Welcome to Sell Coins Near Me!
Your Link to the Nation’s Private Coin Buyers, Coin Dealers, and Coin Shops.
Are You Considering Selling Coins?
If so, you have come to the right place! With decades of experience, the creators of Sell Coins Near Me understand that selling single coins or coin collections can be a daunting task. Regardless of if you are a lifetime coin collector or recently inherited a coin collection, when it comes time to sell coins you have many options out there. Our goal is to simplify the process for you by laying out a clear path for you to follow and hopefully educate you along the way.
Where to start? Well, this Home Page on Sell Coins Near Me will walk you through the process! Please take your time, browse around, and let us know if we can offer you any assistance.
Take the First Steps – How to Sell Coins
Prior to selling anything, you should always have a keen awareness of what you have. When it comes to selling coins, there are a lot of factors to take into account. Your coins could simply be worth the value on the face of them or they could be worth a significant amount of money. Let’s take our time and work through getting your collection in order. Once you do that, you can then reach out to private coin buyers, coin dealers, and coin shops with a little more confidence and have the ability to solicit offers on your single coins or coin collections.
Separate Your Coins and Document Your Collection
You do not need to be an expert to take this first step. As you look through your coins, separate them based on what they look like. Most United States coins have the denomination listed on the coin – i.e. One Cent or Half Dollar. Interestingly, each denomination has changed its appearance over time. What this means is that you can have coins that have the same denomination but look completely different. Using the Half Dollar for example, the design of this coin has changed eight times since it was first minted in 1794. The goal of this first step is to make documentation much easier for you. What you should end up with is groups of coins that all have the same denomination and look the same to you.
Now that your coins are separated, it is important to document what you have. Use our Coin Database to match the coins that you have separated with what they are called in the Numismatic (collector) world. We have structured our database to begin with the smallest denomination and works its way up. As you will see, within each denomination the type of coin is listed in chronological order.
Here are some quick links within the database to speed up this process for you:
It is easiest to document your collection on a spreadsheet such as one you can create in Excel. If you are not computer savvy, you can always hand-write your list of coins. Keep in mind that, at minimum, you should record each type of coin, the quantity that you have of that coin, and the mint that it was produced at. At the bottom of each coin profile in the database there is a link to guides on PCGS and NGC where you can click on the type of coin to discover where the mint mark is located. If you have a very large collection or simply don’t have time to list each coin that you have, it is important that you keep track of at least the types of coins and the quantity of each.
Pricing Your Collection
Let me start with a disclaimer: 99% of the time you will not receive the value listed in any of the guides that you use for pricing purposes when you sell coins. The guides are just that, a guide for you to establish a range that you could reasonably expect to receive for a coin. In our experience, the guides often show an inflated value to what similar coins have sold for in recent auctions. That means that if the guide says your coin is worth $500, but, recent auctions have had similar coins sell for $300, more than likely you will be offered somewhere around $300 for your coin.
At the end of the day, a coin is only worth what someone will pay for it. Collectors focus on rarity and condition primarily.
Rarity can be looked at as the number of coins that are still available for purchase today. A coin that only has a few thousand in collectors hands is worth more than a coin that has millions in collectors hands, as you would assume! The rarity of each coin can be found through the guide links at the bottom of each coin description page in the database.
Condition of a coin is a strong driving factor when establishing value. Collectors use a Grading Scale that ranges from “01” to “70” with every United States coin falling somewhere in this scale. Lower grades equal poorer conditions and conversely higher grades mean better condition. Here is a link to a commonly used resource PCGS Photograde which is a lot of fun to use.
Once you have a decent idea of what each coin is worth, record that amount on the spreadsheet that you created. It takes years of experience to be able to accurately grade and price coins, but, you have a start and it will be interesting to see how close your estimated values are to what you are offered for them. Feel free to ask questions when selling coins. If you thought a coin was worth $100 but you were only offered $10 don’t hesitate to ask the collector or dealer where the discrepancy is. In the next section we will discuss Shopping Your Coins which will cover getting different opinions from multiple dealers.
