Gold, Silver, collectibles clueless

[OLDNEWBIE]

Well, sort of clueless.

Inherited some coins, Jewelry, and LOL Hummels. Those little cutsie kid statues that were popular in the 80s and 90s. some of mine are from the 50s.

Not going to part with anything right away but where do I start when ready? Consignment antique shop?

Melt value on the one pendant/chain for instance was 600 at a Jeweler here who buys gold. It was a custom piece and ugly as sin and I know the Jeweler has to make a profit too but.....

The coins are easier but a real PITA. Mercury dimes and a variety of pocket change from the early1900s. None rare so far so melt value or minimal collector value anyway. Still slowly going through them.

I'll probably sort for collectables then Bag and Bury the ordinary for when silver spikes I guess. Hope I'm not accidently missing a real valuable one though!

Anyway I know I'm not alone. What would/did you all do when inheriting such stuff? 

ALSO, are those cheap scales any good?

[A.J. Holst]

You might want to pm AuEagle

[Quavodus]

On the coins look for certain mint marks such as S which is San Francisco, and if you have any Morgan dollars CC which is Carson City are very collectible and more valuable. Certain coins that are in very good shape could be valuable too.

[Prybar]

When liquidating, do your research! Knowledge is power, you will be ready to deal.

I look at gold and silver, as a bartering tool.

With all the hacking, old infrastructure and terror. You never know when the grid might go down.

[No_0ne]

The coins you have sound like what is commonly known as "junk silver".  It is sold and traded in much the same way as bullion.  Don't expect to get full melt value, but generally it trades for not too far off.  The most common way it's bought and sold is by the "bag", which typically means $1000 face value (i.e. 4k quarters, 10k dimes, etc.) but you can sell it in lesser quantities as well.  Be advised as you go through it, except for really rare date/mint mark coins which are not in "mint state" condition are hard to sell as collectibles and will rarely bring the prices listed on the typical websites and books, these prices are pretty much what retail coin shops get for them and the wholesale value is much less ...

[OLDNEWBIE]

48 minutes ago, Prybar said:

When liquidating, do your research! Knowledge is power, you will be ready to deal.

I look at gold and silver, as a bartering tool.

With all the hacking, old infrastructure and terror. You never know when the grid might go down.

If it gets to that point I feel the standard US coinage with known silver content will be highly tradeable. Jewelry or other non-standard lesser known items like Silver Maple commemorative whatever pseudo coins, not so easy to trade.

Just my opinion. Not saying the other stuff impossible to trade but just US coinage super easy to trade and be surer of authenticity/ value.

[OLDNEWBIE]

2 minutes ago, No_0ne said:

The coins you have sound like what is commonly known as "junk silver".  It is sold and traded in much the same way as bullion.  Don't expect to get full melt value, but generally it trades for not too far off.  The most common way it's bought and sold is by the "bag", which typically means $1000 face value (i.e. 4k quarters, 10k dimes, etc.) but you can sell it in lesser quantities as well.  Be advised as you go through it, except for really rare date/mint mark coins which are not in "mint state" condition are hard to sell as collectibles and will rarely bring the prices listed on the typical websites and books, these prices are pretty much what retail coin shops get for them and the wholesale value is much less ...

With me getting started there is a lot of info on the net about previously unknown Mint errors, double stamps etc.  It's got me afraid to give up on a coin untill I've exhausted all the possibilities.

Like my dad had a bunch of 64 nickles?? in a baggie. I was about to spend them ay Mcdonalds untill I looked them up.

Supposedly if the steps on the back are sharp and crisp it's rare! How sharp? Still dont know so I'll hang on to them for awhile. 

[Jeb48]

I decided to get rid of my coins a few years back (before move to TN) and found an auction house that specializes in guns, coins, stamps and a few other collectibles. They don't mix them to much in one auction but they do coins and stamps together. I had bought a few guns from them and they seemed honest so I called and made an appointment and took about half my coin and all my stamps down. They spend an hour or so going through them with me and made the judgments on the fly what would sell high enough to be worth their commision (I think they charged the seller 10% and the buyer 10%). I went home with the coins they said to spend and all the stamps, they said they would not sell for even face value. Was generally pleased with the prices they got, some much higher than expected and some a little less, so I took the other half down and did the same thing. Probably could have spent years and sold them myself and made a bit more but this was easy and relatively fast. I say relative because they usually only did one coin auction a month and they had enough items consigned that they spread my first batch over a two months and the second batch was a few months later.

I thought about keeping the silver for when the SHTF but I also knew my Dad's collection was still sitting at my Mother's place and it was several times bigger than mine and I would eventually end up with those also.

I haven't looked for such a place in TN but they must exist.

[Rambo84]

Hey Oldnewbie, 

It'd be worth a drive to Lebanon, TN. to stop by Ed's Coins. I'd call first to make sure he's open. Very knowledgeable and honest. Let me know if you need his number.

[OLDNEWBIE]

7 hours ago, Rambo84 said:

Hey Oldnewbie, 

It'd be worth a drive to Lebanon, TN. to stop by Ed's Coins. I'd call first to make sure he's open. Very knowledgeable and honest. Let me know if you need his number.

Just googled it, thanks!