The resources available through the internet are astounding. You can watch endless cat videos of course…and you can watch Gangnam Style as people around the world have a stupefying two billion times…(that’s amazing by itself) but that’s not really as helpful as the million other bits of information you can get from the ‘net. Particularly the information on rare coins.
If you have a rare coin, you simply have to Google it. You may not know exactly what your rare coin is, you may not know the precise, actual name of the rare coin, but try to figure out as much as you can…start with “rare coins”…and put in the color of the coin. Try “rare silver coins” and see what you get…or use a description: Try “rare silver coin with man’s head facing left”. Any description to get started.
Here’s an experiment. Try putting “silver coin with picture of a lady with a robe” for a start. I did that… and that will give you, as the second result, the value of half dollar coins. (particularly from 1942) For those who are wondering, older half dollars have a design on them of lady liberty (in a robe) – and they’re silver. So far so good.
So if you didn’t know anything about your rare coin before, now you know a little bit and this is how the research starts. I’d try “rare coins silver half dollars” next. Since I’ve already figured out that my coin is silver and when I matched it to the picture on the page it appeared that the coin is a half dollar, I’m much further along in discovering the value of my rare coin now then when my search started. So I just keep pressing. As more information about the rarity of the coin become apparent, I use bits and pieces to determine it’s value and continue to assemble the pieces of the puzzle.
Each time you refine your search, you’ll narrow the focus a little bit and get a tiny bit closer to revealing the value of your rare coin. It’s not an exact science, the google search. Sometimes it take a great deal of trial and error and sometimes the results are confusing and frustrating. But the payoff can be huge.
A woman recently came into my store with a coin that, in excellent condition was worth $95,000 USD. We walked her through the process and discovered with her, that her coin was quite valuable and called in one of our buyers to assess its worth. But she could’ve discovered this on her own. And had she gone to a less scrupulous dealer, she might not have received a fair value for her rare coin.
So even if it takes a while, don’t be discouraged in the search for the value of a rare coin, whether gold or silver. Your efforts will usually be rewarded with knowledge and occasionally a financial windfall.
Good luck – feel free to call if we can answer any of your questions – 832 259 7225