I have a fairly large collection of silver and gold coins. I would like to find out their value. Some of the local coin shops advertise that they will do this for free, but for the size of the collection I have, I wonder if it is fair to ask them - or even if they would be willing.
Can anyone tell me what it would cost to have this done? Is there a rule of thumb - like 1 dollar for every 10 coins or something like that?
If they advertise that they do it for free, then let them do it for free. Sadly, I doubt they’re too busy to fit you in. The only downside is that they might lowball you so they can buy them.
The best way to gauge the market value of a collectable these days is eBay. Have you looked your coins up there to see what they’re selling for?
There are about 700 coins in the collection. Mostly silver. Even if I could look them all up, I wouldn’t have the ability to properly grade them.
It’s just that - in this day of eBay and Craigslist, the “book value” that an appraiser or a shop owner is going to give you is meaningless. They won’t pay you that value (they’ll offer you 30% of it), and you don’t have access to their customers. A collectible is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, which is often several hundred percent +/- the book value.
For instance, I collect comic books, and for years (I’m talking 15-20 years, though I’m pretty sure they’ve finally fixed it), all the price guides listed a certain book - Albedo Anthropomorphics #2 - at something like $6. Funny thing was, that book is the first appearance of a wildy popular cult character and you couldn’t find one for less than $900. Do you want to sell someone a $900 coin for $1.80?
These instances are rare, but the holy grail of someone’s collection might be sitting in your closet, and all it takes on eBay is for 2 people to want it.
Yup, they will definitely do this. There’s nothing a coin dealer loves better than to have a layman come in and ask the value of his collection. They’ll hem and haw and eventually name a price (reluctantly!) for which they will be kind enough to take it off your hands.
My dad is a numismatist, and he does business with a lot of coin shops - many’s the time he’s bought coins from a dealer that originally came from somebody’s inheritance, and for which the dealer paid about a tenth of the actual value. He’s a lot more knowledgeable than most dealers, though, so he often gets a chance to snipe valuable coins off of them that even they had undervalued. What goes around comes around. 
What kind of coins do you have in your collection? Are they currency or bullion? American or foreign? Older American currency will probably have the most value, and be easiest to sell. It might be a good idea to get a representative sample and look up the dates and mint marks to get some idea of the kind of stuff you have.
Are you sure about that? If the OP needs to insure the collection, the insurers will require an independent valuation.
Exactly. My insurance company insists on this.
Mostly American coins, a mix of old and new.
My bad, then. You should’ve said so in the OP; I thought you wanted to sell them. Take them to the shop that advertises free appraisals and have them honor their advertisement. The old guy will probably be glad to do it, and chat you up in the meantime.
I suppose I’ll sell them one day, but for now I just need to know what they are worth. Maybe - a big maybe - if I could pay off my house from the sale, I’d consider parting with them. But I am doubtful that they are worth that much.
PM me, or email me, and I’ll guide you through this. I’ve done it for over 30 years.
Just as an example, assuming you have dimes, quarters, halves from the 1920’s-1964, the silver value today has exceeded the collector value. Unless the coins from the 1920’s-40’s are uncirculated.
Again, I’ll be glad to do this.
samclem
PS. You won’t likely be able to pay off your house, unless you’re down to the last few payments. 