i have a load of old coins...

[WiccaBasketUK]

i inherited when my mum passed away. They are mostly pre euro european coins and pre decimal uk coins. are they worth listing? do people collect this type of thing?

[CrazyJays]

Yes diffrent people do collect coins from all over the world. Just pick out a couple and do a search on them.
You never know what they could be worth you could be setting on some money.
Just do alittle research on them...


Jason

[poppa501]

People collect most anything. Do a little research to see if you have anything rare. Try to note if any are silver or not. Silver just passed $37.00 per ounce today. That would make a US silver quarter worth about $6.75 in bullion alone. Good luck!

[JohnPGalt]

i inherited when my mum passed away. They are mostly pre euro european coins and pre decimal uk coins. are they worth listing? do people collect this type of thing?

First, don't get your hopes up too high. There are two things that drive the value of coins. One is rarity. The other is metal value, but only for coins that are actually made from precious metals like gold and silver.

If these came from your mum's "pocket change" just thrown in a jar over the years, it's not likely that you have any truly rare treasures in there. It's worth checking, but don't hold your breath.

Some older coins are actually made from silver. I think coins from Great Britain, pre decimal era, had some that were silver. IIRC, .500 fine silver (50% silver by weight) was pretty common from the 1930's through the 1950's or 1960's. I am no expert on this, but you could research any that seem to be made of silver. Silver is trading over $37 per troy ounce today ($37.76 as I'm typing this) and going up. Any silver coin will be worth at least the value of the silver in it.

For the rest, the best approach is to batch them up into lots by country and either take some good closeup pictures or put them on your scanner and scan them. Take photos or scans of both sides of the coins. If you have a good camera with a good macro function, taking an angled picture showing the edges also helps establish the condition.

Make sure you offer the coins at least within your own country (UK) because of ease of posting them, but also in the country the coins are from (many collectors do collect more of their own historic coins than those of other countries). Coins are relatively inexpensive to mail. If you have to fill out customs forms for them, do not list them as "currency" or "money," call them "numismatic collectibles." It sounds like most of the coins you have are probably demonetized already, so they aren't "real money" in today's marketplace.

I'm not sure how eBid is (yet). On the other big site, coins are one of the few areas where true, no reserve, low opening bid auctions actually work and result in bidding by multiple bidders and a good final price. Over there, you're better off starting your actions under $1 and letting the auction set the price. I'm just starting here, and I'm picking out a few common items to set up as "sacrificial experiments" to see what develops on this site. Over on the other site, you get lower prices if you start your bidding anywhere close to "market value" than you do if you start them cheap. I actually list one troy ounce silver pieces for an opening bid of $0.02 over there, and they sell for over $40 sometimes (when "spot market" price was $35 or $36).

[Anniemcc2]

i inherited when my mum passed away.

I am in a similar situation but these are Victorian pennies - about 200 of them from about 1868 onwards ! Ideas?

[cheaver]

I am in a similar situation but these are Victorian pennies - about 200 of them from about 1868 onwards ! Ideas?

1868 is a good year, only just over a million minted. Depends on condition. Think about a Coin Yearbook (from the Publishers of The Coin News) or a Spink Catalogue?

[Anniemcc2]

Condition is used and well used

[Bohemian]

Definately worth listing, but as the others have said, you need to do some research. Go to the library, or maybe invest in a catalogue or book, that will give you current values. I have always found that these books pay for themselves, in the long run.

[cheaver]

I am in a similar situation but these are Victorian pennies - about 200 of them from about 1868 onwards ! Ideas?

I have sent you a PM.

[Anniemcc2]

I'm gobsmacked!