AboutMyCoinCommon Questions About Coins
These are the questions that are not about one coin. What a price quote means, what anyone will actually hand over, and what to check before you believe a coin is what it says it is.
Anything that depends on which coin you are holding is answered in the catalogue instead: what your coin is worth, and what the metal in it is worth.
How much is my coin worth?
A coin is worth whichever is higher: the metal in it, or what a collector will pay for that date, mint mark and condition. The metal is arithmetic you can settle in a minute, and the collector premium comes from three things printed on the coin or visible on its surface.
Are old coins worth money?
Age on its own is worth nothing: a two-thousand-year-old Roman bronze can be bought for pocket money, while a cent from 1909 sells for four figures. What sets the price is how many survive and how many people collect them, and a coin struck in the hundreds of millions is common however old it is.
What do the letters on a coin mean?
A single small letter near the date or on the reverse is the mint mark, and it says which facility struck the coin: D for Denver, S for San Francisco, P or no letter for Philadelphia, W for West Point. Initials elsewhere in the design are the designer’s, and they mean nothing for value.
Are error coins worth money?
A few are worth a great deal and most are worth very little, and the difference is whether the fault happened inside the mint or afterwards. Damage in a pocket, a machine or a vice is not an error, and it is the explanation for the overwhelming majority of unusual-looking coins people find.
Does condition affect a coin’s value?
Condition is the largest single factor in what a coin is worth, and on a common date it is the only one: the same coin worn smooth and the same coin as it left the press can differ in price by fifty times or more. The line that matters most is whether the coin has been circulated at all.
What is coin grading?
Coin grading is the assessment of how much wear and how many marks a coin carries, expressed as a number from 1 to 70 on a scale the whole trade prices against. A grading service seals the coin in a tamper-evident holder with that number on it, which turns one person’s opinion into something a buyer will pay against without seeing the coin.
Does cleaning a coin reduce its value?
Yes, and on a collectable coin the loss is severe: cleaning strips the original surface, the trade recognises it instantly, and a cleaned coin sells for a fraction of what the same coin would have brought untouched. The damage cannot be undone, so the rule is to do nothing until you know what you have.
How can I tell if my coin is fake?
Weigh it and measure it first, because a counterfeit that matches the design rarely matches the specifications to a tenth of a gram. Then check the magnet, the edge, the sound and the mint mark, and on anything worth four figures have a grading service settle it rather than the internet.
Should I get my coin graded?
Only when the grade is worth more than the fee, which rules out most circulated coins: grading costs the same on a coin worth its metal as on one worth thousands. Submit when the coin is scarce, when it looks uncirculated, when it is worth faking, when you are selling to somebody who cannot handle it first — or when you are keeping it and want it sealed against handling and the air.
What is spot price?
Spot price is what one troy ounce of a metal is trading for on the international market right now. It is the number a coin’s melt value is calculated from, and it is not the price a dealer will pay you for a coin.
How can I tell if a coin is silver?
For United States coins the date settles it: dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 or earlier are 90% silver, and those dated 1965 or later are not. Where the date does not settle it, the edge, the weight, a magnet and the sound of the coin will.
What is a troy ounce?
A troy ounce is the unit precious metal is weighed in, and it is 31.1035 grams — about a tenth heavier than the 28.3495 gram ounce used for everything else. Metal weights and spot prices are quoted per troy ounce, because mixing the two units overstates what you have by a tenth.
How much can I sell my coin for?
Less than the coin is worth, because whoever buys it has to resell it and the gap between the two prices is their income. On a coin valued for its metal the gap is narrow and predictable; on a collectable coin it depends on how quickly the buyer can find the next owner.
Where can I sell my coins?
Bulk silver and gold go to a bullion dealer, who prices them off the metal in one calculation. Collectable coins go to a coin shop, a coin show, an auction house or an online marketplace, and which of those pays best depends on how much the coin is worth and how long you are willing to wait.
Can I sell my coin for spot price?
No, and it is not a sign of a bad buyer: spot is a wholesale price for refined metal in quantity, and a coin is neither refined nor wholesale until somebody has sorted, verified, transported and processed it. Every one of those steps sits between your coin and spot, and the buyer is paid for them out of the gap.