The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Coin Collection in 2024

Learn How to Sell Your Coin Collection for the Best Price


Douglas Winter

Mar 14th, 2024 ·

To sell a coin collection, take the following steps:

  • Determine what kind of coin collection you have
  • Organize your coin collection
  • Decided when and where to sell your coins
  • Determine the value of your collection with a coin appraisal
The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Coin Collection - Morgan Dollar coin collections in a table with coin book - learn how to sell a coin collection

Are you in possession of some coins and curious about how to sell a coin collection or wondering what your coins are worth?

When collecting coins there can come a point where you start wondering about how to sell your coin collection.  There are many reasons to consider selling a coin collection, including the following:

  • Your coin collection has gotten too big
  • You are trying to sell old coins to make room for new ones
  • You need the money
  • You inherited a coin collection that you do not know what to do with 

Or, maybe you have no immediate plans to sell, but you’d like to know the best way to sell a coin collection for future consideration, or you just want a coin collection appraisal.

Just like there are many reasons to consider selling your collection, there are many things you need to take care of and consider first.

Whatever your reason for selling is, Coinfully is here to help you navigate through selling your coin collection.

We also offer 100% free coin appraisals for your collection, so if you are considering selling, be sure to reach out to us and find out exactly what your coins are worth.

Determining What Type of Coin Collection You Have

A quick comparison chart displaying five types of coin collections

The first step is determining what type of coin collection you have in your possession. The following are a few common types of coin collections:

  • True Collection: These are coins from a serious collection acquired from auction houses or coin shows. You can tell that it is a coin collector’s collection just by looking at it.
  • Random Collection: This is where a collection does not have any rhyme or reason to it. Maybe all the coins are made of precious metals. Maybe they were bought expecting to become valuable coins.
  • TV Collection: These are the coin collections that you see advertised as rare coins on late-night television.
  • Entertainment Collection: This is a collection that was made for fun. Think one quarter from all 50 States or a few of the same coins with consecutive years. There is something that links the collection to whether or not some of the coins have worth or not.
  • Weekend Collection: These collections are made by someone just starting to get into numismatics. These are made of coins that are easy to come by, normally made by someone with the intent to get more into coin collecting. You will see a lot of Morgan Silver dollar coins, buffalo nickels, or any popular coin in these collections. 

Organize Your Coins for Sale

Next, you’ll need to organize your collection into similar coins.

Organize Your Coins for Sale - mercury dime in a collection book

If you are selling an inherited coin collection chances are you do not know how to organize the collection. If your collection is not already organized or separated for any reason you will have to do it yourself.

You might want to separate coins in your inherited coin collection so they are easier to show potential buyers, to look up types of coins you have, or just to make them easier to go through.

A quick and easy way to organize your collection is by similarities in coins. A few categories you can separate like coins into are:

  • By types of metals
  • Denominations (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars, dollar coins, etc.)
  • Mints (Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City, Denver, etc.)
  • Years minted

Trying to follow price guides for organization according to price can be more trouble than it is worth. You may think that you have separated you most expensive coins. But they can be ordinary coins and not rare dimes worth significant money.

If you are planning to send your collection to us at Coinfully, there is no need to worry about organizing your collection. We can sort through it all for you.

When to Sell Your Coin Collection

Only sell your coin collection when you feel ready.

Some places might try to pressure you into selling the collection, do not let them. If you feel this happening then chances are you have something valuable and should take your collection to get a second opinion.

To help avoid feeling pressured, make sure anywhere you go for a coin appraisal is certified by Professional Coin Grading Service or a like coin grading company. And do not sell your collection for less than it is worth.

Where to Sell Your Coin Collection

Guide graphic illustrating four primary venues for selling coin collections

The best place to sell a coin collection is wherever you are getting the best price.

This does not tend to be a pawn shop or any place that focuses on buying gold since neither are likely to understand the true value of the coins in your collection and be more likely to focus on the precious metals in each instead.

Your best bet is to sell your collection anywhere that prioritizes your coin’s value. Anywhere that buys and sells collectible coins online or in person will know the true value of your coins and offer you a price representative of that.

Before looking at places to sell your coin collections, make sure you get an appraisal to know how much your collections should be worth.

Determining the Value of a Coin Collection

Before you think about selling your coins make sure you find out their value with an appraisal.

Coin appraisals are available online or in-person.

When it comes to valuing your coin collection, most shops or websites that buy coins can give an appraisal for anyone selling old coins. 

Wherever you get a coin appraisal, do not feel like you can not seek out another to confirm the price of your coin collection. 

Determining the Value of a Coin Collection - Morgan Dollars Collection on a coin book

If thought of carrying around your collection to know their value is causing you stress consider an at home coin appraisal with Coinfully. With an at home appraisal our experts fly out to you and give you an appraisal, all free of charge and zero pressure.

Feel free to reach out to us at Coinfully for either your first appraisal, for an at home appraisal, or to check the value given to your coins during another appraisal.

Figuring out how much your collection is worth can be more pain than building the collection. The Red Book of United States Coins can tell you a vastly different value than a different price guidebook. And both can be completely different from a perspective coin buyer.

It is hard trying to determine the value of a coin collection alone, which is why we suggest getting an expert to appraise your collection.

Coin appraisals can tell you what you should be honestly looking at getting for each piece in your collection.

How to Sell a Coin Collection: Frequently Asked Questions

Who Can Appraise My Coin Collection?

A qualified numismatist is the only person who you should rely on to appraise your coin collection accurately and fairly. Getting multiple appraisals can also allow you to compare offers.

What is the best way to sell coins to collectors?

The best way to sell coins to collectors is generally through a professional coin buyer. At Coinfully, we specialize in offering the best price to retail sellers through our exclusive appraisal and online coin buying process. We can also visit your home if you have a large collection and want the exchange to occur in person.

How do I get the best value for a coin collection?

To get the most value for your coin collection, consider getting several appraisal offers and comparing which offers come in highest. With multiple offers in hand, you can usually pick the highest one and know you are getting top dollar for your coins.

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Chief Numismatic Advisor at Coinfully & President of Douglas Winter Numismatics.  A famed rare coin expert and author, Douglas contributes to the Coinfully Blog and publishes educational articles to offer expertise as a leading numismatist in the field.

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