New member! Inherited collection

Good morning from hot and humid Florida!  I am so excited to have found you all and am looking forward to learning about the collection I have.  I have just recently inherited a collection of coins and tokens from my Father's estate.  My Father was a collector and metal detectorist.  It has been very emotional and very healing for me to go through his items and learn about them, seeing the items through his eyes.  I wish I would have taken more of an interest when he was still here.  I have just started inputting coins into my collection but am not listing grades as I truly have no clues about that yet (baby steps).  I recently reached out to a coin dealer in my area to help me identify if there is anything that I should consider sending out for grading but he wanted $199 an hour just to look at the collection but would wave it if I sold the collection.  I am not interested in selling as this will be a collection passed down through the family.  It may not be the most fabulous collection in the world but it was to my Dad and that makes it priceless to me.  Any tips or tricks are welcome from this community.  I bought an electric microscope as my eyes are not what they used to be.  My struggle is how dirty some of his metal detecting coins are that it makes it difficult to see dates and details.  I have heard NOT to wash them so I have been using a bit of spit just to help see the dates and mint marks.  Coins are not tasty!  I hope everyone is having a beautiful day wherever you are and remember…… every day above ground is a good day!

Hello and welcome to Numista! You have a nice collection of US coins. I look forward to seeing it as you continue to add coins.  Don't worry about grading now.  You can add that as you learn.  Feel free to ask any question you have. There are members here that are quite willing to help. Not that we always agree on the same answer!  As far as washing coins, you've probably heard not to clean coins.  There's a difference.  Using water and mild soap to wash dirt, mud off of coins is fine.  Better to get the crud off and identify than to leave them as a complete unknown.  Take pictures and ask on the forum about how to handle any coin you are unsure about.  

Depending on the coin metal, an overnight bath in acetone or even simple olive oil/vinaigre can do the trick. I think cherishing your Dads collection atleast for a while and definitely till you know what it is truly worth is a nice recognition of the effort and passion he would have put behind it. 
Eventually for Various reasons you may not want or be unable to preserve it in its entirety, but you can certainly hold on to some choice pieces as keepsakes! You might alrwady know what one were your dads favourites :)

One more thing.  Numista has a nice feature of calculating the value of your collection using Numista values generated from sales, auctions and members' input.  But a collection value will only be generated if you add a grade to each coin. I would recommend that if you want this feature then use a middle grade such as VF for each coin, not worrying about being completely accurate. Later as you learn more about grading you can come back and tweak each higher or lower.  This way you'll have a ballpark idea of the total value of each coin and the collection as a whole. 

For your US coins PCGS has a great feature called Photograde where they have a series of pictures from a very high grade to a very low grade. Comparing your coin to the pictures it's easy to assign a grade to your coin. Here's the link for Indian Head cents: https://www.pcgs.com/photograde/#/indian/grades

Good morning from hot and humid Florida!

Great to hear about how you've reconnected with some memories as you go through your father's collection. It sounds as if you're progressing in getting organized (by registering & entering his/your coins on Numista) which is a first “big step.” 

So far all good advice offered here. If you think there is a particular rare (or interesting coin) then try to post a clear picture & clear question regarding what info you're seeking. Give your thread a little time for those “experts” to chime in & offer their opinions (before responding).

Also from your first sentence, if it is quite humid there, be sure to store your father's collection in the driest place in your house.  Moisture can be very harmful to both metals/coins & paper money (over time). I don't live in a humid climate & I use a desiccant (dry aid) to keep my sets in "as dry-as-possible" state.  Check to see that the better coins have good flips or coin cases (storage). If you find any of his coins particularly interesting, you may want to check out a Coin show in your area.  You will probably find it pretty easy to network & the advice/guidance you might receive in person, could be invaluable.  

Take your time & good luck in getting it all sorted out!

I recognize that it can be consoling to go over stuff that belonged to your late parents. I recently went through all photo albums of trips that my parents made together after us kids left the house. My father passed away long time ago, and my mother has lost most of her memories. I cherrypicked the albums for photos that could bring back some of those memories, and by browsing those albums, I stood in their shoes for moments. I scanned the photos and can now present them as a slide collection to my mother.

BTW, when I looked at the collection you had already registered, I saw a beginner's mistake. In 1943, US pennies were minted on steel blancs, as bronze was needed for the war. By mistake, a handful of bronze blancs were used in 1943, and these coins reach outrageous prices. The same in 1944, when the pennies were minted on bronze again, and some steel blancs slipped through.

I assume that the 1943 pennies you listed are actually steel pennies.

Steel penny: N#3173

If you really own these coins, you could buy a villa on the coast and retire. Wishing you the best 😉

Hi there,

I don't really have much to add, but always nice to see a new face. Though, shame it is under the circumstances.

I do understand it though, it's keeping your father alive in a certain way.

I suppose my best advice would be not to rush it. Just pick it up as & when you feel up to it. Don't even set little goals like 10 coins sorted per day. It turns it into a chore which you want to avoid.

If you have a large unsorted collection, it can be easier to speed-sort into sections. Country is usually the easiest, and just have an “unknown” stack if they're not easily identified.

Once that, then break it down into a smaller section, like denomination. That should then make it easier to add as you'll be able to go “Add 10x 1955, 2x 1956, 7x 1958” whilst you're on a single page. Saves backtracking over yourself.

By then, you'll probably be familiar with Numista's catalogue so that might make identifying your unknowns easier.

Of course, feel free to just throw some pics on the forum if you get stuck . You can do groups rather than individual.

Eventually someone will get round to you! 🙂

I noticed you mentioned tokens, the Numista catalogue (as amazing as it is!), is by no means complete. Coins are pretty good, tokens are a bit more hit & miss. Lots of niche ones and a more limited collector appeal. 🤷‍♂️

Anyway, I do hope you find some pleasure in the hobby. 🙂

ArnoV

I recognize that it can be consoling to go over stuff that belonged to your late parents. I recently went through all photo albums of trips that my parents made together after us kids left the house. My father passed away long time ago, and my mother has lost most of her memories. I cherrypicked the albums for photos that could bring back some of those memories, and by browsing those albums, I stood in their shoes for moments. I scanned the photos and can now present them as a slide collection to my mother.

 

BTW, when I looked at the collection you had already registered, I saw a beginner's mistake. In 1943, US pennies were minted on steel blancs, as bronze was needed for the war. By mistake, a handful of bronze blancs were used in 1943, and these coins reach outrageous prices. The same in 1944, when the pennies were minted on bronze again, and some steel blancs slipped through.

I assume that the 1943 pennies you listed are actually steel pennies.

 

Steel penny: N#3173

 

If you really own these coins, you could buy a villa on the coast and retire. Wishing you the best 😉

Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention.  I went back and looked at his book and fixed the error I made.  No villas for me today.  This is why I am looking forward to engaging with all of you as the knowledge you all have is, quite frankly, overwhelming and amazing.  I do see an area in the collections for tokens and bullions but am I able to list bars on here?  I also received this partial box of small silver bars  

Bars are allowed and many are in Numista already.  Any that you have that aren't listed you should add.  

A coin, a banknote or a piece of exonumia is missing in the Numista catalogue: what can I do?