Before selling coins worth money, coins valued over $500, first ensure they are authentic. Before you sell your coins, have a major Third-Party Grading company certify them. Certification takes time and money, so verify your coins’ authenticity before wasting money.

Below is a list of coins worth money that you should authenticate and certify before selling. After the list, we’ve put together some professional advice about how and where to sell your coins to maximize your profit.

St. Gaudens Double Eagles are nearly 1 ounce of U.S. Gold. As such, they are currently worth money – a bit over $1000. When they are in excellent condition, they have more numismatic value than bullion value.

First, verify your coins’ authenticity. You should probably invest time and money into certification. A great first step before spending a lot of money on coin certification is to get a professional coin grading opinion.

Our recommendation is to find a reputable coin dealer close to you, look into a major auction house you trust, or sell the individual coins yourself on eBay. You can find dealers and auction houses at coin shows.

Get a Grading Opinion? Definitely

Getting a coin grading opinion for coins worth money is almost a necessity. Unless you really know your stuff, it’s very tricky to tell the difference between an excellent counterfeit and a really valuable coin. Even the professionals get tripped up from time to time – and these are people that examine thousands of coins per year, or even per week. Counterfeits are worth nothing, and the difference between an authentic $100 coin and an authentic $1000 coin might be a tiny nick on a cheek. Definitely get a grading opinion for your coins worth money – your most valuable coins.

Where to Get Professional Grading Opinions for Coins Worth Money: Coin Dealers, Coin Shows, Major Third-Party Grading Services

If you’re certain your coins are authentic and you have money to spend to have them certified, it’s almost always a great idea to have your coins certified by a TPG before selling. If you’re not 100% positive though, save yourself some time and money by getting a professional grading opinion first. Take a few of your coins worth serious money to a coin show or local dealer and get their opinion. If you hit it off with a dealer, they might make you a fair offer right away. Better yet, they may be able to help you save some time and money getting your coins certified.

Should I Get My Coins Worth Money Certified? Almost Definitely

When your coins are worth money (over $500), certification will never hurt them. Also, you’ll know what you have. Don’t got with a fly-by-night certification service. When certifying coins, select a well-respected Third-Party Coin Certification Service like  PCGS or NGC. There are a few others mentioned in the TPG page, if you’re interested.

You may have the option to work with a major auction house. If you’re going to work with an auction house, they may be able to work a deal with a TPG. Call a major numismatic auction house or find them at a major coin show.

But again, make sure you know what you have before you spend the time and money. A grading opinion could save you a lot of frustration.

For best market liquidity, coins of substantial value (coins worth money on the order of over $500 to $1000) should be certified by a major TPG once it has been established that they are authentic.

Selling Coins Valued Over $500: Coin Dealers, Coin Shows, Individual eBay Lots, Major Auction Houses

Selling coins worth over $500 or $1000 each isn’t difficult. Somewhere in the process, it’s best to get your coins certified before making the final sale. Certified coins of all values are much more liquid on the numismatic market. Collectors and dealers alike almost always pay more for certified problem-free coins than for raw or uncertified ones.

If you can find a local coin dealer, see if they’ll help you get them certified before get an offer from them.

If you can find a local coin show, you can find a number of coin dealers to work with. If there is a major coin show in your area, definitely go check that out before you do anything – it will be an enlightening experience!

Once your coins are certified, take great pictures of them if you want to sell them on eBay. If you’re not good at taking photographs, hire a numismatic photographer that can take beautiful pictures for you. There is no reason to sell coins like these as a group – generally you will get more per coin if you sell them each in their own individual listing.

If you have really valuable and interesting problem-free coins, there is an excellent chance a major numismatic auction house like Heritage or Stack’s Bowers will want to work with you. They may help with certification, also. The auction houses know that collectors and dealers prefer to buy coins like this already certified, so most of their lots are certified coins.

Should I Keep My Coins Worth Over $500 or $1000? Yes!

If you don’t need to sell your coins, and you have a way to store them safely and securely, absolutely keep your coins. Get them certified – that should protect them from damage for many generations.

Coins are a wonderful and often beautiful signature of history. Each one is a little artistic and technological masterpiece of its time. And your ancestors will thank you for keeping them in the family.

Certification Considerations

The first thing you should do when you come into coins of substantial value is make sure they’re authentic. Get a professional coin grading opinion before spending money on certification. If your coins are authentic and worth money, you almost always want to get them certified before sale.

Don’t think that just because the coins have been in your family for 50 (or even 100) years that they must be real. There have been counterfeits as long as there have been coins. (That’s thousands of years.)

