Prices for non-traditional coins

If you want to determine the value of a coin that is not a traditional item found in price guides, what can you do?

You have several options. One option is to take it to a local coin dealer and see what you can get for it. The benefit of that solution is that you have someone looking at it firsthand and you could potentially sell it there and be done. The negative side is that it can be time consuming and inconvenient, especially if you don’t live near a coin shop.

Another option is to find an online coin dealer who will tell you by e-mail what they’re willing to pay for the the item. That’s more convenient than going to a local dealer but it can also take a few days for them to get back to you, and since they’re not seeing it in person, they may reduce the price a bit to protect themselves from getting a bum deal.

The third option is what I recommend doing. To find out the going price on the open market in seconds, turn to eBay. You can often find the exact item you have and even if you’re not a member you can get a general idea of what the item is selling for. If you are a member, you can login and see what the item sold for in the past few weeks, telling you exactly what people were willing to pay for the item.

If you like what you see, then you can list your item and hope for the best.