# My grandfather had some old coins. What are they worth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandfather-had-some-old-coins-what-are-they-worth/793412 "2017-08-12T05:05:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandfather-had-some-old-coins-what-are-they-worth/793412/1 "2017-08-12T05:05:05Z")
My grandfather left my family some old coins (among other things.) We have next to zero knowledge about coin collecting, and many of the coins aren’t really “old” at all, but what would they be worth on eBay? Can anyone give a balllpark figure estimate? (I’d be surprised if they’re worth more than $200 all combined.) Sorry, no pictures, either, and extremely vague descriptions…they’re in poor condition, too… * * * Unknown Mexican coin - year 1894 Possible Swedish (?) coin - 1912 Unknown Canadian(?) coin - 1913 American penny - 1890 Unknown large European coin - 1806 Three pence (British?) - 1942 Two francs - 1943 Nazi German (?) mark - 1936 Republic of China coin - 1940 Five francs - 1948 Post-WWII German (?) mark - 1947 Two shillings - 1948 Unknown European coin - 1949 Two Swiss francs - 1944 American dollar - 1922 Two British pennies ? - 1931 Republic of China memento coin - unknown year Ten German “pfennig”- 1949 Unknown “half penny” - 1939 Five Danish “ore(?)” - 1961 Buffalo nickel - unknown year Ten Hong Kong “cents” - 1949 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandfather-had-some-old-coins-what-are-they-worth/793412/2 "2017-08-12T05:24:11Z")
Take them to a local coin dealer and have him examine them. No one can give you an idea of their value if they can’t see them, especially on a message board if you can’t post pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandfather-had-some-old-coins-what-are-they-worth/793412/3 "2017-08-12T05:32:19Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Take them to a local coin dealer and have him examine them. No one can give you an idea of their value if they can’t see them, especially on a message board if you can’t post pictures. Right. Their value is going to depend in large part on their condition. Coins in poor condition aren’t going to be worth much unless they are quite rare. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandfather-had-some-old-coins-what-are-they-worth/793412/4 "2017-08-12T05:35:28Z")
Do NOT clean the coins before taking them to the coin dealer to be appraised. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandfather-had-some-old-coins-what-are-they-worth/793412/5 "2017-08-12T05:53:52Z")
Check to see if the Buffalo is on three legs. Could be huge. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandfather-had-some-old-coins-what-are-they-worth/793412/6 "2017-08-12T11:43:13Z")
Grandpa in WWII? Probably. Most of the small coins made of copper, nickel and bronze are super common, worth 5 cnets-10 cents each. The silver ones would be the best, especially the ones the size of your 1922 silver dollar. The 1922 U.S. dollar we currently buy for $14 and sell for $22. The “1803 unknown European large coin” is probably only as few dollars unless silver. Then it depends on what it is. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandfather-had-some-old-coins-what-are-they-worth/793412/7 "2017-08-12T12:26:49Z")
The US silver dollar is worth at least it’s melt value. The rest sound like the kind of stuff that [sells by the pound](http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-POUND-MIX-OF-WORLDWIDE-COINS-1800S-TO-PRESENT-MOSTLY-CIRCULATED-SOME-UNC-/382187843711?hash=item58fc2bb07f:g:S4YAAOSw~qNZfhu1) on Ebay, so maybe a (modern, non-silver) dollar for all of them? ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandfather-had-some-old-coins-what-are-they-worth/793412/8 "2017-08-14T00:13:39Z")
I checked this for my grandparents a few months ago, and if there are any actual silver coins, they should be worth a reasonable premium to face value such that you’d be missing out significantly if you just gave them to the bank. I don’t know about accuracy for this, but here’s a good start at what some common coins are worth that jibes with my memory from a few months ago. [https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/old\_coins/](https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/old_coins/) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-grandfather-had-some-old-coins-what-are-they-worth/793412/9 "2017-08-14T01:00:09Z")
You could search for them on eBay Sold items.