I have a coin collection, now what?

As an avid coin collector and member of a coin club, one of the most frequent questions people have asked is: "What do I do with the coin collection I inherited or have and want to get rid of?”

Please read on, it can help you with the difficult question above:

1. Take them to the coinstar machine or a bank and cash them in. This is probably the worst thing you could do. Face value is nowhere near true value of old coins and currency. Coinstar takes a percentage for each coin you have counted. But of course you’re an intelligent person and already knew this. You won't believe how many people I met who have done one or both of these and have lost out on money that they could have made.
 
2. Take them to a coin or pawn shop and sell them. Pawn or coin shops may offer an appraisal for a fee and offer you what may sound like a lot of money, it isn't.  If you get 50% of the value from a pawn shop or coin dealer you did well.  Remember that they have overhead including a storefront, rent and salaries to pay. They might try to tell you that they may get stuck trying to sell your coins later.  This is not always true because they have multiple contacts and know several people in the business. Remember this simple fact: They are in the business to make the greatest return on their investment.
 
3. Do your research. This is key. Get a coin collecting guide book that lists the values of the coins.  You can get these online, in a library or in a bookstore.  There are also several good sites online that provide accurate pricing for coins. The more time you spend doing research, the better off you will be and in the long run may save you several dollars. There is always the possibility that you have a few rare coins among the collection, this fact is that they could be "overlooked" during an appraisal. Remember that older US dollars, half dollars, quarters and dime minted before 1964 have silver in them so they are worth more than their face value
 
4. Coin clubs and coin shows: If you don't want to spend the time doing research, find a nearby coin club or talk to dealers at a coin show.  At coin clubs you will find members who are certified in coin appraisals by the ANA.  Many clubs have auctions where you would be able to auction off some of your coins. There are also many members of clubs who know a lot about all types of coins and would be really happy to help you learn more. This is your best and easiest option.

What should you do with your own coin collection:
You’ve spent years putting a collection together and suddenly find you have no one who either wants it or will have no idea what do to with the collection you will leave them when you are no longer here.  Coin collecting, like any other type of collecting, is in the hunt, spending hours on how to improve your collection, but few people think about what do with it when it’s completed.

You already know about the options listed above. So what will you do now? Assuming you are sure the collection is only your decision. Get rid of it for the most money that you can, take the profits and buy something you always wanted, like that cruise or vacation you’ve always wanted or to pay off some important bills. By doing this your collection just got you that special thing or memory, and you can say “my coins or my collection paid for this". However you dispose of the collection, we hope that you will take what you’ve learned here so that you can maximize the profit that you get  for it. Who knows, maybe you will learn something new along the way and have some fun and meet new people too.