Typical Coin Values
By Coins and coin collecting | Wednesday, 17 May 2006
How to find out coin values
Any collector, investor or dealer is interested in the value of particular coins. Whether this interest is stoked by a desire to sell for profit, buy for collecting or buy and sell at profit, it is still a sought after piece of information to any collector of coins. If you have been given or inherited coins then it is possibly the first thing you will think of, not everyone shares an interest in collecting coins at first. Although many who start out having coin collecting forced on them do turn out to be coin fanciers in the end. Regardless of your reasons for wanting to know the worth of your coin or coin collection the first step to finding out any coin value is to find out all you can about the coin or coins in question.
Finding Coin Values on the Internet
Coins are firmly welded into the history of the world and because most coins have discernable markings on them finding out the history of a coin may be a lot easier than you think. The first place to look is the Internet and the vast wealth of informative sites that are available. These sites will often specialize in certain eras or another area of coin production but a well-phrased search through any major search engine will pay dividends. If you can make out the writing then simply use that phrase with the word coin and you will be given a selection of sites to look at.
You should find what you are looking for in the first few sites on your list. If this doesn't work be aware that ancient coins with emperors on were Roman, Gods featured on Greek coins and passages from the Koran were on Arabic coins. This might give you enough information to be able to locate a site that features an online catalogue. If so, download the catalogue and work through it until you find the coin you are looking for. This will also give you coin values so you will instantly know how much your coin is worth.
Coin Traders
Coin traders are another option but there are several things you should know and do before taking this approach. You should still complete as much research as possible on the chosen topic and once you have gone as far as you think you can then visit the trader and tell him or her what you have found out. Be prepared, though, because the figure they put on your coin is not the valuation figure but is in fact the amount they will pay you for it. Calculating coin values from there is entirely dependant on the trader you are dealing with and how much profit margin they place on each item.
Museums
Museums are an excellent resource. They have employees who are paid to help you and will usually do so freely. Take your coin with you and ask them what they know about it, if they can't give you coin values directly they probably have reference material and catalogues and can point you in the right direction. It is, in fact, very unlikely that the museum or it's employees would give you a prediction of coin values, mostly for fear that if they were to get it wrong you might try and sue them.
Many local museums have areas dedicated to coins of particular eras or relating to certain people because coins are an excellent way of mapping history. Dating a coin is usually quite easy; most of them carry a date mark of one sort or another or a picture of the leader's head and name. A quick bit of research will lead you to an accurate year for this coin that, in turn, leads you to accurate predictions of coin values.
This article is part of the Coins and coin collecting articles.
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