The above-mentioned Redbook can be useful in establishing ballpark values. When deciding to liquidate the material, it is recommended that you obtain multiple offers from local coin shops, which can sometimes be very difficult if the accumulation is large. We have seen rooms full of this kind of collection. In this situation, you should select a small group of the coins you feel are the most valuable. Offer them to multiple shops, and this should give enough information to know who you should be dealing with.

Remember Precious Metal Pricing Affects Coin Values

If the collection contains large amounts of gold and silver bullion, it should be remembered that most offers will depend on the price of metal prices at the time.  Make sure the dealer clearly states the bullion prices the offers are based on, which will alleviate disappointment or problems if the price of gold and silver falls or rises sharply before the transaction occurs. 

Finding Expert, Reputable Coin Dealers

Finally, we come to the case of what to do when you inherit coins from someone who was a serious collector. Most serious collectors spent years or decades assembling their collection. You owe it to them to also be serious and careful about the disposal of their collection. Again, the most basic advice is to find someone with the expertise and skill to handle your collection. Finding experts you can trust will be very important. There are several good sources to find someone in your area or to find someone nationally who is an expert in the material you have inherited. The American Numismatic Association (ANA) money.org and the Professional Numismatic Guild (PNG) pngdealers.org both have lists of coin dealers you can contact when considering the sale of your collection. Both have databases to help you sort through dealers based on their location and specialties.

How to Determine the Value of Your Inherited Coin Collection with Expert Help

After you have identified coin dealers in your area, you should try to establish a general idea of what you have inherited.   Sets of uncertified coins in albums are very interesting, but not as valuable as certified United States gold coins.  In general, most rare coin dealers will be happy to guide you through the process.  You should be patient and not be in a hurry to sell a collection that may have taken decades to assemble.  Show the coins to at least two or three different coin dealers before deciding who to proceed with.  Also, do not be surprised if the offers vary considerably.  The level of expertise of the dealer will probably be the best indicator of the prices you are offered.

For old-time collections that have been assembled over the years, many of the most important coins may not be certified by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) or Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS).  Having the important coins certified is crucial to obtain the highest prices for your valuable coins.  This process can be very difficult for someone without knowledge of rare coins.  It can be quite expensive to have coins certified by NGC or PCGS.  The coins need to be screened to determine which coins are appropriate for certification.

Why You Should Get Your Most Valuable Inherited Coins Graded

I generally recommend to my clients having any coins worth more than $500 certified, which is about the minimum value for a coin to benefit from the additional costs of certification.  Having an expert assist you with certification will also help you avoid the disappointment of sending problem coins that would result in poor results.

After your most important coins have been certified, you can then use the internet for basic research to determine values.  The research will be more meaningful for certified coins as you will be comparing “apples to apples.”  There are multiple price guides to determine retail values.  NGC and PCGS both maintain excellent price guides for nearly all United States coins.

Should You Consider Auctioning Off Your Inherited Coin Collection?

Another important source of actual values are auction records.  There are several major auction houses in the United States that offer searchable databases of coins they have sold in the past.  These prices reflect actual transactions and are very important when establishing values for important coins.  Remember to factor in the commissions auction companies charge to sell rare coins.  The prices achieved at auction are higher than you will probably be offered for your coins, which brings up another venue for selling your collection- auction.  

After delving into the world of rare coins, you may get hooked yourself.  More than a few great collections were started with coins inherited from a relative.  You could just consider it a great head start!!