To ensure your coins are legitimate, you have a few options. First, you could immediately send them for grading and certification at a major Third Party Grading company. This isn’t a bad move, but it could be a little expensive, especially if your coins turn out to be counterfeit. Nonetheless, you’ll know for certain what you have.

A Professional Coin Grading Opinion First May Save You Time & Money

Another option is to work with a reputable dealer or service to get their opinion on whether the coins are worth sending in for certification. It’s an intermediate step that could safe you a lot of time, money, and frustration.

Find Your Local Coin Dealer

If you have a local, reputably coin shop or expert, this is easy. Look for Professional Numismatic Guild dealers. These are dealers that are especially vetted and vow to follow a code of ethics. A preliminary phone call is an excellent first step. Some dealers prefer to make appointments. Be honest and forthright, and they will likely do the same for you. Some dealers have an appraisal fee.

Understand, this is getting harder and harder to do. Owning a coin shop is a massive security risk, and it’s a very difficult business to maintain a storefront. So finding a local, reputable dealer may be difficult for you.

They may want to buy your coins from you. Simply take the coins in and ask their opinion. All you’re looking to do is to find out if the coins are real, and if so, if they’re worth sending in for grading. You may or may not want to sell them yet. It may be best to think on the coin shop’s answer before you make any decisions.

If the coins are not authentic, they will not want to buy them from you except for under very, very specific circumstances. So if they want to buy them and they tell you they’re not authentic, this may serve as a red flag.

The only time they should want to buy non – authentic coins is if they collect or have buyers interested in contemporary counterfeits. These are coins that were made at the same time the original, authentic coins were made. Contemporary counterfeits comprise a fascinating branch of exonumia, and they do have a collector base – although very small and very choosy.

Counterfeit Coins Are a Major Problem

Another thing to consider is that there are many many modern counterfeits made with the correct metal. Gold, silver, and even copper coins are being made (and have been made through history) with metal of the correct composition to be exploited for the numismatic (rare coin) value of their authentic counterparts. The right date and mint mark of common gold and silver type can make the difference between metal bullion value and many multiples of bullion value.

Find a Major Coin Show

If you don’t have a local coin shop, another alternative is to take a couple of your coins to a local coin show to find dealers and get opinions. Some dealers expect that you’ll pay for their expertise, or want you to offer to sell them your coins so they have an opportunity to make money on the transaction.

Another option is to post your coins on a forum to get an opinion from the members there. Often, there are quite experienced forum members that can help.

Another option before selling is to pay a disinterested third party expert or service for their professional opinion.

Certification and Grading

Once you’ve established that your coins are at least likely authentic and of substantial value, the best course of action is usually to submit them to a major TPG for certification. This reliably authenticates your coins in a way the coin market trusts. With the help of price guides, it also helps to establish the value of the coins in the current collector market. The cost of submission is not cheap, and it goes up with the value of the coin. You must also consider how quickly you want your coin graded and returned. It can be as little as $25 or $30 dollars, including insured shipping, but it could also potentially cost you a few thousand dollars if you have an extremely valuable coin. The service may be completed in a few days at a coin show for a substantial cost, or it could take well over a month (sometimes two) to have your coins shipped back you, if you use a less expensive and more lengthy service.

If you’ve made the acquaintance of a dealer or two you feel you can trust, they may be willing to submit your coins for you, saving you a little bit of money and potentially time.

Once you have your coins authenticated and graded, you should be able to get a much better idea of value.

You can either try to sell the coins yourself, or you can sell them to a dealer. Of course, the dealer will usually pay less than a collector as they need to sell their inventory for a profit. They’re also much more likely to pay quickly, and with fewer hassles. When you deal with a reputable PNG dealer, their check will clear.

Consider Consigning Your Coins

You could also consign your coins with a dealer or major auction numismatic house. Dealers often prefer to have an established relationship with sellers before accepting consignments. To consign with a major auction house, you’ll likely need to have a number of substantially valuable coins. Smaller auction houses may not get the crowds, but as long as the auction has a few hundred lots of coins along with yours, there should be a sufficient crowd for your coins to bid close to market value. Of course, most auction houses have a healthy consignment fee, on the order of 20 – 30% of the sale price.

If you want to be guaranteed of a certain dollar figure before fees, another option is to consign your coins to a coin dealer for sale, rather than auction. Keep an open dialog with the dealer so you don’t get any surprises.

So, if you feel you have coins worth money, have a TPG certify and grade your coins. If you’re going to pay an auction house to sell your coins, they may have the coins certified for you. If you’re unsure but believe your coins may be valuable, try to work with an expert to find out before investing in certification. Once your coins are certified, you can sell them yourself, or work with a dealer or auction house to sell them for you for a fee. A great place to find coin dealers and coin auction houses is at major coin shows.