5 Ways To Get the Most Money If You Find Rare Coins in Your House

You’re clearing out the attic or diving deep into those boxes in the basement when you feel a sudden weight in the palm of your hand. Looking down, you see a coin — and not just any coin, but something you don’t immediately recognize among the change in your wallet. You wonder if this might be worth something. 

But where do you start? Questions about how to determine if you actually do have a little fortune in your hand, and what to do about it, swirl in your mind. Fortunately, GOBankingRates has some insights from experts about how to see if that coin could give you a golden future.

Glancing at a coin whose luster has been dulled by time and wear might tempt you to scrub it sparkling clean. According to Donn Pearlman, spokesman for the Professional Numismatists Guild, you should be careful of that instinct. 

He said that “harsh, abrasive cleaning” can damage a coin in ways that would significantly lower that coin’s value to collectors. Pearlman recounted the story of being in a Chicago coin store, watching an elderly woman try to sell her late husband’s collection. The woman mistakenly thought that rigorously applying a scouring pad to the coins to make them “bright and shiny” would increase their value. 

“The dealer politely told her that one of the silver dollars she brought in would have been worth over $1,000, but because of damage caused by the abrasive cleaning, it was now only worth $100,” said Pearlman. 

You might think that the passing decades or even centuries are solely responsible for giving a coin its value. Pearlman said that even if a coin is old, it isn’t necessarily valuable. Most often, a coin’s condition or grade is a more important factor.

“For example, a century-old U.S. Indian Head penny in worn condition might only be worth $1,” he said. “But the same cent in original, mint red condition might be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars depending on its state of preservation.”

If you’re in doubt about the value of your coin, Pearlman suggested using the free price guide at the Numismatic Guaranty Company to get a clearer sense of its retail value. 

As the managing partner and director of World Coins at Gold Hill Coin, Clark Smith Jr. is accustomed to helping people determine the worth of their coins. Smith recommended finding a coin specialist to support you in your sleuthing — especially if your coin comes from a global market. If you were to find one of the Asian coins that were popular among U.S. service members after WW2, you’d want to search online for a coin expert who specializes in Asian coins like Smith. 

Smith suggested that looking at auction records for your coins is a good way of determining their true value. Seeing what coins have sold for in the past gives you a sense of a fair price for them now. When you approach coin shops or potential buyers, you’ll have greater knowledge about what you have and what it’s worth. 

You like to comparison shop for the best offers when it comes to anything else, so why not search around to get the best value for your coins?  Once you know what the baseline price for your coins should be, based on auction records or expert opinions, you should go to at least two or three different potential buyers. 

Having several prices available to you can give you a sense of whether any of those buyers might be lowballing you and allow you to sell your coins to the person willing to give you the best price, said Smith.