To sell an inherited coin collection, leave the coins exactly as you found them and make a rough inventory of the boxes, albums and holders. Then get a written, item-by-item offer from a buyer who separates collector coins from coins that sell for their metal. Our appraisal is free with no obligation, and you can sell part of the collection and keep the rest.
Leave the coins as you found them
The most common mistake heirs make is cleaning. Polish, baking soda, a toothbrush or a jewelry dip all scratch the surface and strip the original luster. Cleaning lowers a coin's grade and value, and collectors pay far less for a cleaned coin.
Keep coins in whatever holds them now. Albums, cardboard flips, plastic tubes and Mint packaging all tell a buyer something about the coins and how they were kept. A proof set still in its original box sells better than the same coins loose in a drawer.
Paper money should stay flat. Do not tape torn notes, press them in a heavy book or fold them to fit an envelope. Old bills that look plain to an heir can be large-size notes or National Bank Notes that collectors want.
Leave coins that look dark or dirty alone too. Toning, the color silver and copper pick up over decades, is part of a coin's original surface, and some collectors pay more for even, attractive toning. Wiping it off with a cloth does the same harm as polish.
Find everything the collection includes
Collections are rarely in one place. People who saved coins for decades tended to spread them around the house, and families often find a second or third group months after the first.
Check these spots before you book an appraisal, so everything can be looked at in one visit:
Collectors often kept their best pieces apart from the albums. A small box, a velvet pouch or an envelope tucked in a desk can hold the gold or the scarce dates, while the albums hold everyday coins.
If there is a safe-deposit box, the executor can ask the bank what it needs before the box is opened. Bring whatever is inside to the same appointment as the coins from the house, so one written list covers the whole collection.
- Dresser drawers and the back of closets
- Basement shelves, tool chests and old luggage
- Coffee cans, jars and cigar boxes of loose change
- Jewelry boxes, which often hold gold coins, rings and chains
- Desk drawers with envelopes of old bills
- A safe-deposit box at the bank
Make a simple inventory
You do not need to identify every coin. Count what you have by type: how many albums, how many rolls, how many slabs, how many proof or mint sets. Take a few photos and write down where each group came from, such as the hall closet, the basement or the safe-deposit box.
That short list does two jobs. It helps the family see the whole collection before anyone decides what to keep, and it lets you check later that every piece was looked at and came back to you or appears on the written offer.
The table below covers what heirs most often find and how to store each kind until the appraisal.
Keep a copy of the inventory with the coins and give one to whoever is handling the estate. If relatives have already taken a few coins home, ask them to bring those back or add them to the list, so the family sees one complete picture of what the collection holds.
| What you find | What it usually is | How to keep it |
|---|---|---|
| Blue or brown folders with coin slots | Circulated sets of cents, nickels, dimes or quarters | Leave every coin in its slot |
| Hard plastic holders with a printed label | PCGS or NGC graded coins | Keep them together and never open them |
| Flat plastic packs from the U.S. Mint | Proof sets or mint sets | Leave them in the original package and box |
| Paper rolls or plastic tubes | Silver dimes, quarters, halves or dollars, or newer clad coins | Leave them rolled and note the count |
| Small gold coins in envelopes or holders | Pre-1933 U.S. gold or modern bullion coins | Keep each one in a soft pouch or holder |
| Old bills in an envelope or book | Silver certificates, large-size notes or National Bank Notes | Keep them flat, untaped and unfolded |
Silver, gold and collector coins
Most inherited collections mix two kinds of coins, and an heir usually cannot tell them apart by looking. Some sell for their gold or silver content. Others sell to collectors for more than their metal because of the date, the mint mark or the condition.
U.S. dimes, quarters and halves dated 1964 and earlier are 90% silver, and Kennedy halves from 1965 to 1970 are 40% silver. Morgan and Peace dollars are 90% silver.
Anything clad, dated 1965 or later apart from those halves, is usually worth face value. Gold coins struck for circulation before 1933 are 90% gold, and a $20 double eagle holds 0.9675 troy ounces of it.
Collector coins hide among the silver. A Carson City Morgan dollar, dated 1878 to 1893, looks much like a common 1921 Morgan until you find the CC mint mark under the wreath on the back. Chicago families also turn up Columbian half dollars and Isabella quarters from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, and the Isabella sells above its silver value in any grade.
A buyer who weighs everything together and pays by the ounce misses those coins. We sort collector coins from melt coins at every appointment so a better date is never priced as bullion.
Working with the family, executor or attorney
If the estate is still open, check with the executor or the estate's attorney about who may sell before you book. The person selling brings a government-issued photo ID to the appointment. If one heir is selling on behalf of the others, it helps to agree on that in writing among the family first.
Our written, item-by-item list helps families dividing an estate. One sibling may want the silver dollars a grandfather saved, and another may want cash. With a line for each piece, the family can pick what to keep and sell the rest, and the executor or attorney has a written record of the offer.
Our appraisals are free purchase appraisals. They show what we will pay.
They are not certified appraisals for court, probate, insurance or IRS use, so if the estate needs one of those, the attorney can point you to a certified appraiser. Questions about taxes belong with the estate's attorney or tax advisor.
Talk with the family before the appointment about anything with personal meaning, such as a coin from a birth year or a set bought for a grandchild. Those pieces can be set aside before the appraisal starts, or listed with the rest and kept afterward.
Getting an offer and getting paid
Appointments are private and one-on-one, Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm, and the place to meet is set when you book. For larger collections and estates, you can ask about a home visit when you call (773) 241-8624. We call back the same day.
In front of you, each coin is checked under a loupe for date, mint mark, grade and eye appeal. Gold and silver go on a calibrated scale you can read, and any gold jewelry from the estate is sorted by karat and weighed. A large collection takes 30 to 60 minutes.
You then get a written, item-by-item offer. Accept it and you are paid the same day, in cash or by a same-day wire to the bank for larger sales. Decline it and you keep everything plus the written list.
Many heirs want a second opinion before they sell, and the written list makes that easy, since another buyer can see what was offered for each piece. Ask any buyer you talk to, from a pawn shop to an auction house, whether they sort collector coins from melt coins and whether they will put the offer in writing.
Inherited coins in Chicago homes
Many Chicago families have owned the same house for forty or fifty years, and coins pile up in that time. The brick bungalows built from about 1910 to 1930 on the Northwest and Southwest Sides and in Berwyn and Cicero often hold jars of pre-1965 silver change saved by a parent who worked through the decades when it still circulated. Heirs who sell inherited coins in Chicago often find those jars before they find the albums.
Older estates bring their own coins. A family with roots near Jackson Park may still have a Columbian half dollar bought at the 1893 fair, and a family in Logan Square may have a 1918 Illinois Centennial half, struck the same year the Centennial Monument went up on the boulevard. North Shore homes in Wilmette and Glenview more often hold gold coins and bullion bought later in life, sometimes stored in a safe-deposit box.
Executors are often settling a parent's house in Oak Lawn or Arlington Heights while living somewhere else. We set a private appointment Monday to Saturday between 10am and 6pm, and for a large estate you can ask about a home visit. Every heir gets the same written list, which makes splitting the collection easier for a family spread across several states.
Ready to sell? See how we handle selling inherited coins in Chicago, read about a free coin appraisal, or call (773) 241-8624.