About Dan Moore Expertise My strong familiarity with all U.S. Mint coins, extensive reference library,
and close relationships with many other dealers allows me to identify just
about any coin made in the USA. I receive regular updates to all the current
price guides -- both wholesale & retail -- to provide accurate values. So,
with a good description or pictures, I should be able to identify and value
any U.S. coin you have.
Experience I've been a coin dealer since the 1980's and a coin collector since the 1960's. I specialize in U.S. Silver Coins and have an active online website -- The Working Man's Rare Coins -- http://www.workingmancoins.com -- offering information and inventory in U.S. coins.
Organizations I belong to :
American Numismatic Association Member #187770
Michigan State Numismatic Society Member #8255
Florida United Numismatics Member #19710
Monroe Coin Club Treasurer
Lincoln Coin Club Board Member
WINS Member #14
CoinMasters Member #1814
Frequently Asked Questions :
I have created a Frequently Asked Questions page on my website, where you may be able to get an immediate answer to your question. You can find the page here : http://www.workingmancoins.com/FAQ/index.htm
Question Our parents have left us a lot of coins, some are in paper folders identifying them. They are in multiple bank vaults. Some are not separated.
There are some very old coins that my mother inherited but thousands of coins are involved.
How do we begin to establish an accurate valuation and what should we watch for to ensure that we are not taken advantage of?
Thank you for your advice.
Answer Melanie,
You need to get yourself a basic guidebook, so you can tell which (if any) of the coins you have are valuable. With thousands of coins involved, this is going to take a significate amount of time. You will need to identify each type of coin, locate dates and mintmarks on each coin, determine an approximate grade (i.e. condition of coin on grading scale), then find each coin in a current price guide.
The alternative is to visit a major coin show (see www.coinworld.com for listings), take some examples, talk to several dealers at the show and find a few that you feel comfortable with, then pay them an hourly rate to appraise your collection for you. Let them know that you are getting multiple appraisals. Then if you are looking to sell the collection, you can take the highest offer.
The trade-off is either taking the time to learn how and then evaluate the coins yourself, or pay a couple experts to do it for you.
