BUYING COINS AND PAPER MONEY – OAKTON COINS & COLLECTIBLES

We Buy and Sell Coins & Paper Money

We specialize in helping people divide, sort, and sell inherited collections. We’re always buying and selling coins, coin collections, paper money, all forms of gold, and all forms of silver. We buy high or low-grade U.S. or foreign coins and paper money. We also offer free verbal appraisals for individuals, inheritances, and estates.

Whether you’re downsizing your collection, liquidating a collection obtained from an estate, or simply cashing in on a rare coin investment that you’ve been holding, know that we’re here to provide you with a fair assessment of your coin collection’s value and an honest price when it comes to buying it. Coin collectors love selling to us because of our honest reputation and intimate knowledge of the rare coin market.


We Buy and Sell United States Collectible Coins

We buy all types of U.S. collectible coins:

I could go on for pages! In short, we buy all types of collectible coins and paper money.


We Buy and Sell Collectible Foreign  Coins & Paper Money (High or Low Grade)

We Buy and Sell Foreign Gold Coins

The most commonly-traded foreign gold coins include the British Sovereign, the Swiss 20 Franc, the French 20 Franc, and the Italian 20 Lire. Because so many gold foreign coins exist, we use books, websites, and guides to calculate the price. Most of the time, foreign gold trades near the spot price of gold, which is fairly expensive. However, certain foreign gold coins are very rare and desirable, and we buy those for a higher price.

We Buy and Sell Foreign Silver Coins

For thousands of years, until the 1960s, silver coinage was considered normal in many nations. The technical “coin silver” alloy is .900 silver, or 90% silver and 10% copper, but different types and alloys exist. Most of the time, foreign silver goes for around the spot price of silver, mostly because they are not that uncommon. However, certain foreign silver coins are very rare and desirable, and we buy those for a higher price.

We Buy and Sell Foreign Base Metal Coins

We pay $3/lb for foreign base metal coins. Most people have some foreign base metal (not silver or gold) coins lying around. Many foreign base metal coins that people save have been demonetized, and US banks do not accept foreign coins for exchange value, so your best bet is to sell them.

We Buy and Sell Ancient & Medieval Coins

The ancient world actually made a lot of coins out of silver, bronze, gold, or copper. We have numismatic books that catalog  tens of thousands of coins, including Roman, Byzantine, Greek, Medieval, Asian, and more. Age itself does not always determine the market value; condition and demand are usually what dictates price. Some coins can be very expensive, especially old Chinese coins.


We Buy and sell Collectible Ancient Coins in Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Copper

Ancient Roman Coins

We buy ancient Roman coins, including Roman Republican, Roman Imperatorial, Roman Imperial, and Roman Provincial coins. Old Roman coins and currency began in the late 4th century B.C. and ran throughout the Roman Empire. Roman money was produced in gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum, and copper. Denominations and values changed constantly, but sestertii and denarii were the Roman civilization’s most predominant coinage. 

Ancient Greek Coins 

We buy ancient Greek coins, including Hellenic, Hellenistic, and city-state coins from across Ancient Greece. Old Greek coins began in the early 6th century B.C. and spanned roughly 900 years, broken into four periods: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman. The ancient money of Greece was minted with gold, silver, and bronze. The drachma was one of the world’s earliest coins, and drachmae are still very collectible. 

Ancient Byzantine Coins

We buy ancient Byzantine coins, including coins from the monetary reform of Anastasius in 491 AD through Constantine XI in 1453 AD. Byzantine coins began with Anastasius and include the Justinian Dynasty, the Heraclian Dynasty, the Isaurian Dynasty, the Macedonian Dynasty, the Comnen Dynasty, the Dynasty of the Angeli, the Late Crusader Rule, the Empire of Nicaea, the Empire of Thessalonica, the Despotate of Epirus, the Restored Empire, and the Empire of Trebizond.

Ancient World Coins

We buy ancient world coins, including punched, pressed, and minted coins from regions other than Greece and Rome. China offers a rich collection of ancient collectible coins, and a wide variety of coins come from various kingdoms and dynasties. Unlike western coinage of the times, these coins were cast in molds and had circular or square holes in the center. Other interesting coins from the ancient world include the shekel from ancient Phoenicia and the Middle East of Biblical times, as well as Celtic coins from the Gauls and Britons.


We Buy and Sell Collectible Paper Money (High or Low Grade)

When it comes to buying old U.S. paper money in the Chicago area, Oakton Coin & Collectibles is recognized as the top buyer of these antique paper money bills.

We buy everything, including the following:

  • Silver certificates
  • Gold certificates
  • Treasury notes
  • Legal tenders
  • 1914 & 1918 Blue Seal notes
  • National currency
  • $500 bills
  • $1,000 bills
  • 1914 Red Seal notes
  • Demand notes
  • Brown Seal Hawaii notes
  • North Africa notes
  • Fractional currency
  • 1918 FRBNs
  • World notes
  • Postal notes
  • Confederate currency
  • Military payment certificates

Oakton Coins & Collectibles is a family owned & operated business. We proudly locally serve the areas of:

Skokie Chicago Rogers Park
Evanston Deerfield Palatine
Lincolnwood Morton Grove Brookfield
Niles Elk Grove Village La Grange
Des Plaines Park Ridge Elmhurst
Barrington Highland Park Lake Bluff
Northbrook Hoffman Estates Lake Forest
Northfield Franklin Park Glencoe
Naperville Highland Park Glenview
Glencoe Northbrook Arlington Heights
Schaumburg Lincolnshire Prospect Heights
Lombard Northbrook Oak Park
Wheaton Winnetka Oak Brook
Forest Glen Portage park Illinois