"What's my coin worth?"
That's the question to which everyone wants an answer.
While it may seem like a fairly easy type of inquiry to get a helpful response to, sometimes it can take a really good evaluation of the coin by a professional coin dealer to determine your coin's value accurately.
You see, when determining the value of a coin, the appraiser must consider not only the date and denomination of the coin, but also what condition it is in, what the value of the metal is, the relative scarcity of the coin, and other issues.
Judging the value of a coin is often a highly sensitive process, and there are few coins that come with "stock" values.
Therefore, when somebody asks a question like "What is my 1902 Indian penny worth?" it truly is difficult and even unfair to you for anybody to give you an answer without first seeing it in person for a true, accurate appraisal.
While accurate price quotes are essentially impossible without physically inspecting the coin in person, it is possible to decide what value range your coin may fall into -- based on some basic average prices often realized in the everyday coin market.
First, Determine The "Grade" Of Your Coin
The best way to find out if your coins are valuable would be to purchase a good coin pricing book, like A Guide Book of United States Coins, by R.S. Yeoman and Kenneth Bressett.
This Whitman Publications book (widely referred to as The Redbook) is updated annually and contains average pricing information for all U.S. coins dating back to the Colonial era. It also offers basic coin grading information to help you determine the condition of your coin.
You can also buy one of the several coin magazines with pricing guides. Coins Magazine and COINage Magazine are 2 popular periodicals that have some pricing charts, as well as many informative articles pertaining to coins, coin values, and coin news.
If you want to keep your coin value hunting to the Internet, I recommend perusing websites that offer coin grading advice.
Here is a good basic coin grading page.
After You Know Your Coin's Grade...
Once you get some ideas as to about what your coin might grade, look at several coin dealers' catalogs to get some idea as to what the average price seems to be for the coin you have.
You might also want to take a look at the price guide on the Professional Coin Grading Service website for some insight as to your coin's value.
If you are looking to sell your coin, realize 2 things:
-
Your coin will likely net you only about half to two-thirds the value of the prices you see for the same coin listed for sale; and
-
The buying coin dealer may spot problems with your coin that will legitimately lower the value of your coin. This is why it is particularly important that you understand the idea of coin grading and knowing that even the tiniest nick or scratch on a coin can drastically reduce its value.
One last thing, do not clean your coins. Cleaning a coin almost always renders it uncollectable to most numismatists, who generally prefer coins to be left in their original, unadulterated state.
2 Comments
Leave a comment
- 4 Reasons Coin Collecting May Not Be The Best Hobby For You
- If We Could Build Our Log Home Over Again... Some Things We Would Do Differently
- Best Franklin Neighborhoods For Trick-or-Treating
- Best Brentwood Neighborhoods For Trick-or-Treating
- How To Use Feng Shui In Your Scrapbooking
- With The Gentle Leader Head Collar, Your Dog Follows (Rather Than Leads) On Walks
- Thanksgiving Dinner Planner: A Checklist Of Things To Do Leading Up To Thanksgiving Day
- How To Preserve Your Collection Of Fall Leaves
from The Fun Times Guide
- Triathletes and NSAIDs: Do You Know The Risks?
- Bankruptcy Exemptions: What Can You Keep After Filing For Bankruptcy?
Ken,
All pennies minted in 1994 have a zinc core, which can look like silver; the zinc core is supposed to be coated with a thin layer of copper.
There is a possibility your penny may be missing the copper layer. If that is the case, then you have a type of "error" coin. There is also a chance that somebody may have (chemically or otherwise) stripped the copper away from the zinc core.
You may want to bring your penny to a coin dealer or another numismatic professional to visually inspect the coin and see if what you have is a penny that the U.S. Mint erroneously processed without the penny's copper coating.
Some error coins are quite valubale. While I cannot tell you sight-unseen if yours is or not, it might be worth your time to see if what you have is a mint error---or simply the result of somebody's experiment!
Good luck!
I have found a penny dated 1994 D that looks to be silver? I have cleaned it, but it still looks to be silver in color? Did they make one like this? Or is it just another coin?