I have a question about a coin collection my father in law collected over several decades as a hobby. The father passed away in 2003 and the collection was never split up between the 3 siblings at the time of his death. Fast forward 20+ years, the 500 pounds of primarily US coins are still sitting collecting dust. It consists of various of: half dimes, silver, gold pieces, proof sets, mint sets, silver dollars, and other weird stuff. Some in really good condition and some is just slick silver, but it just seems voluminous when you start to look at each individual coin. What is the best way to approach to value and dispose?
One of the siblings passed away in June 2024. The oldest is 70 years old and the youngest (my husband) just turned 61.
If everyone gets along and agrees, just suggest to your husband that he ask the other siblings if they want to get together, buy some reference publications and as a group go through the collection and separate the more desirable pieces, inventory them, and take them to a few dealers and get some bids.
The low-quality stuff can just be checked again and weighed for bulk metal value.
It’s important to get a good inventory before too many people go through the stuff. It’s a pain but the stakes could be high. Lots of gold coins go for $2K or more each today.
I’d start with the gold. It’s much more valuable per oz making it the highest payoff and easiest to transport. Try to visit local dealers and ask them about getting a quote. Calculate for yourself the commodity value of the gold and use that to see whether the dealer is trying to take advantage of you.