Grand Junction

Gold Guy

For families on the Western Slope

An inherited coin collection on the Western Slope, gone through with care and explained to your family in plain words.

A collection that someone spent years building usually arrives with no instructions. There are albums, envelopes and a few heavy boxes, and nobody left to ask what any of it is. You can handle it well without becoming a coin expert. What helps is a patient person who already is one.

The Gold Guy goes through inherited collections with families from across the Western Slope in Grand Junction. There is no pressure to sell any of it, and what happens next is your family's choice.

The collection can come to us exactly as it was found.
Each part is explained to you and given its own figure.
Your family chooses what to keep and what to sell, in its own time.

Tell us what you have | Take the seller quiz

Visit us

1-970-404-GOLD (1-970-404-4653)

Monday to Saturday: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Mountain Time)
Sunday: Closed

Why families bring an inherited collection to the Gold Guy

Patience comes first.

We give the collection the time it needs, and your questions get the same. Ask as many as you like, including the ones you think you ought to know already.

The collection is read in layers.

Coins a grading service has already certified come first. The albums and sets are next, and that is where we hunt for scarce dates. Loose silver and gold are tested and weighed last.

The valuable few are found.

In many collections a handful of coins carry a large share of the worth. We find them early, so a rare coin is never counted as ordinary silver.

The figures are easy to share.

The written offer lists each group with a figure beside it. Relatives who could not be in the room get something clear to read and talk over.

You learn what the collector built.

The Gold Guy reviews the collection himself and tells you what he is checking and why. Families are treated better here. A dealer who explains each layer and puts every figure on paper is the wise and prudent choice for a collection you did not build.

What an inherited collection often holds

An inherited collection is nearly always a mix. Expect folders of cents and nickels, albums of silver dollars, sets from the United States Mint, a few coins sealed in plastic holders and a bag or jar of loose silver. There is usually a bag of foreign coins and paper money as well. We buy that by weight at about $2 a pound, or we take it as a donation to the Cambist Club, a monthly membership that mails a child one world coin a month with a sheet about the country it came from.

Leave the coins uncleaned, because a polished coin has lost the very thing a collector looks for. Mint sets and proof sets should stay in the packaging the Mint sold them in, where they are worth more. Gather the collector's paperwork too, such as inventory lists, auction invoices and insurance schedules.

Keep everything together until it has been looked at. Dividing a collection by counting coins can hand one relative the valuable few and another the common many.

Three unhurried steps

Make a simple list. Two blue folders of pennies, one album of silver dollars and a bag of loose silver is a perfectly good inventory.
Bring the collection to Grand Junction. Carry it in as you found it, with a government-issued photo ID for the person who has the authority to sell. We go through it with you a layer at a time.
Take the offer home and talk it over. Share it with the family, and tell us once you have decided. Whatever you choose to sell is paid for within 24 hours of your yes by check, ACH transfer or store credit.

Your family's decision, in your family's time

The offer is complimentary and carries no obligation. Some families keep the coins that meant the most and sell the rest, and some keep it all once they know what it is. A sale happens only when the person with authority says yes.

When several heirs are involved, settle beforehand who will bring the collection, and ask the estate's attorney who has the authority to sell. Estate tax, the tax side of a sale and the dividing of proceeds belong with that attorney or the estate's accountant, and our written offer shows them what the collection is worth to us that day.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if an inherited coin collection is valuable?

Looking will rarely tell you. Value rests on dates, mint marks and condition, and the valuable coins are often the plain ones. Having the whole collection gone through is how you find out.

What should I bring to sell an inherited coin collection?

Bring a valid government-issued photo ID, and be ready to confirm that you own the coins or are authorized to sell them. Who holds that authority is a question for the estate's attorney.

Does the whole family need to come?

One person with the authority to sell is enough. The offer is on paper, so the decision can wait until everyone has seen it.

Where on the Western Slope can we take an inherited coin collection?

Bring it to the Gold Guy in Grand Junction. He serves families across western Colorado and eastern Utah.

Tell us what you have.

A few lines will do. Tell us what it is, roughly how much of it there is, and any stamps or dates you can read, and we will write back with what to bring and what to expect. If you are still working out what is in the box, the seller quiz will sort it out in a few minutes.