3 Simple Steps in Getting Your Coin Collection Accurately Appraised

In getting your coin collection appraised, you need to determine first which of your coins need to be assessed,  search for coin appraisers within your locality or on the Internet and check their reputation.  Finally, personally do the appraisal with the help of references, such as books, magazines, and articles on the web.

Whether you are planning to sell your coin collection, you are applying for a loan and are planning to use your collection as collateral, or you are just plain curious about the value of your coin collection, you need to get your collection appraised.  If you are new to the hobby or in coin appraisal, consider the following steps to help you simply go through the appraisal of your precious collection:

Determine which coins need to be appraised

Before you get your collection appraised, you have to identify which of your coins need to be assessed.  This can help you decide whether you can appraise a particular coin yourself or you need a professional help from appraisers.  It can also help you work on your budget if you decide to have it appraised by professionals.  Maybe you can also ask the appraiser to give you a discount if you have many coins involved.  There are some coin dealers that offer free appraisal if you sell at their website.

Search for appraisers and compare

If you decide to get professional help in appraising your coins, the next thing you need to do is to search for appraisers for your collection.  There are many ways by which you can efficiently do this.  You can browse the web, check out collector’s forums, and also read through books and magazines.

   
• Search the Internet - the easiest way to look for and compare coin appraisers is through the Internet.  Search for appraisers that are reliable and trusted by many collectors.  You can do this by reading through customer reviews, as well as by checking ratings and accreditation from certain organizations, such as Better Business Bureau (BBB) Reliability Program.  Appraisers who are accredited businesses of BBB are said to be strictly bound to meet the organization’s standards of trust, as well as other standards; otherwise, their accreditation will be revoked.  You can also check out coin dealers as many of them, such as coindealers.com and midwestmint.com, offer free appraisal services to their customers who want to sell their collection in their websites.  There are also licensed appraisers you can find on the web that adhere to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). USPAP is said to be a set of strict ethical and professional guidelines developed by Appraisal Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization.   Resorting to these appraisers ensure a more accurate value of your coin collection.

   
• Check out coin collectors’ forums - coin collectors' forums are great sources for you to learn many things about the hobby and investment of coin collecting, including coin appraisals.   Aside from being able to solicit recommended coin appraisers, you can also learn how to appraise your collection by yourself.  Example forums are US Mint Collectors Forum and Collectors Universe Forums.

   
• Read magazines on coin collections - just like online forums, coin-related magazines are great sources to find out about coin appraisers.  You do not get to know them only through the advertisements they post on the magazines, but also on the articles that may mention about coin appraisals.

To make sure that your coins are valued accurately, it is advised to have your collection appraised by different coin dealers and professionals who offer it at very minimal fee or for free.  From their appraisals, you are able to reach an average value for your collection, which is deemed to be more realistic and accurate.

Consider doing the appraisal yourself

You may have some coins that are more common in the market than the rest of your collection.  These collections are easier to appraise and evaluate by yourself as you are able to go through different dealers and other references, and note down their values.

You may also choose to personally appraise some of your rare coin collection by researching on the Internet and by reading books and magazines on coin appraisals in your local library.  You can alternately purchase such books at your favorite bookstore or online retailers such as Amazon.  Sample references include The Coin Collector's Survival Manual, by Scott Travers, Warman’s Coins and Paper Money by Allen G. Berman, and The Standard Catalog of World Coins by Chester L. Krause and Clifford Mishler.

To get the most probable value for your coin collection, it better to seek out as many appraisers and options as possible.  Never settle for only one appraiser or reference so you can make comparisons and come up with the most accurate value of your coin collection.