Aunt Bobbi,
Everything you need to sell the coins safely and get a fair price is on this page. Go in order, and call me any time. There is no hurry. The coins are not going anywhere, and no good dealer will ever rush you.
Love, Jeremy
The Plan, in Five Steps
Before You Go
Rule 1: Don’t clean the coins, and don’t open the cases
A dark, tarnished coin can be worth far more than a shiny one. Collectors pay for untouched surfaces, and polishing can cut a coin’s value in half. Since yours are in plastic cases, leave every case closed, even to get a better look. If a case has a printed label with a grade on it, opening it destroys the guarantee.
Rule 2: Sort into two piles
- Bullion, coins worth their metal: Gold and Silver Eagles, Maple Leafs, Krugerrands, bars, and any U.S. dimes, quarters, or half dollars dated 1964 or earlier.
- Collector coins, possibly worth much more: anything in a sealed holder labeled PCGS or NGC with a grade, Morgan and Peace silver dollars, U.S. gold coins made before 1933, and anything old or unusual.
Not sure? Put it in the collector pile.
Make your inventory
- Lay the coins out in groups and photograph everything.
- Write a simple list: type of coin, date, how many.
- Text me the photos before your first visit. If anything special is in there, I want us to know before a dealer does.
Check the day’s price
Gold and silver trade at one public worldwide price, called the spot price. As I write this in late July 2026, gold is about $4,050 an ounce and silver is about $58, both near record highs, so this is a good time to be the seller. Look it up at kitco.com the morning you go, or ask me to text it to you.
The Words You Will Hear
- Spot price
- The live market price for one troy ounce of pure gold or silver. Everything is priced off this.
- Troy ounce
- The precious-metals ounce. Slightly heavier than a kitchen ounce.
- Melt value
- What the metal inside a coin is worth at today’s spot price.
- Premium
- The amount above melt value that popular coins bring.
- Bid / ask
- Bid is what a dealer pays you; ask is what they charge buyers. The gap is their profit. A small gap is fair.
- Junk silver
- Dealer slang for pre-1965 U.S. coins, and not an insult. A dollar of face value holds about 0.715 ounces of silver.
- Graded / slabbed
- A coin sealed in a PCGS or NGC holder with a grade on the label. Proof of what it is. Never open one.
What a fair offer looks like
- Common gold bullion: 97 to 100 percent of melt value. If someone offers 80 percent for a common gold coin, walk out.
- Common silver: 85 to 95 percent of melt value. Silver costs more to handle per dollar, so the discount runs a little bigger. That is normal.
- Collector coins: no formula. They get priced one at a time by someone who knows what they are looking at. This is the main reason you get more than one offer.
A good dealer shows you the spot price on their screen and walks you through the math coin by coin. That is what you are looking for.
The Five Shops
All five are established Austin shops with good reputations. My suggestion: start at South Austin Coin Exchange (closest to you), get a second offer at Austin Rare Coins (call first, they see sellers by appointment), and add McBride’s if collector coins turn up. Call ahead, say you are selling a collection from Ken’s estate, and ask for an appointment.
Drive times are rough estimates from your house. The blue Directions buttons open Google Maps and route from wherever you are.
At the Counter
The dealer will sort, weigh, and test the coins in front of you, check the spot price, and make an offer. For a big collection this can take an hour. Stay with your coins the whole time. Good dealers expect that.
You never have to accept an offer. “Thank you, I am getting a couple of offers and I will be back” is something they hear every day.
Ask these six questions
A good dealer answers all six without blinking. Anyone who gets annoyed, dodges, or will only quote a lump sum: thank them and leave.
Walk away from
- Anyone who wants to come to your house. Selling happens at their shop, period. And never tell a stranger on the phone what you own.
- Hotel-ballroom and “in town this weekend only” buyers who advertise on TV.
- Mail-in buyers. Once they have your coins, you have no leverage.
- Anyone who says the price is about to drop so you must sell today. Nobody knows tomorrow’s price. Pressure is the tell.
- One lump sum for a mixed collection. That is how rare coins get bought for melt value.
- A big stack of cash. Take a check. Cash is a safety risk on the drive home.
- Pawn shops and “we buy gold” counters. They pay much less than real coin dealers.
Tell no one outside the family what you have. If the load is heavy, make two trips or bring someone you trust. Go midday and park close.
↑ Back to topGetting Paid, and the Tax News
Payment
- Take a business check or a wire into your bank account. Standard and safe.
- The dealer will ask for your driver’s license. The law requires it. It is not a trick.
- Deposit the check right away and confirm it clears.
Paperwork
- Keep the itemized receipt, your photos, and your list.
- For certain large bullion sales the dealer files a routine IRS form (1099-B). Normal. Give the receipt to your tax preparer.
The tax news is good
When a husband passes away in Texas, the coins’ cost for tax purposes resets to their value on the date of his death. It is called a stepped-up basis. Because you are selling soon after losing Ken, your taxable gain should be small or zero, no matter how much the coins grew in value over the years.
- Keep the first itemized offer sheet. It documents the value.
- Tell your tax preparer “stepped-up basis on inherited coins.” They will know what to do.
- You owe no Texas sales tax for selling your own coins.
I am not a tax professional, so confirm this with yours, but the timing works in your favor.
If something turns out to be really valuable
If a dealer says a coin is worth many thousands by itself, do not sell it that day. Call me. Truly rare coins sometimes do better at a national auction house, and we can figure that out together with no hurry.
Cheat Sheet
- Never clean a coin. Never open a case.
- Two or three written, itemized offers before you sell.
- Stay with your coins.
- Check or wire, not cash.
- No home visits, mail-in buyers, hotel shows, or phone callers.
- Pressure means leave.
- Keep every receipt.
- Call Jeremy before selling anything rare.
You hold something valuable and the market is near record highs. You are the one in the strong position. Take your time, ask your six questions, and call me whenever you want.