You inherited coins. Now what?

Somebody in your family collected coins, and now the box is on your kitchen table. You probably don't know what's in it, whether any of it matters, or who to trust. That's an ordinary place to start, and it's most of the people who write to me. Here's what to do, in plain English, with nothing to buy and nothing to sign.

First: don't clean them

This is the one piece of advice worth more than everything else on this page. Cleaning a coin destroys much of its value— often most of it, sometimes on a coin that was worth thousands. Polish, silver dip, a jeweler's cloth, an eraser, a bath in ketchup or vinegar: all of it leaves marks that a collector can see instantly and will not pay for.

A dark, grubby-looking coin is frequently worth more than the same coin made shiny. The tarnish took a century to form and cannot be put back. If the coins look dirty, leave them dirty. Nobody in this trade is put off by that; we are put off by scrub marks.

The same goes for taking coins out of their plastic holders. If a coin is sealed in a hard plastic slab with a label on it, that label is part of the value. Leave it sealed.

You don't need to know what anything is

People apologise to me for not knowing what they have. Please don't. Identifying coins is the part I actually do for a living, and it takes me seconds where it would take you an evening with a search engine and leave you less sure than when you started.

You do not need to sort them, catalogue them, look up prices, or figure out which ones are the “good” ones. Getting that wrong is how valuable coins end up in the pile someone sells for melt.

What you probably have

Being straight with you, because it's the most common disappointment in this business: most inherited coin accumulations are worth less than the family expects, and a few are worth dramatically more. Both surprises are common. What usually turns up:

• Jars and rolls of common coins — wheat pennies, buffalo nickels, Roosevelt dimes. Usually modest, occasionally hiding one date that isn't.
• Silver from before 1965 — dimes, quarters and halves. These have real, dependable value based on their silver content even when they're worn.
• Mint and proof sets in government packaging — the ones in cellophane or hard plastic cases from the 1970s onward. Frequently worth less than was paid for them, which is nobody's fault.
• Old gold — anything gold from before 1933 is worth attention, always, no matter how ordinary it looks.
• Coins in sealed plastic holders with a grade printed on the label. Somebody paid to have those certified, which usually means they were the best pieces in the collection.
• Genuinely early American coins — anything from the 1790s to the 1850s. Rarer to find in a family box, and the reason it's always worth asking before selling anything as a lot.

How to find out, without paying anyone

Take some photographs with your phone and send them to me using the form below. That's the whole first step.

• Lay the coins out on a plain surface in good light — daylight near a window is ideal.
• Photograph groups, not individual coins. A dozen at a time in the frame is fine.
• If any are in plastic holders, photograph the labels so they're readable.
• Include anything gold, and anything that looks obviously old, in its own shot.
• Don't worry about focus or artistry. I'm looking for what's there, not a portfolio.

You don't have to photograph everything. A representative sample of what the collection looks like is enough for me to tell you whether there's something here worth a longer conversation.

What happens after you send it

1. I write back within 24 hours with what I can see, in language that assumes no background.
2. I tell you if it isn't my lane. I buy early American coinage, pre-1933 gold, and rare coins with original surfaces. If your collection is mostly bullion, common silver, or modern mint sets, you'll get better numbers from a different kind of dealer and I'll say so and point you somewhere. That happens often and it costs you nothing.
3. If there is something for me, I make an offer and explain how I got to the number. You're free to take it to someone else and compare. I'd rather you did than felt rushed.
4. Denver area? We can sit down together, which is far better than doing this over email. Otherwise everything ships USPS Registered Mail, fully insured, both directions.

Things I want you to know before you sell to anyone

• Never let one number be the only number on a collection of any size. Any honest buyer expects you to compare, and one who pressures you not to has told you something important.
• Don't sell it as one undifferentiated lot until somebody has looked through it. The value in a family collection is usually concentrated in a handful of coins, and a single price for the whole box is how those get bought cheaply.
• There's no rush. Coins don't spoil. If you're in the middle of settling an estate, this can wait until you have room to think about it.
• If you need a formal written appraisal for probate, taxes or insurance, that's a separate profession from buying, and you should use an ANA-accredited numismatic appraiser. They charge a fee because it's real work, and a buyer's offer is not a substitute for it.

What this costs you

Nothing. There's no fee to send photos, no fee for my opinion, and no obligation at any point. I'm a working dealer rather than a service business — I make my money buying coins I want and selling them on, so looking at what you have is simply how I find them. If yours aren't for me, we'll both have spent ten minutes.