Found my Grandpa's coin collection, help!

[a.bentonab]

I recently went through my Grandpa's coin collection as he passed away several years ago and left it to me. I sorted everything out and most everything is dated between 1940's and 1960's. The coins that I know have value include

1964 half dollars
1942-45 standing liberty half dollars
1965-68 half dollars
61 Franklin half dollar
71-72 Eisenhower dollars
41-56 Quarters
56-59 dimes

I know the above have value based on their silver content. Looking at this chart Current Melt Value Of Coins - How Much Is Your Coin Worth? I figured they are worth $200-300. Other interesting coins include

78 Eisenhower dollar
Bicentennial quarters and half dollars
Buffalo nickels
1943 steel penny
various wheat pennies
and one German coin minted in 1935. That's right this was minted under HITLER'S THIRD REICH. It is made of aluminum and I almost thought it was plastic it is so light.

There is also a ton of foriegn coins from Australia, France, Canada, Phillipines, Bahamas, and South Africa. Most of these are dated from mid 40's to 60's. There are also a couple newer Japanese coins. These may be from my uncle who was in the military post WWII.

Any advice from experienced coin people? I have seen all the places wanting to buy my gold and silver and I understand that the ones with silver in them are probably as valuable as they have ever been. This appeals to me since I'm in graduate school and scraping by. Of course being from my grandpa they have sentimental value but that doesn't put food on the table. Some of them have many duplicates and I would feel just fine selling all but one of them.

Should I get them appraised at a coin shop, and if so does anyone have any recommendations on the south side of Indy? Or should I sell them the next time I see some crazy guy with a statue of liberty hat on at the stoplight pointing at a gold/silver buying location?

 

[K_W]

Research on the net, get a ballpark for each one, then go directly to a REPUTABLE COIN SHOP. Not a pawnshop or jewelry store, a real coin shop. Have the best certified through PNG or NGCS.

DO NOT accept an offer to buy until you know exactly what you have, a miniscule detail could be the difference between face value and $1000's

 

[slimplmbr]

If you do end up selling them for silver you will get the best price for them by getting a hold of Bradsknives on here.

 

[G_Stines]

Often... if you talk to your insurance company about the possibility of insuring these.. on an extensive collection like the one you have, they will send out someone to inspect the articles and evaluate their worth.. might be a route to take, especially if you consider keeping them for sentimental reasons... I did it with my inherited collection. Also, barnes and nobles has several good books to reference that will walk you through the process of identifying and getting a good ballpark idea of value. Hope you find what you are looking for!

 

[kwatters]

If you are looking to sell them the best place to go is a sponsor here (lost Dutchman) they will give you the best deal of anyone I have found, usually 3-4% below spot prices, those corner gold buyers rip you off and take up to 60%.
Lost Dutchman Rare Coins - INGunOwners

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

I recently went through my Grandpa's coin collection as he passed away several years ago and left it to me. I sorted everything out and most everything is dated between 1940's and 1960's. The coins that I know have value include

1964 half dollars
1942-45 standing liberty half dollars
1965-68 half dollars
61 Franklin half dollar
71-72 Eisenhower dollars
41-56 Quarters
56-59 dimes

I know the above have value based on their silver content. Looking at this chart Current Melt Value Of Coins - How Much Is Your Coin Worth? I figured they are worth $200-300. Other interesting coins include

78 Eisenhower dollar
Bicentennial quarters and half dollars
Buffalo nickels
1943 steel penny
various wheat pennies
and one German coin minted in 1935. That's right this was minted under HITLER'S THIRD REICH. It is made of aluminum and I almost thought it was plastic it is so light.

There is also a ton of foriegn coins from Australia, France, Canada, Phillipines, Bahamas, and South Africa. Most of these are dated from mid 40's to 60's. There are also a couple newer Japanese coins. These may be from my uncle who was in the military post WWII.

Any advice from experienced coin people? I have seen all the places wanting to buy my gold and silver and I understand that the ones with silver in them are probably as valuable as they have ever been. This appeals to me since I'm in graduate school and scraping by. Of course being from my grandpa they have sentimental value but that doesn't put food on the table. Some of them have many duplicates and I would feel just fine selling all but one of them.

Should I get them appraised at a coin shop, and if so does anyone have any recommendations on the south side of Indy? Or should I sell them the next time I see some crazy guy with a statue of liberty hat on at the stoplight pointing at a gold/silver buying location?

Your grandfather's collection is basically a smaller representation of my grandmother's collection.

Unless you've got some MINT examples in there, chances are good that your coins are worth more in sentimental value and melt value than any numismatic value.

It can be fun to go through all the pennies, though, to see if you have an example from each US Mint that was striking coins at the time.

SOME of the Standing Half Liberty dollars might be worth a little more due to their age, but there doesn't seem to be anything rare and/or old enough to be really valuable.

Also, there's a good chance your Nazi coin is Magnesium and not Aluminum. Makes no matter, really, though, because they used both materials.

 

[Expat]

Unless you are living on the streets, I would recommend putting it away in a safe spot. It sounds like something that would be pretty neat to pass down to your kids.

 

[Fenway]

Here you go.

Lost Dutchman Rare Coins - INGunOwners

 

[edsinger]

Unless you are living on the streets, I would recommend putting it away in a safe spot. It sounds like something that would be pretty neat to pass down to your kids.

^^^ This ^^^, the $200 or even $500 you could get are worth less than passing something down. I had a coin collection once, but the minute I had kids, it was no longer mine.

 

[Bitter Clinger]

You need to look at the date and mint mark of each coin, then look up its value based on its condition. The mintage varies from year to year and from mint to mint, naturally the lower the mintage (i.e. quantity struck at a given mint in a given year), the rarer the coin and hence the higher the value. One rare year / mint coin could be worth more than all the rest put together.

 

[rnungester]

I would be interested in making an offer on your collection if you still have it. I have been buying silver coins for my own personal collection, so I know I can pay more than coin shops. Feel free to message me or call 765-702-6969