In over my head evaluating two collections 0

[Arthorpreqch]

Photo file size limited me—making a google drive link now and will update with more pictures.Google Drive Link for Pictures.

Thank you for taking the time to take a look.  I doubt there is anything very rare here.

I am going through all of the coin collections I inherited from both of my Grandfathers and father.  My fathers was more of a general hobby and I’ve easily identified most of it.  The other two clearly both had a shared interest in Wheat pennies and silver coins, although they never had the chance to meet and discuss it due to ones passing in the late 80’s.

One collection is of decent size and variety.  I have easily identified a good amount of valuable coins beyond their melt value and/or numismatic value.  The other has a ton of silver coins, most circulated, but just in silver weight, it holds a significant amount of value.  He purchased “collectible” coins to build the collection, but it also he appears he began squirreling away every single pre 63’ dated silver coin he came across in the years following the change.  Possibly even beforehand, but they are all circulated. 

Because the silver will hold value and I can go through it over time, I am not going to worry about it right now.

The Wheat back pennies interest me, but I am in over my head.  There are so many of them and that’s not even counting the near equally high amount of 58’-89’ pennies.  I buy/sell vintage and antique everything, but never coins.  I’m good at researching to identify items and then building a price once I know exactly what it is.  Many of these from the larger collection appear to have mint struck errors.  Those are not so simple to identify and value.

Please save me some time, as I’ve already gone deep down some rabbit holes here.  The coin world is vast and while I am getting into it through this experience, I need some help.

I am attaching pictures I took of some of a small amount picked from what I’ve gone through.  Neither had any of their coins graded, but I know for a fact neither ever planned on selling any of them either.

Pictures show about 5% of the wheat pennies in the collection.

What is the best way to categorize and inventory the pennies?  I have multiples of nearly every year from 15ish-89, 91, 94, 99.    Many years, like 58’, 44’, and 38’ I have already come across more than 20 and counting.

What pennies should I be on the look out for date, mint, and error wise? Those beyond the obvious “one in a million” coins I have zero hope of finding.  
 

I want to pull and properly store the coins that are significant beyond their face value.  I know there are many in the bags and bags of wheat pennies I still have to sort through.  I just don’t know what I’m looking for.

 

 

Edited October 14, 2020 by Arthorpreqch

[RWB]

Looking down through #7092, I see a lot of AU and low-end BU wheat cents, and some US Mint sets. Nothing to that level is close to justifying the cost of authentication and "grading."

Have you tried grouping the coins by denomination and posting images of the groups? If you plan to keep the silver coins then don't need to illustrate them unless there are some older pieces or exceptionally high quality. (Nothing like that in the first images.)

Other members can help you more than I. But maybe this will help start a conversation.

[Arthorpreqch]

1 minute ago, RWB said:

Looking down through #7092, I see a lot of AU and low-end BU wheat cents, and some US Mint sets. Nothing to that level is close to justifying the cost of authentication and "grading."

Have you tried grouping the coins by denomination and posting images of the groups? If you plan to keep the silver coins then don't need to illustrate them unless there are some older pieces or exceptionally high quality. (Nothing like that in the first images.)

Other members can help you more than I. But maybe this will help start a conversation.

Thank you!  Upon reading my post again I realized I wasn’t clear on the point.  That being—

What is the best way to categorize and inventory a collection like this?  I have multiples of nearly every year from 15ish-89, 91,94,99.  Many years, like 58’ I have already come across more than 20.  

What coins should I be on the look out for?those beyond the obvious “one in a million” coins I have zero hope of finding.  
 

I want to pull and properly store the coins that are significant beyond their face value.  I know there are many in the bags and bags of wheat pennies I still have to sort through.  I just don’t know what I’m looking for.

[RWB]

Try organizing by denomination, then design within the denomination. That will give you a better idea of what is there and help members here see what you have and ask questions. Also, please be patient - this medium is not the best at times.

[Rummy13]

Welcome to the forum, and the rabbit hole.  I am not one of the pros here but I do understand where you are coming from The first thing I did was get a red book. {I got a used large print, made it easy to see the pics).  The red book lets you see if there is a coin and what year coin, that may be worth more that other ones. I invested in some coin folders and 2X2s to put coins in. I filled my folders with the best looking (to me) coin for each year and mint mark. In the 2X2s I put coins that I thought had something different about them, and wrote on it so I would remember why I saved it.  Then went to the red book to see if it looked like something there. I also found a local coin dealer that was very helpful, (all though he would not pay me much for most of my coins. If I had kids I would of made folders for each of them, some of my nieces and nephews helped me with mine, now they get me coins for my birthday. I also may a spread sheet in excel so I know all the coins I have and some kind of worth for them.

