01
Morgan & Peace dollars
Check date, mintmark, grade, Prooflike/DMPL designations and varieties before treating them as generic silver dollars.
Inheritance triage guide
Common-looking coins worth checking before you sell.
Most estate collections contain plenty of ordinary material. The trick is making sure the ordinary-looking box does not also contain the coin, variety, holder or condition rarity that should have been separated first.
The screening list
Twelve reasons to slow down.
These are categories to investigate—not promises that a particular coin is rare or valuable.
02
Carson City mintmarks
A small CC on classic U.S. coinage deserves an individual look. Collector demand often goes well beyond metal value.
03
1878 Morgan reverse varieties
The first Morgan year has multiple reverse and tail-feather varieties, including 7/8 Tail Feathers, that specialists actively attribute.
04
Old third-party holders
ANACS soapboxes, PCGS rattlers, old green holders and early NGC styles can have collector interest beyond the coin alone.
05
Certified modern silver
Silver Eagles, Libertads and other modern issues can carry premiums based on date, grade, finish, holder generation or condition rarity.
06
Doubled dies & major varieties
Some Lincoln cents, Washington quarters, Kennedy halves and other familiar series contain recognized doubled dies and other varieties.
07
Classic overdates / overmintmarks
Coins such as overdates and repunched/overmintmark varieties can look ordinary until the date or mintmark is examined closely.
08
Original proof & mint sets
Government packaging, envelopes, certificates and intact sets can be more useful than loose coins separated from their original context.
09
Gold that looks small
Fractional U.S. and world gold can be physically tiny but meaningful in value. Do not let size determine importance.
10
Collector notes attached to ordinary coins
A handwritten VAM, FS number, error note or old auction tag may be wrong—but it is a clue worth verifying before discarding.
11
Unusually clean common dates
Condition rarity is real. A common date in exceptional preservation can belong in a different market from a typical circulated example.
12
90% silver mixed with better coins
A jar or roll of old U.S. silver may mostly track melt, but better dates and higher-grade pieces should be screened before bulk sale.
What not to do
Do not turn screening into treasure-hunt panic.
Do not assume every odd-looking coin is an error.
Damage, wear, machine doubling and environmental changes are common. Recognized errors need attribution.
Do not pay to grade everything.
Certification is useful only when authenticity, grade or marketability is likely to justify the total submission cost.
Do not clean coins to “see the detail.”
Cleaning can reduce value faster than almost any other well-intended estate mistake.
Too much to screen yourself?
Show representative pieces first.
You can now attach up to eight private photos to the inherited-collection first-look request. A few smart photos can tell us whether a deeper review makes sense.
Good photos to send
Wide shot of the collection, slab boxes, both sides of a few silver dollars, any gold, old holders, albums and collector notes.
Request a private first look