i am 17, and just inherited my grandfathers entire coin collection. I really do not care for a coin collection, and my dad says I should just hang on to them for a early retirement. I know gold is pretty high right, I was thinking maybe I should just sell them to a person that buys gold.
I have hundreds of silver coins, (Dimes, Quarters, Half Dollars)
187 gold coins that date back to the late 1800's.
Many of them are the full ounce gold coins, but they are vey old.
Any advice?
You are lucky, your grandfather gave you a special gift. I would suggest that you take the time to become knowledgable about the coins value and coin grading it will be well worth it. There are many resources online as well as books with good photos to help you to learn to grade coins yourself.
If you take them to a coin dealer (even a reputable one), you will get wholesale or maybe just a little above the wholesale or (bluebook) value, which is 40-50% of retail (redbook pricing). Learning to grade the coins for condition and learning the value yourself will allow you knowledgebly to sell on ebay to make much more money. You may even become interested in the collecting and trading as a hobby, sounds like you have a great start. good luck
I will give you $20.
Good lord dude you should sell those gold coins RIGHT NOW!The silver quarters are worth about $3.25 (or even a little more now) apiece. Not sure about the dimes (obviously less) or the half dollars (obviously more). If it were me, I'd sell most of them, perhaps keeping one each for my kids.Especially with the gold coins though, you need to find out if they are worth more than their weight in gold...depending on what you have, they might be worth WAY more.Sell them now and invest for an early retirement.
b varsity wrote:
i am 17, and just inherited my grandfathers entire coin collection. I really do not care for a coin collection, and my dad says I should just hang on to them for a early retirement. I know gold is pretty high right, I was thinking maybe I should just sell them to a person that buys gold.
I have hundreds of silver coins, (Dimes, Quarters, Half Dollars)
187 gold coins that date back to the late 1800's.
Many of them are the full ounce gold coins, but they are vey old.
Any advice?
talking purely melt value:
Half-dollar - 11.80
Quarter - 5.90
dime - 2.36
you need to have this collection appraised, insured, and securely stored ASAP. Probably worth over $100,000 in bullion value alone and a collection of 187 gold pieces is certain to have some pieces with significant numismatic (coin collectors) value. Buy a copy of the "Red Book" which will give you a quick reference to the approximate value and rarity of your collection so you have a ballpark figure before you approach any dealers, though. These guys basically make their living buying up large estate lots from little old ladies for chino change and then parting them out at auction.
Gold has a long way (upward) to go in the coming years, so don't sell yet unless you're absolutely desperate for the money. I do, however, think you can justify selling the eventually due to the monetary benefit. I predict it will appreciate so much that people will be selling their wedding rings in a few years.
What is your college situation?
P.S. with all due respect to Flagpole, who seems like a good guy, don't listen to him about gold. Everything he says is the exact opposite of what is true in reality. The Federal Reserve just announced a US-led bailout of the global banking system- a certain recipe for inflation. HOLD YOUR GOLD (and don't tell anyone IRL that you have it).
rockcelloman wrote:
You are lucky, your grandfather gave you a special gift. I would suggest that you take the time to become knowledgable about the coins value and coin grading it will be well worth it. There are many resources online as well as books with good photos to help you to learn to grade coins yourself.
If you take them to a coin dealer (even a reputable one), you will get wholesale or maybe just a little above the wholesale or (bluebook) value, which is 40-50% of retail (redbook pricing). Learning to grade the coins for condition and learning the value yourself will allow you knowledgebly to sell on ebay to make much more money. You may even become interested in the collecting and trading as a hobby, sounds like you have a great start. good luck
Yeah, my dad does not know that much about coins either. too be honest him and my grandfather were not that close. My grandfather did collect coins, that was his hobby, he actually had a lot more. My dad suggest that since I will be 18 in a few months, i could do what ever I want with the coins. He even suggested just hanging on to them, maybe even for my kids if I ever have any. Not for sure.
If they're all US coins, you can also check this site:
The prices here are more current than Redbook, although Redbook is very useful as a rough way of determining grade (most non-experts overestimate the grades of their coins)
Note: the prices on this site are high retail, as they're for certified coins. But they should give you an idea of the coins' values. If a coin's value is close to the lowest value of a coin of that series, then it's probably only worth bullion value. For example, most of the late 1800's $20 gold coins are listed at ~$2000 in circulated condition as I type this. Current bullion value is ~$1700. Sp you['d probably get something in between. But, if you happened to have an 1885 in any condition or a coin with a cc mintmark (on the back) in nice condtion it could be worth much, much more.
Whatever you do, do not attempt to clean, wipe, or rub any of the coins. If you do that you will destroy their value to collectors.
Rational Economics wrote:
P.S. with all due respect to Flagpole, who seems like a good guy, don't listen to him about gold. Everything he says is the exact opposite of what is true in reality. The Federal Reserve just announced a US-led bailout of the global banking system- a certain recipe for inflation. HOLD YOUR GOLD (and don't tell anyone IRL that you have it).