[JKK]

I would give you the advice most people would. Buy a Red Book, for easy reference and coin composition rather than for valuation. Sort first by denomination, then by type, then by year, then by mint. For each type, use the book to get an idea of which issues are especially valuable, and which types of coins (e.g. Standing Liberty quarters) always get a premium unless trashed. If you have sorted by type, year, then mint, that should be a fairly easy process with you having already done the hard part.

Then, if you come across something you don't understand, post pics of it and we will help you.

Oh, and if you imagine you have a doubled die, or you find some little error that you suspect might be valuable, be prepared to hear that it's nothing special. Still share it if you want confirmation, of course, but when people explain to you how come it's not rare and special, you'll learn a little bit, which is all to the good. (If you can believe it, some semiliterates barge in here with such things, are politely told they are not special, and then start big arguments demanding that we agree with their mistaken assessments. Then they start new accounts to continue the argument. It's lamentable. I can tell from your outlook we won't have to worry about that in this case.)

[VKurtB]

Decent "album coins", but only that.

[Modwriter]

15 hours ago, VKurtB said:

Decent "album coins", but only that.

I agree retiree.

[Just Bob]

Welcome to the forum, and let me first offer my condolences on your loss.

The advice to buy a "Red Book" aka "A Guidebook of United States Coins," is sound advice. You can use this reference to compare the relative value of your coins; just keep in mind that the listed values are usually high retail, not what you should expect to get for them should you decide to sell. Kurt's idea of putting some of your coins in an album is also a good one, in my opinion. In fact, if you have heirs, you might want to build a set for each. You can buy Whitman, Harris, or other brands of albums at Books-A-Million or online.

https://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/products/Whitman-folders/

The other coins can be grouped as the others have suggested, then gone through to look for varieties, if you want to go to the trouble of doing that. You will likely run across coins with various types of worthless doubling, (and feel free to post pictures of any that look promising), but you will soon learn to tell the "good" from the "bad," if you follow a few of the posts on that subject that are always popping up on this forum. I will go ahead and give you a head start by posting a link to an article by our host:

https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/5688/Double-Dies-vs-Machine-Doubling/

As a general rule.most anything in the cent category after about 1940 or so is only going to worth a few cents, even in higher circulated grades. It seems odd that a nice example of a 75 year old coin would not be worth much, but it is the truth.

At this point, I wouldn't be concerned with trying to have anything graded by a third party service. Unless you have something worth $100 or more, you will probably be money ahead keeping them raw.

If you have questions or need some help with something, don't hesitate to post.

 

 

 

 

[VKurtB]

12 hours ago, Just Bob said:

Welcome to the forum, and let me first offer my condolences on your loss.

The advice to buy a "Red Book" aka "A Guidebook of United States Coins," is sound advice. You can use this reference to compare the relative value of your coins; just keep in mind that the listed values are usually high retail, not what you should expect to get for them should you decide to sell. Kurt's idea of putting some of your coins in an album is also a good one, in my opinion. In fact, if you have heirs, you might want to build a set for each. You can buy Whitman, Harris, or other brands of albums at Books-A-Million or online.

https://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/products/Whitman-folders/

The other coins can be grouped as the others have suggested, then gone through to look for varieties, if you want to go to the trouble of doing that. You will likely run across coins with various types of worthless doubling, (and feel free to post pictures of any that look promising), but you will soon learn to tell the "good" from the "bad," if you follow a few of the posts on that subject that are always popping up on this forum. I will go ahead and give you a head start by posting a link to an article by our host:

https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/5688/Double-Dies-vs-Machine-Doubling/

As a general rule.most anything in the cent category after about 1940 or so is only going to worth a few cents, even in higher circulated grades. It seems odd that a nice example of a 75 year old coin would not be worth much, but it is the truth.

At this point, I wouldn't be concerned with trying to have anything graded by a third party service. Unless you have something worth $100 or more, you will probably be money ahead keeping them raw.

If you have questions or need some help with something, don't hesitate to post.

 

 

 

 

One additional point - do not "cheap out" selecting an album. There are "nicer" album types, and while your cents pictured may not be worth encapsulation by a grading firm, they are worthy of a nicer album certainly. Shop around at Wizard. They do offer several lines. While I do not personally own any of them, if I were starting from scratch today, I'd give a close look to the Littleton album line. Very well made.

Edited October 16, 2020 by VKurtB