To sell coins valued over $100 each, first be sure they are what you think they are. Coin valuation is tricky! A second professional opinion is a very valuable asset when selling coins like these. Depending on their market values, it may be good to submit them to a major Third-Party Grading service.

Before selling your coins valued over $100, make sure your coins are as you believe. Certification takes time and money, so verify your coins’ likely market values first.

An 1881-S Morgan Dollar graded MS-66. This coin has a current market value of about $180. The market value for one graded Mint State 63 is well under $100. Unless the coin is certified and graded by a reputable TPG, the coin will usually trade for $20 to $30.

Below is a list of coins that should trigger you to get a second coin grading opinion before proceeding. After our list, we’ve made an article with professional advice about how and where to sell your coins to maximize your profit.

First, verify your coins’ authenticity and value. It might make sense to invest time and money into certification. Find a reputable coin dealer close to you who may help with certification. A local dealer might buy your coins, or you could sell them on eBay in a lot or individually. A local coin show is often a great place to start.

Get a Grading Opinion? Definitely

It’s a good idea to get a coin grading opinion for coins valued over $100. If you think your coins are are collectible enough to be worth more than $100, a professional grading opinion will help verify or dispel your thinking. There are quite a few Uncirculated Morgan Silver Dollars in this category, though most of them are already certified. Also, there are tons of counterfeit Morgan Dollars, and telling the difference between authentic valuable Morgans and counterfeit coins can be tricky. It’s sometimes easy, but sometimes very difficult. A professional will help you get started.

There are a few key date Lincoln Wheat Cents in this range. If you think you have an authentic Lincoln Wheat Cent from a rare year and mint combination, it doesn’t hurt to get a grading opinion. Sometimes these keys and semi-keys need to be in excellent condition for it to be worth your time and money to submit the coins for certification. A professional numismatist will help. Most Lincoln Wheat Cents are only worth $0.02, so before you spend the money on certification, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re right.

1943 Lincoln Wheat Cents are common coins, made from zinc-coated steel. In the highest grades (Mint State 68), they are extremely rare and worth a lot of money. Coins graded MS-67 are much more common and sometimes sell for over $100. Most average circulated 1943 Lincoln Wheat Cents sell for $0.10.

Error coins and other collectible U.S. coins can reach into this range, but it surprises some novice collectors how few coins are truly this valuable. You might think a really nice Shield Nickel with a little bit of luster still showing would definitely qualify. But you might be wrong. Common date Shield Nickels from the 1860s are not worth over $100 unless they’re fully uncirculated. They’re still worth nearly $100 in many cases, but that’s a tough call for certification with a TPG.

Where to Get Professional Grading Opinions: Coin Dealers, Coin Shows

See if you can find a professional coin grading opinion for a few of your coins before you move forward. These are exactly the kinds of coins that coin dealers try to buy cheap, so get more than one opinion. Don’t be frustrated if the coins you thought were valuable are not. It’s easy to get your hopes up.

A great place to find a bunch of coin dealers in one place is a coin show. See if you can find a local coin show. It’s usually worth spending the time to find a larger coin show because you’ll have more dealers to meet from different parts of the country. The more opinions you can get, the better! Keep in mind some dealers charge a fee for an appraisal. But if you tell them you were thinking about getting a few coins certified and ask them their opinion, you might be able to get some help.

Should I Get My Coins Certified? Maybe.

This is a really tricky question for coins in this price range. It’s up to you. The cost of certification per coin may end up being as much as the coins are worth! Then again, the coins might not be worth much at all until they’re certified. Have a number in mind when you ask this question. For example, “My Morgan Dollar has to be worth $200 for me to spend between $30 and $50 getting it certified,” or, “My Lincoln Wheat Cent would have to be worth $100 for me to want to spend $200 getting a group of coins certified.”

Keep in mind that common coins in uncommon condition are only worth money once certified by a major TPG. Franklin Half Dollars are beautiful coins, and Full Bell Line Uncirculated Gems can be worth well north of $100. But raw (uncertified), there is a good chance they won’t bring but a small fraction of what they could certified Mint State 66 FBL.

The answer for most people with coins valued over $100 (especially barely so) is personal. But often, it’s no, it’s not worth spending the time and money getting the coins certified. But,

1) if you want to get the most from your coins, and

2) you really want to sell them, and

3) you’re willing to spend a few bucks to get the most from the coins (in other words, they’re part of an estate and this is the cleanest way to document valuation to multiple family members),

you should probably get your coins certified.

Otherwise, maybe it doesn’t make sense right now.

This is why it’s so critical to get a professional grading opinion before spending the time and money on certification.

