shoebox of - .10, .25, .50, 1.00

"oly" wrote in message
...

On Thursday, December 13, 2012 10:17:13 PM UTC-6, bremick wrote:
"oly" wrote in message
... On Thursday,
December 13, 2012 6:49:59 PM UTC-6, bremick wrote: "ps56k" wrote in
message ... "Jud"
wrote in message
... Silver coins
(1964 and earlier) are worth 23.5 X face value, just for the silver in
them. Silver dollars a little more. Best bet is to find someone who knows
about coins rather than trying to take a crash course in numismatics.
Yes, certain dates/mintmarks are worth more. I suggest getting a copy of
the 'Red Book' to get a basic idea, but when going to sell, get 2 or 3
offers before taking anyone up on it. --- tnx for the reply - So.... I'm
guessing the basic steps in sorting the bags fulls of coins would be by
year...or maybe a "break date". Not sure if the 1964 date is true for
all 4 coins ? Is 1964 a break date between when the metal or "type" was
worth more vs current coinage ? Are there different styles or design
changes or metal content - by date for each ? For all I know at this
point, they could be all from the 1950's or the
1970's ---------------------- Year-wise, U.S. dimes, quarters, and half
dollars dated 1964 and earlier are of 90% silver content. Also, be aware
that normal Eisenhower dollar coins saved from circulation and the more
recent small dollar coins are not "silver". As for certain dates and
mint marks that might command a premium, if those baggies contain
circulated 1950's and later coins the odds are against finding any that
would justify buying a "Redbook" price guide. But then you might just
get the coin bug while examining them. I don't want to disagree with Mr. R
in a major way, but I gotta say that not paying for a Red Book is the
proverbial penny-wise and pound-foolish. The most you gotta pay is $14.95
plus sales tax (for a spiral bound edition, perhaps the old hard cover
edition may be cheaper) and it isn't difficult to get one cheaper when
booksellers offer discounts via membership cards or coupons. Buy a Red
Book for "peace of mind", it will reassure you that you didn't let a
valuable coin go for one-tenth or one-one hundreth (or maybe worse) of its
numismatic value. I have spent a whole lot of money on numismatic books
and they have never cost me a single red cent. Sometimes they help me make
good decisions when selling coins, sometimes they help me make better
decisions when buying coins and most often they help me with the "negative
decision" to avoid a coin that is likely overpriced or not as scarce as my
(now) defective memory makes me think. The cumulative profit and loss
avoidance affect of all these decisions is rather greater than the price
of the books themselves. And I am not in this for commercial reasons; I
want to collect coins, lots of them, and not get taken by the sharpies.
oly --------------------- Most would agree with you, Oly, but in this case
all this poster seems to care about is putting a rough value on a few
baggies of found coins that most likely were saved from the past 50 years
or so. In that case, he might be misled (knowing nothing about grading) by
the prices he will see in the book. He may be better off with a Blue Book.
If does find a few older coins in the baggies, a search on eBay might
serve him better than a Red Book, assuming he will have no interest in
coins as a hobby once he cashes in his find.

Mr. Remick, a single common, late date Franklin half dollar goes for $12 to
$20 (maybe more if its really nice) nowadays; get a Red Book!!! It's
cheap!!!

The Red Book (admitedly a retail, not wholesale price guide) is a neophyte's
best defense against the many "dealers" who would offer you three times face
value for your silver coins. The number of undercapitalized bums in the
gold and silver business, living hand-to-mouth, has never ever ever been
greater than today.

If you can find a coin book in a Public Library (and I think that that will
be much much more difficult than older timers realize), well the broken-out
cost of the gasoline for two round trips to the Library (pickup and return)
would be most of the cost of the Red Book.

Finally, I defy you to go out in your community or to the nearest big retail
center and to find a Blue Book. You won't find it on the first day you go
looking.

One could get a copy of the monthly "slick" magazine edition of Coin World -
their price listings are O.K. (but mostly lack photographs) but even there
you spend $6.

Best Christmas wishes to you, Mr. R-

oly

________________

Thanks, Oly. Same to you. I agree that the library should be an option to
examine or borrow a Red Book or some other price guide, since the OP gave no
sign that he/she wanted to pursue coins as a hobby. If I were the OP, I
would check eBay as a "real world" Blue Book to see if anyone is actually
buying a specific date/mint coin and what they are paying for it. The OP
was already told here how many times face value dealers advertise they will
pay for 90% silver coins. Now it's up to the OP to use that information as
a guide if he/she finds some silver in those baggies. The next hard part,
as a non-collector, may be to locate a local buyer who will offer something
in that range, assuming he/she doesn't feel comfortable sending the silver
coins off to a coin or bullion dealer.

I have long subscribed to both CW and NN. Since it morphed into a "slick"
weekly, I find CW to have become more like a trade journal for the high end
collector while NN remains more of a mom & pop collector-oriented newsprint
magazine. Lately, I enjoy reading NN more because of its collector
opinions. They even have retained a For Trade section in the classifieds
section. Years ago, I enjoyed using that feature in CW before it turned
into a "my avg circ large cent for your $2.00 silver" bore.