Been having a clear out, and I’ve come across a box of a few hundred old UK coins (mostly penny’s and half penny’s). A quick looks suggests that there is a roughly even distribution between 1900 - 1950 or so. A lot of them look to be in fairly nice condition for their age.
Let’s just assume that someone has already made the “they’re worth at least a penny each” Joke 
Any chance of them being worth anything? Anything in particular worth looking out for?
DISCLAIMER: I know absolutely nothing about British coinage.
I would say that, unless they’re minted on silver (as were US and Canadian and, presumably, several other nations’ coins until ~1964), they’re probably only worth their face value.
‘Antique’ shops were charging between 10-20p for pre-decimal pennies the last time I looked.
Although the face value (if they were still legal tender) is only about 0.4p, the scrap value of the copper in them is certainly worth more than that.
Scrap value is about 4p if my calculations are correct.
Make a list that includes denominations, dates and any mint marks. Then go to a coin shop and ask them if they see anything that might have value. Or try a local library and see if they have a coin book on the shelves that covers 20th century coinage. Value depends on scarcity and condition, of course.
Do as Chefguy says, but also check here : http://www.cointalk.com/f11/. It’s the World / Ancient section of the CoinTalk forums, a very good resource IME. Pictures will help.
Joe
If you’re an eBay member, you can search the ‘completed items’ section to see what things sold for. Or look at the ‘active items’ (which doesn’t require a membership) to see what bids start at.
Please do not attempt to clean them. This will scratch them and remove any patina, which vastly reduces their value. Take them to a coin dealer and ask.
Here is a 1908 half-penny in not all that great condition, which has a bid of 3 Euros.
Oops, sorry, it’s two coins, a 1908 and a 1910.
If you have any Edward VIII coins, they’re particularly worthless, because that guy never actually got crowned (he’s the one who abdicated shortly after becoming king). If you have any such coins, feel free to send them to me. I’m an experienced coin handler, and will dispose of them in an environmentally friendly manner.
Apparently the 1912, 1922, and 1916 penny coins are scarce, particularly if in uncirculated condition.
I’ve just had a more thorough look at them. Unless I’m misreading the price guide, very few of the potentially worthwhile ones seem to meet the minimum quality required to be considered collectable.
I’ve ruled out the really rare stuff, I did find a h mark and I’ve put aside the older, better quality ones. In general though it looks like where there is value in them, it would mainly derive from the actual effort of listing them on ebay
Also, don’t forget that you’re not likely to get >50% of catalog value for them on ebay.
The best way to dispose of them on eBay would be to list it as one “unsearched” lot. Dump them in a pile, take a photo, start the bidding at whatever it costs you to list it.
Are any “unsearched” lots on eBay actually unsearched?
Didn’t think so.
Paging samclem.
ALMOST never. I once bought a roll of unsearched 1930s Wheat cents for a few bucks, and found an Indian Head cent worth about $12.00.
Joe
Most probably aren’t, although one could list a bag of pennies and technically they may not have been searched by the seller. It’s almost certain that they were searched by others.