Wednesday 11 December 2013

How can I find out how much my coins are worth?

How much your coins are worth depends on what they are, what year they are from, and what condition they are in.

It is best to take your coins to a coin dealer to find out exactly what they are worth, although a free valuation might not be a valuation but an offer to buy.

Or, you might want to find a copy of the 'Standard Catalog of World Coins' for the correct century which may be found at your local library. Unless you're a serious coin collector, they're probably too expensive to buy but are available from Amazon.

(This is an affiliate link to an external website and I might earn a commission on any purchase you make)

Remember that the book price is not the price coin dealers will pay for your coins but what they sell them for. They might offer you around half the book price for them.

If you sell your coins to a collector, you might get something in between the dealer's offer and the book price. You could try eBay, it would give you some idea of what people are prepared to pay for your particular coins but it isn't a true reflection of their value. Some items can sell vastly over value or under value on Ebay.


Condition, or grading, is most important. Collectors prefer coins in mint condition rather than worn condition. The better the condition, the higher will be its assigned grade and the more it will be worth. An uncirculated coin that is in flawless mint state might be worth hundreds times more than the same coin in good condition but which has been circulated.

Scarcity or rarity is a major determinant of coin value. The rarer a coin the higher the coin value. Note that rarity has little to do with the age of a coin. Many one thousand year old Chinese coins often sell for no more than a few dollars because there are a lot of them around, whereas a 1913 Liberty Head Nickel may sell for over $1,000,000 because there are only five known specimens in existence.

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