6 Unusual Places to Look for Rare Coins Worth A Lot of Money
Written by
Vance Cariaga
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If you’re on the hunt for rare and valuable coins, you probably already know to hit local coin shops, flea markets, garage sales, antique dealers and coin shows. But widening your search to include unusual places and strategies might give you a leg up on other collectors.
That doesn’t mean you should go digging around every sofa and car seat you come into contact with (although that could pay off). But it does mean you can investigate places you might not otherwise have considered.
Here are six unusual places, ways and strategies to find rare and valuable coins, according to coin collector sites.
1. Child toy boxes: The toy box would have to be old, and maybe part of an attic or estate sale, but it might be worth a peek. As a blog last decade on the Great American Coin Co. website noted, some kids put coins into toy boxes thinking they are either toy coins or worthless trinkets. One British man rediscovered an 18th-century Spanish coin worth nearly $300,000 that he once put into a toy box thinking it was only a trinket.
2. Under fence posts: Many farmers buried coins beneath fence posts on their properties for safekeeping and then forgot about them, according to the TreasureNet website. You could score big if you find old farms holding estate sales and asking for permission to dig beneath fence posts (though you might want to explain why).
3. Near abandoned railroad tracks: A popular pastime for kids a few generations ago was putting coins on train tracks to see if they got flattened by oncoming trains. Some of the coins that slipped off the tracks before getting run over might still be in decent condition if they wound up beneath the track and are largely protected by the elements. Make sure it’s an abandoned train track that’s no longer in use, though.
4. Under bridges. Flipping coins off a bridge was another popular kid pastime in years gone by, and many of those coins are probably still lying around today.
5. Inside walls: This is one of those secrets that have gotten out — rare old coins stuck inside walls for decades. If you purchased or live in an old home, use a metal detector to see if anything pops up behind the walls.
6. Abandoned properties. As the Great American Coin Co. noted, it is not uncommon to find coin collections, change jars or loose coins in desks and drawers of old or abandoned properties. Just make sure you have permission to enter the property — and that it is safe to enter — before scrounging around.
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