Selling Coins Valued Over $100: Coin Dealers, Coin Shows, Large eBay Lot, Individual eBay Lots

To sell your coins valued over $100, you have a few options. If these coins are commonly sold raw and you can take great pictures of them, you might be able to sell them on eBay individually. It also might make sense to run a long eBay auction for a large group lot – it will be much easier to ship them and you might be able to get the attention of some collectors and dealers who will buy them all at once. Typically, coins worth just over $100 each do not interest the major coin auction houses. They’re usually looking for much more valuable coins.

Should I Keep My Coins Worth Over $100? Sure!

Couldn’t hurt! If they’re worth over $100 each now, they have appreciated. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, and the bottom could fall out of the coin market tomorrow and your coins could be worth almost nothing if you hold onto them. The likelihood isn’t high, but there’s simply no way to predict the market. If the trend has been that they’ve appreciated, so long as you hold onto them long enough (which could be 20 to 30 years if there’s a major crash in the market for some crazy reason), they should continue to appreciate.

Another thing to think about is the rest of your family. Would they like to have them? If selling your coins now won’t make a substantial impact on your life, will keeping them enrich the lives of one of your ancestors? Coins are wonderful to people that get them. They are art, they are history, they are anthropology, they are technology, they are relics of a bygone era. Don’t give them up unless you really have to or need to.

If you’ve come into coins you feel are worth more than $100 each, you might wish to get them graded before you do anything else. It’s certainly an option to sell them straightaway, but buyers will have more confidence buying your coins if they’re graded.

When you get your coins graded, you may find out your coins are worth less than you expected – it happens! But at least then you’ll know what you’ve got and you can decide what’s best to do with them.

If your coins are worth under $30 graded now and they’re vintage (more than 50 years old), the likelihood of them appreciating substantially in the next 20 years isn’t huge. You can liquidate them and have cash for whatever purpose you need, or you can hold onto them understanding there’s a 50-50 chance that they’ll appreciate or depreciate over the short term (over the period of 100 years or more, they’re likely to appreciate). If they haven’t appreciated much by now, there’s no reason to expect they’ll skyrocket in value over the short term.

If your coins are worth over $30 – $50 and they’re modern (post 1965), it’s very difficult to say what they’ll do. But if they’re already worth over $50 or $100, they have a better chance of being worth more in 10 or 20 years. There’s certainly no guarantee, as the modern market fluctuates substantially in both directions over short periods of time.

If your coins are worth over $100 and they’re vintage, they have a good chance of appreciating slowly, or put another way, they’re the most likely to depreciate most slowly of those taking a hit in value.

There are no guarantees in this business, so if you’re risk averse, the suggestion is to sell and not worry about it.

That is, of course, unless you find yourself intrigued! In which case, please join us and start learning all there is to learn about coins! It’s a fascinating field with art, science, and industrial methodology all mixed in with anthropology. And it can be quite fun.

There’s a new generation of collector emerging. It used to be (and largely still is) the game of old conservative white guys, but that’s changing. Don’t be too intimidated, the water is fine!

If you don’t mind taking chance, hold on to your coins. Learn about them. Get more of what you find you like.

If you find your graded coins are worth more than $100 each, congratulations! You’re definitely in the lucky minority. Most coins are simply not worth that much. That said, there are many that are, and many that are worth quite a bit more. But your coins are worth something to the numismatic market. If you want to start collecting, you’re in a fabulous position to do so! If you want to sell, you should be able to do that with many offers and little problem.

You should be able to find an auction company that will take on your graded coins if you have enough of them. Don’t forget that they take a 20 – 30% sellers fee.

You should surely be able to find a coin dealer that will pay you for them so long as they feel they can make money on the deal. Coin dealers are not in business to make you money, they’re in business to make themselves money. So long as everyone can do well on the deal, you shouldn’t have any problem finding a dealer to pay you for your coins quickly. And if you have more ungraded coins, they may make you an offer on those, too.

If you don’t have any brick and mortar coin dealers nearby, your best course of action may be to take them to a coin show – the larger the better.

Or, you could sell them yourself. For some people, the risk and tedium of setting up an eBay store is simply not worthwhile. But if you think it could be a lot of fun, there’s no reason not to give it a try. You’ll have to learn to photograph beautifully, describe and title properly, and ship quickly. Don’t forget eBay and PayPal so have their fees they collect from you, too. But for some people, they feel this is the best option and they have a great time with it.

Again, if you’re interested in your coins or the person that gave them to you, those coins may be a great window into a while new world, a hobby you may find to love as have hundreds of thousands all over the world before you.

If you choose to learn more, we can help with that!