HOW TO SELL COINS NEAR ME – BARRINGTON

Oakton Coins and Collectibles is one of the highest rated coin shops near Barrington.

If you are considering selling your coins, you have come to the right place. Oakton Coins and Collectibles understands that selling a single coin or a whole coin collection can be an extremely daunting task. Whether you are a lifetime coin collector or have recently inherited a coin collection, when it comes time to sell your coins, you have many options. Oakton Coins and Collectibles can simplify the process. 

Understanding how to sell coins around Barrington.

When it comes to selling coins, you need to take a lot of factors into account. For instance, your coins could simply be worth face value, or they could be worth a significant amount of money. People do not always collect only valuable coins; often, they collect low-value or face-value coins for other reasons. But no matter the size or value of your collection, we are here to help. 

Sometimes people sell their whole collection. Other times, they sell the valuable parts and split up the rest between siblings. Maybe you have a small collection without a lot of monetary value and someone young in your family would appreciate it. 

Often, people bring us their coins carefully arranged by date and decade, usually placed in separate Ziploc bags or paper envelopes/coin tubes. You might be tempted to do this, but it’s not worth the effort.

When we appraise a collection, the first thing we do is separate coins by their composition (e.g. copper, nickel, silver, or gold). If you must organize your collection, put it into these groups:

  • Gold coins 
  • 9o% silver dollars (1878 through 1935) 
  • 9o% silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars (1892 through 1964) 
  • 40% silver JFK half dollars (1965 through 1970) 
  • Lincoln Wheat Cents (1909 through 1958) 
  • Buffalo Nickels (1913 through 1938) 
  • Jefferson Nickels (1938 and later) 
  • All other obsolete U.S. type coins
  • U.S. Mint proof and uncirculated sets 
  • U.S. Mint commemorative sets 
  • Currency and paper money 
  • Foreign coins/tokens

Interesting coins are available for purchase in  every budget range, so ask yourself the following questions to help determine the value of the collection you want to sell:

Can you determine how much money the collector spent or how regularly the owner bought? Can you find any bills of sale, invoices, or canceled checks from dealers or auction firms? Do you have an insurance policy or a will with instructions?

This information may be helpful, but you can’t completely depend on any of it. The value of coins (and collectible paper money), like the value of anything else, is what a willing buyer will pay a willing seller. This amount is never a fixed figure, as the market fluctuates in varying degrees and at unpredictable rates.

Pricing your collection to sell around Barrington.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, you will not receive the value listed in any of the pricing guides that you may reference when you sell coins. The guides are just that: a guide to help you establish the price range you can reasonably expect for a coin. Most consumer guides show extremely inflated values.

Some coin selling terms to keep in mind; Clickbait Pricing, Real-World Pricing, Melt Value Pricing, Numismatics Pricing.

Clickbait Pricing: Wikipedia defines “clickbait” as web content that is aimed at generating online advertising revenue, especially at the expense of quality or accuracy. This pricing relies on sensationalist headlines to attract click-throughs. Click-throughs refer to when the reader clicks a link to go through to the next stage of the bait. Clickbait makers love to post about how common coins could be worth big money, but in reality their claims are almost never valid. 

Real-World Pricing: This refers to actual money changing hands. This pricing reflects amounts that have actually been paid, not just advertised, so it’s true market value. Everything else is just a bunch of words and ideas about the worth. Any coin is only worth what someone will pay for it, and collectors usually focus on rarity and condition to determine monetary value.

Melt Value Pricing: Prior to 1965, the majority of United States coins contained either gold or silver (with a few exceptions). Any selling premium on top of the melt value comes from the Numismatic Value.

Numismatics: Numismatics is the study of coins, paper currency, and metals. Coin rarity and condition drive the prices that collectors will pay. Regardless of the metal composition of the coin, some coins have a very high numismatic value.

Places NOT to sell coins around Barrington.

  • Jewelry Stores and Pawn Shops – They usually only understand the precious metal part of the gold/silver coins, and they pay only a small percentage of that price.
  • Ebay – Many coins are sold on EBay every day, But it can be very risky, time consuming, and costly. Click here for more information.

Sell coins near me – sell coins locally – Barrington.

Oakton Coins is conveniently located right near 94 West (Kennedy) near downtown Skokie (very close to Chicago), and less than two blocks from the Oakton stop on the Yellow Line CTA (Skokie Swift). It is within minutes of downtown Chicago, Rogers Park, Evanston, Lincolnwood, Niles, Park Ridge, Deerfield, Morton Grove, Des Plaines, Glencoe, Highland Park, Glenview, NorthbrookElk Grove Village, Naperville, Northfield, Northbrook, Palatine, Arlington Heights, Barrington, Brookfield, Elmhurst, Franklin Park, Glencoe, Highland Park, Hoffman Estates, La Grange, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, Lombard, Oak Brook, Oak Park, Prospect Heights, Wheaton, Wheeling, Winnetka, Portage Park, Forest Glen and Schaumburg.


Glossary of numismatic terms, Q, R 1/2;

Quarter – A common term for a U.S. coin of the 25 cent denomination.

Quarter Eagle – A United States $2.50 gold coin. These were first struck in 1796, and then struck sporadically until the denomination was discontinued in 1929.

Questionable Toning – Color on a coin that does not appear to be natural.

Quint – Proposed U.S. coin consisting of 500 units (out of 1,000, the last representing a mark). Pattern quints, marked 500, were struck in 1783 as part of the Nova Constellatio series.

Racketeer Nickel – A gold-plated 1883 No “CENTS” Liberty Head 5-cent coin (“V” nickel). Since the coin lacked the word “CENTS” it created the opportunity for people to misrepresent its value to be $5 instead of 5 cents. The most famous story is of Josh Tatum, a deaf mute, who would pay for items with these coins and in return receive change for a $5.00 coin. He was soon arrested and at his trial it was discovered he never asked for change since he could not speak, so no crime had been committed. The Mint later that year put the words “CENTS” at the bottom of the reverse.

Rainbow Note – A common term for the Series of 1869 Legal Tender Note with the denominations $1, $2, $5, or $10. These notes have a colorful face and a green overprint, hence the name.

Rainbow Toning – Toning on a coin containing a full spectrum of color, including yellow, orange, red, green, indigo and sometimes even black. This is usually seen on silver dollars that were stored in bags.

Rare – A relative term indicating a coin within a particular series that is difficult to find or one of which only a few are known to exist. It may also apply to any coin with numismatic value as opposed to bullion value.

Rarity – A condition referring to the number of specimens that exist within a particular grade and those graded higher.

Rarity Scale – The numerical rating system used to quantify the rarity of a numismatic item.

Rattler – A first generation PCGS holder.

Raw – A coin or other numismatic item that has not been encapsulated by a third party grading service.

Rays – A design element on a coin comprised of lines that represent sun rays.

RB – An abbreviation for red and brown, descriptive of the color of a copper coin.

RD – An abbreviation for red.

Real – A genuine numismatic item. Also a term for the basic division of the Spanish-American silver coinage system, which was legal tender in the United States until the implementation of the Act of February 21, 1857. One real is worth 12.5 cents U.S.

Red – The term applied to a copper coin that retains 95% or more of its original color, typically abbreviated as RD when used as part of a description or in the grade.

Redbook – The common name for A Guide Book of United State Coins, which is an annual price guide and reference book first issued in 1947.

Red-Brown – The descriptive term applied to a copper coin that retains between 5% and 95% of its original mint color, typically abbreviated as RB when used as part of a description or in the grade.