I Inherited a Coin Collection. What Do I Do Now?

1. Slow down and secure it

There's no deadline on coins. They don't spoil. The market won't move enough in a few weeks to matter compared to selling them wrong. Put everything in one place, somewhere dry and secure. Keep a note of what came from where. If several family members are involved, agree that nothing gets taken, traded or sold until there is a list. That avoids hard feelings later when someone learns the coin they picked out as a keepsake was the most valuable thing in the box.

Look for paperwork while you are at it. Collectors often kept purchase receipts, invoices from dealers or the US Mint, a handwritten list, notes in the margins of a Red Book price guide or an insurance rider. Those papers tell you what the collector thought was important and sometimes what was paid.

2. Don't clean anything

This rule gets its own step because it costs heirs more money than anything else. A cleaned coin loses most of its collector value. The damage can't be undone. Toned silver, brown copper and dull gold are all normal. Leave coins in their albums, cardboard folders, plastic flips, rolls, mint packaging and grading holders. Handle loose coins by the edges over a soft towel.

3. Make an inventory

A spreadsheet or a notebook works. For each coin or group, record the denomination, date, mint mark, quantity and how it is stored. For slabbed coins, copy the grading service and the certification number. For mint and proof sets, note the year and whether the original box or envelope is there. Big lots of rolled coins can be counted by roll. This list becomes the backbone of everything else: appraisal, insurance, division among heirs and selling.

4. Sort by type

Most inherited collections fall into the same handful of groups. Sorting into them tells you where the value probably sits.

• Certified coins in hard plastic slabs from PCGS, NGC, ANACS or similar. These were usually bought or submitted on purpose and deserve individual attention.
• Gold coins of any kind.
• Silver coins, including bullion coins such as American Silver Eagles.
• Albums and folders, often Lincoln cents, Jefferson nickels, Mercury or Roosevelt dimes or Washington quarters.
• US Mint proof sets, mint sets and commemoratives in original packaging.
• Rolls and loose accumulations from pocket change.
• Paper money, foreign coins, tokens and medals.

5. Find the silver and gold

Silver is the easiest value to confirm. Every US dime, quarter and half dollar dated 1964 or earlier is 90 percent silver. Kennedy half dollars dated 1965 to 1970 are 40 percent silver. Jefferson nickels dated 1942 to 1945 with a large P, D or S above Monticello's dome contain 35 percent silver. Silver dollars, such as Morgan and Peace dollars, are 90 percent silver too. Look at the edge: a clad coin shows a copper stripe. A silver coin is silver all the way through.

Proof sets from 1950 to 1964 contain silver coins. Later sets labeled as silver proof sets contain silver dimes, quarters and halves. Sterling silver medals and art bars, such as those sold by private mints, are silver by weight but have little collector demand, so they usually sell for metal value.

Gold coins are almost always the most valuable single items. US gold before 1934 came in denominations from one dollar to twenty dollars face. Modern American Gold Eagles and Buffaloes are bullion coins. Keep gold separate and don't let it go in a bulk lot.

6. Look for key dates

A key date is the scarcest date in a series. It is often worth many times its common relatives. Check albums first, since collectors put their best finds there and empty holes tell you which dates were hard to get. A short starting list: Lincoln cents 1909-S VDB, 1909-S, 1914-D, 1922 plain (no mint mark) and 1931-S; Buffalo nickel 1937-D three-legged; Mercury dime 1916-D, 1921 and 1921-D; Washington quarters 1932-D and 1932-S; the 1893-S Morgan dollar, with Carson City (CC) Morgans carrying a premium across the board. Our date and variety pages cover the rest.

Be suspicious of key dates that look too good. Altered and added mint marks on the 1909-S VDB, 1914-D and 1916-D are common enough that these coins should be authenticated before you sell them as genuine.

7. Decide when grading is worth it

Professional grading costs a fee per coin plus shipping and insurance. It also takes weeks. It pays for itself on key dates, gold coins, coins that look uncirculated and any coin a buyer will want authenticated. It doesn't pay on circulated common dates, junk silver, modern proof sets or coins that have been cleaned or damaged. A reputable dealer or auction house will usually tell you which few coins, if any, are worth sending.

8. Get more than one offer

Show the collection to at least two buyers who don't work together: a local dealer and a coin show dealer, or a dealer and an auction house. Ask for offers group by group. Keep the valuable coins separate from the bulk. Expect US Mint sets, modern commemoratives and state quarter maps to bring less than the family assumes; they were made in large numbers for collectors and many were saved.

If you would rather keep some coins, that's a fine outcome too. Many heirs keep a few meaningful pieces, often the album the collector built over years. They sell the rest.

9. Taxes, in general terms

Talk to a tax professional before you sell anything significant. In general, the tax basis of inherited property is its fair market value on the date of death, not what the collector originally paid, which is one reason a date of death appraisal is useful. The IRS treats coins as collectibles. Gains on collectibles can be taxed at a higher maximum rate than gains on stocks. Estate tax and state inheritance tax rules depend on the size of the estate and the state. Keep your inventory, appraisal and sale receipts together.

Frequently asked questions