Expert: Ronald Fern - 6/15/2011

Question
Hi Ron,
My wife and I just finished making an extensive computer inventory of 2 large cases of coins which comprised my late father-in-law's coin collection. Contents are coins of every denom and include many proof sets, and commemoratives as well as individual circulated coins. We used the Whitman Blue Book which states that it list prices that "many coin dealers will pay" and that it is NOT a retail price list.

We went to a local dealer hear near San Diego in what we believe is a reputable jewelry story who offered to go through the collection and give us a quote, but when I told him that from our inventory, we felt we had something like $1,000 in face value of coins (not including a small amt of foreign coins), but that from our "conservative" grading using the book we felt we might have closer to $7,000 in value. He seemed fair in saying that he of course would only be able to give us something between those 2 values, but when I said, "OK, so your saying you might wind up giving us say, 50-70% of our estimate?" He said "yes."

Please give your take on this, and secondly, the collection includes 1 sealed US Assay Office San Francisco Mint canvas bag of $50 in 1972 pennies. I read someone elses answer in this site about a similar bag and that it might bring say, 3-4 cents per penny for a different year which "had no minting errors" or something to that effect. But 1972 is the year they had a double-die error--but I think it only applied to the Phila. mint. Will you comment on this as well, please?

Your answers will be greatly appreciated. I picked you because of your stated long experience in the business.

Ron Eschleman
Ramona, CA

Answer
Hi Ron:


Thanks for the opportunity to answer your questions.

First, a jewelry store is a bad idea. I hope you did not accept his offer. You wouldn't go to a coin shop to get an estimate on the value of a watch or fine jewelry, so to go to this kind of shop for coin values is not the best decision. I believe from the information you provided, the estimate the dealer offered you is low. You should get close to "Blue Book" value or more, not 50 to 70 percent. If you used the "Red Book", which has retail prices, the estimate would be more in line.

If you want to contact me via e-mail, my address is coingye@yahoo.com  I'd be glad to discuss your collection, or give you several area dealers who would treat you fairly.

I'm not sure what year "Blue Book" you are referring to. Silver and gold have changed so much that the prices for any set or individual coin containing either of those alloys is way low! Dimes, quarters and halves contain .900F silver if they are dated 1964 or before. With silver at around $35 a troy ounce, a silver dime has a melt value of about $2.50, while a quarter is worth $6.40, and a half $12.80 in melt value. See: http://www.coinflation.com/silver_coin_values.html

Relative to the $50 bag of 1972-S cents, you are right, the main doubled dies are found in the coins struck at Philadelphia with no mint mark. I found one mint sewn $50 bag of 1972-S cents offered for a "Buy Now" price of $599.99 with free shipping so, you can see your bag is worth far more than face value. See: http://cgi.ebay.com/Early-Release-1972-S-Lincoln-Cent-50-00-Mint-Sewn-Bag-/12073...

There are several sites where you can learn about die varieties and doubled dies. See: http://www.lincolncentresource.com/doubledies/doubledies.html or http://doubleddie.com/1957.html

If you live close to a local shop, they should offer an opinion as to the value at no charge. Always try and get at least two opinions and try and deal with PNG dealers if possible. If you should decide to sell your items to a dealer, remember they will offer about 50% to 60% of the retail value. Here's a link to find one in your area: http://www.pngdealers.com/dealersearch.php

Hope this helps. Please remember to go to the experts site to rate this answer. And check the nomination box on the rating page below any comments you may have.

Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.