Risky. Bird in the hand brother, bird in the hand. Gold is now close to as high as it has ever been (actually down from its recent high), and it is just 4 years past the time when it finally MATCHED its price from 27 years prior (1980).
Owning gold is one of the most volatile things you can own, and keeping it (basically buying it in this case if you don't sell it) at its current historically high price...whew, man not a thing I'd be doing.
To each his own though. I'd sell it today. This kid needs to decide for himself what he will do.
Flagpole wrote:
Especially with the gold coins though, you need to find out if they are worth more than their weight in gold...depending on what you have, they might be worth WAY more.
Actually, most gold coins from the late 1800's/early 1900's were held as bullion. There aren't many rare dates.
Where you're more likely to find coins worth much more than bullion are early 1930's (and earlier) silver coins. Standing liberty quarters, early walking liberty half dollars, and barber quarters or halves have many dates worth much more than melt. These coins were made for commerce, and they were heavily used and melted. There are a few rare dimes, but not so many.
Flagpole wrote:
Risky. Bird in the hand brother, bird in the hand. Gold is now close to as high as it has ever been (actually down from its recent high), and it is just 4 years past the time when it finally MATCHED its price from 27 years prior (1980).
Owning gold is one of the most volatile things you can own, and keeping it (basically buying it in this case if you don't sell it) at its current historically high price...whew, man not a thing I'd be doing.
To each his own though. I'd sell it today. This kid needs to decide for himself what he will do.
Given the magnitude of the U.S. government's spending and the Fed's absolute determination to deal with every economic problem in the world by printing money, gold is must less risky than the U.S. dollar. If you don't think Bernanke will print the dollar into oblivion, you're wrong. Printing money is the moral that he lives by, his only function in life and the only thing that he will ever do. There will NEVER come a day when Bernanke says, "OK, we've printed too much money, time to stop." He is going to print money until he runs out of ink.
I'll give you 200 bucks.
I would keep them, but make sure they're in a safe place so they won't be stolen from you -- good luck with that.
Flagpole wrote:
Rational Economics wrote:P.S. with all due respect to Flagpole, who seems like a good guy, don't listen to him about gold. Everything he says is the exact opposite of what is true in reality. The Federal Reserve just announced a US-led bailout of the global banking system- a certain recipe for inflation. HOLD YOUR GOLD (and don't tell anyone IRL that you have it).
Risky. Bird in the hand brother, bird in the hand. Gold is now close to as high as it has ever been (actually down from its recent high), and it is just 4 years past the time when it finally MATCHED its price from 27 years prior (1980).
Owning gold is one of the most volatile things you can own, and keeping it (basically buying it in this case if you don't sell it) at its current historically high price...whew, man not a thing I'd be doing.
To each his own though. I'd sell it today. This kid needs to decide for himself what he will do.
The elusive correct Flagpole post!
Commodities are a horrendous long-term investment. You are young, get out of metal, get into equities and wait.
Inflation fears in the US are overblown. Everyone and their grandmother knows we are printing money, and inflation ain't here. Borrowing costs are non-existent.
The dollar is a long, long, long way away from losing reserve currency status. Get underpriced, dividend paying equities, and chill.
................... wrote:
The elusive correct Flagpole post!
Commodities are a horrendous long-term investment. You are young, get out of metal, get into equities and wait.
Inflation fears in the US are overblown. Everyone and their grandmother knows we are printing money, and inflation ain't here. Borrowing costs are non-existent.
The dollar is a long, long, long way away from losing reserve currency status. Get underpriced, dividend paying equities, and chill.
for what it's worth, this quoted post is in line with my personal views. i don't see inflation in the U.S., or Eurozone or Japan for that matter, being a big deal in the near future. and even if it is, i don't see inflation significantly hurting equity investments in large, stable companies.
that being said, it seems to me that it would be nice if the OP retained some part of the collection to learn a bit about his grandfather's hobby. it need not be an all or nothing proposition.
there is a tax angle here to be aware of too - the OP's "basis" in these coins for tax purposes is the fair market value at the time of his grandfather's death. so if he sells now, he should have little or no tax on the sales proceeds. and if he doesn't plan to sell now, he should get a written appraisal if possible to establish his tax basis going forward.
First, condolences on your loss.
My grandfather also had a coin collection and left it to me when he died. You need to get the collection appraised. Then you need to check the appraisal against another source. Absolutely don't sell to the first guy you talk to. Absolutely don't sell to one of those cash for gold schemes. The coins are almost guaranteed to be worth more than their weight because of the historical value. If they end up being worth a lot you may want to sell part of the collection to diversify the investment. Don't blow the money. Invest in your education or put it away for retirement. Even a few thousand dollars at age 18 will grow to a very nice amount.
Keep them. You never know if you'll be old and poor with a medical situation.