Numismatic VS. Bullion/90%/Melt Value
When you sell coins, one of the most important things to understand is the difference between numismatics and melt value. A coin produced with a precious metal such as gold or silver is worth at least the value of the precious metal that it was made with (melt value). Numismatics comes into play when there is an additional collector value, or premium, on the coin.
Prior to 1965, the majority of United States coins contained either gold or silver. Although there are some exceptions, such as war nickels and Three Cent Silver coins, it is safe to assume that all coins minted prior to 1965 from a dime to a $20 Double Eagle contain either gold or silver and have a melt value. The melt value is tied directly to the current Silver Spot Price or Gold Spot Price. Since these coins were made of 90% of the respective precious metal, it is helpful to use a current melt value chart for your coins. Here are links to two useful coin melt value charts from NGC: Silver Coin Melt Values & Gold Coin Melt Values. Any selling premium on top of the melt value comes from the Numismatic Value.
Numismatics is the study of coins, paper currency, and medals. As mentioned above, the prices that collectors will pay are driven by both the rarity and condition of the coin(s). Regardless of the metal composition of the coin, many coins have a very high numismatic value. Using a Half Dollar for example, a 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar has the same amount of silver in it that a 1921 Walking Liberty Half Dollar has. Based on melt value alone, these two coins are of equal value. The difference is the Numismatic Value: a 1964 Kennedy Half Dollar is widely available in any condition and as a result is typically worth just the value of the silver (there are some exceptions to this); whereas a 1921 Walking Liberty Half Dollar could fetch thousands of dollars depending on where it was minted and its condition.
We highly recommend not selling coins or coin collections to Pawn Shops or those that advertise “We Buy Gold” such as a local jewelry store. Although there may be exceptions, most of these establishments purchase coins based solely on their Melt Value and keep all of the Numismatic Value on the back end in the form of profits. Using the example above, your 1921 Walking Liberty Half Dollar may be worth $6 to a Melt Value buyer, but, much, much more to a private coin buyer, coin dealer, or coin shop.
Selling Your Coins
Once you have your collection fairly well documented and an idea of a potential value for your coins, you can reach out to the private collectors, coin dealers, and coin shops in your area. Visit our Search By City page to find those closest to you.
The easiest way that we have found to sell coins is to call the local private coin collectors, coin dealers, and coin shops and ask them if you can email them your list of coins. This accomplishes two things: (1) it will give them an idea of what you have and allow them to make notes prior to your arrival; and (2) will save you a lot of time driving around town. Don’t get your feelings hurt if several of the potential coin buyers that you call have no interest in seeing your coins. They may see from your list of coins that they don’t carry much value or they may be coins that they don’t typically collect or deal with. In a perfect world, they look through your list, make notes, and invite you in to make you an offer.
IMPORTANT NOTES: When you sell coins in this fashion please remember two things:
Most private coin collectors, coin dealers, and coin shops will not make an offer without seeing the coins first hand. It is impossible to judge the condition of a coin without seeing it in person.
When you send a private coin collector, coin dealer, or coin shop the list of coins you would are considering selling you should always remove any notes that you made regarding your estimated value of the coin. If the coin buyer would typically offer $100 for your coin and you have it marked as being worth $10, you may get a lower offer. Unless you are a long time collector, most likely your estimated values for the coins are not correct – so just leave them off and keep them as a personal reference as you negotiate a price to sell coins.
Where Do Coin Buyer’s Offer Prices Come From?
Bullion/Melt Value Type Coins
When it comes to strictly Bullion/Melt Value type coins, most places will offer you a percentage of the melt value. For instance, let’s say that you have a common date $20 St. Gaudens in poor condition. Most likely, your coin is worth its melt value. In today’s world, you will most likely be offered anywhere from 85%-100% of the melt value of the coin for gold coins and 75%-100% of the melt value of the coin for silver coins.
Numismatic Coins
Although they are a great resource to give you an idea of value, the price guides from NGC, PCGS, and the very well-known Red Book are not used by most private coin collectors, coin dealers, and coin shops when they make an offer. There is a monthly, paid resource that most coin buyers use called the Grey Sheet. The Grey Sheet establishes suggested Bid/Sell amounts that are considered more in line with the coin’s true value. Most coin buyers will also check recent auction history to establish a fair market value for the coins.