Old Coins, How Much Are They Worth?

[ghall]

Okay, around last November I came into possession of a rather intriguing coin collection. Including a silver dollar dating back to 1884, 2 bicentennial dollars, 9 buffalo nickels (can't tell the year on any of them), 4 Kennedy half-dollars (3 from 1966 and 1 from 1967), a 1972 silver dollar, a 1963 Ben Franklin half dollar, and 3 wheat pennies from various years (1943, 1946, and 1952). I'm obviously going to get them checked out by a professional, but I just wanted to get a good idea of what they're worth.

 

[Sdashiki]

Lets see:

$1 (silver dollar)
+
$2 (two bi-cen dollars)
+
$.45 (nine buffalo nickels)
+
$2 (four kennedy half dollars)
+
$1 (silver dollar)
+
$.50 (ben franklin half dollar)
+
$.03 (three wheat pennies)
_____
$6.98

i see nothing worth anything more than they should be. Everyone has those half dollars, though Franklin seems odd to me. Buffalo nickels and wheat pennies, while "rare" arent worth THAT much. Silver dollars are worth more, i know that, and the 19th century one might be the "find".

 

[0007776]

It depends a lot on the condition, if you can't tell a year on any of the buffalo nickels then they are probably too worn to be worth much. I don't see anything particullarly rare in your collection, so don't expect too much but they are worth more than $6.98.

 

[Swarmlord]

Are they brilliant, uncirculated specimens? Are they professionally graded and slabbed? If so, you can look up their prices on the PCGS website. If not, they they aren't worth very much unless they are key dates.

 

[ghall]

Lets see:

$1 (silver dollar)
+
$2 (two bi-cen dollars)
+
$.45 (nine buffalo nickels)
+
$2 (four kennedy half dollars)
+
$1 (silver dollar)
+
$.50 (ben franklin half dollar)
+
$.03 (three wheat pennies)
_____
$6.98

i see nothing worth anything more than they should be. Everyone has those half dollars, though Franklin seems odd to me. Buffalo nickels and wheat pennies, while "rare" arent worth THAT much. Silver dollars are worth more, i know that, and the 19th century one might be the "find".

Hilarious.

It depends a lot on the condition, if you can't tell a year on any of the buffalo nickels then they are probably too worn to be worth much. I don't see anything particullarly rare in your collection, so don't expect too much but they are worth more than $6.98.

I thought as much.

 

[ghall]

Are they brilliant, uncirculated specimens? Are they professionally graded and slabbed? If so, you can look up their prices on the PCGS website. If not, they they aren't worth very much unless they are key dates.

The 2 bicentennial coins are in pretty good shape. The 1884 dollar is a bit dirty but seems to be in more or less perfect order besides that.

 

[imac/cheese]

The four Kennedy half-dollars are each 40% silver -- 4.6 grams of silver each (1965-1970).

The 1963 Franklin half-dollar is from the last year they minted (1964 started the Kennedy half dollars) and it is made of silver and probably worth 25-40% more than silver of the same weight depending on the condition.

The 1943 wheat penny is interesting. This is the year that the US mint replaced copper pennies with steel because they needed the copper for ammunition to fight WWII. So it should be a steel penny. If it is a copper penny and the date is really 1943 it is extremely rare and quite valuable -- tens of thousands of dollars. Test it with a magnet...if it is steel you will be able to pick it up.

Don't know much about the older coins.

 

[ghall]

The 1943 wheat penny is interesting. This is the year that the US mint replaced copper pennies with steel because they needed the copper for ammunition to fight WWII. So it should be a steel penny. If it is a copper penny and the date is really 1943 it is extremely rare and quite valuable -- tens of thousands of dollars. Test it with a magnet...if it is steel you will be able to pick it up.
.

HOLY CRAP!!! It stuck to a magnet!

 

[Sdashiki]

HOLY CRAP!!! It stuck to a magnet!

awwww.

 

[imac/cheese]

I was hoping for your sake it was a copper cent. Sorry. It is still a rather interesting piece of American History though not very valuable.

The 1972 Ike Silver Dollar may or may not be silver (40%). Most of these dollars are made of copper-nickle and were minted for circulation but some were minted in San Fran for proofs and they had a 40% silver content (9.8 grams). Most likely if is has been circulated, it is a normal Ike Dollar and still considered legal tender.