Coin Buyers Serving Lakeview

Sorting old change and silver in Lakeview

Wrigley Field opened in Lakeview in 1914, and many of the vintage courtyard buildings on the streets around it date from the same decades. A lot of the coins we buy in Lakeview come out of those apartments and the condos carved from them, usually when an owner is downsizing or clearing out a relative's unit. Belmont Avenue crosses the neighborhood from the lakefront westward, and calls from those blocks to a coin buyer often start with a glass jar or a coffee can of change.

The classic Lakeview find is a jar of pocket change that somebody stopped spending long ago, and sorting it comes down to dates. Dimes and quarters dated 1964 and earlier are 90% silver.

Kennedy halves from 1965 to 1970 are 40% silver, and nickels from 1942 to 1945 carry 35%. Dimes and quarters dated 1965 or later are copper-nickel clad and spend at face value, and we will say so plainly while we sort.

Jars like these also hold wheat cents and a few 2003 Illinois state quarters, the ones showing a young Lincoln beside the Chicago skyline. Circulated Illinois quarters are worth 25 cents, and most circulated wheat cents bring only a few cents.

A silver proof Illinois quarter does carry silver value. Pulling the silver out of a jar of mostly clad change takes a few minutes, and the written list shows the count and price for each group.

Silver dollars are the other thing Lakeview families held onto. Morgans dated 1878 to 1904 and 1921, along with Peace dollars from 1921 to 1935, each hold 0.7734 troy oz of silver, so every one is worth at least its melt.

Each also weighs 26.73 grams, and you can watch the reading on our scale as we go. We read dates and mint marks under a loupe because a Carson City Morgan with the CC mark draws collector money well beyond its silver, while a worn 1921 is a common date.

A condo owner off Belmont Avenue with three heavy cans of change should not have to haul them across the city, so we work out where to meet when you book. Appointments are private and run Monday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm.

If the collection is too big to carry down the stairs, ask whether a home visit makes sense. If you take the offer you are paid that day, and a government-issued photo ID is needed to sell.