Need straight skinny on selling key date wheaties

[Jim/ MacBeth SC]

Hey Folks,

Too hot to dig this weekend so for giggles I went through my penny jar
as well as some carded wheats to see what I had. I was surprised to see
that I had a number of "Key Dates" including a very nice 1909 S as well as
a number of other pricey key dates.

In the case of detected/dug coins, if they cleaned up well with just an
application of soap and water with a soft toothbrush, do they maintain
value? They still have an even patina and no scratches.

In the case of "sock drawer" type wheaties, just leave them the heck
alone? Don't try any cleaning?

I like to support my hobby with gains made from my hobby of detecting
and collecting. I'm looking at picking up a Garrett pro pointer as well as
a few silver coin purchases. Am I likely to get a fair price from a dealer,
or might I realize a better margin by going through E-bay. Not really in
a hurry, just looking for info. Thanks much! Warm regards, Jim

 

[SteveP(NH)]

Unfortunately cleaning coins with a toothbrush leaves tell tale marks that are difficult to see with the naked eye, and coin collectors usually use 6x to 10x loupes in order to see details such as these very fine scratches. They are referred to as hairlines and are one of the signs of "harsh" cleaning. My experience is that a coin dealer will likely discount the price more than it would be on Ebay. I would be sure to disclose that the coin had been dug and cleaned in your ebay auction too because you risk a Paypal chargeback if you don't mention it and the buyers finds it once they get the coin. With ebay's new rules now it could be bad for your account.

Of course it never hurts to show it to a dealer as you can always say no to their offer so there is nothing to lose other than the time it takes to go to the dealer's show or coin show.

 

[Jim/ MacBeth SC]

Thanks Steve,

So basically, detected coins will be bullion value? No or little value for key dates if cleaned?
Warm regards, Jim

 

[LittleJohn]

Thanks Steve,

So basically, detected coins will be bullion value? No or little value for key dates if cleaned?
Warm regards, Jim

I am not sure I believe that to be the case....proper cleaning methods should always be used....regardless of whether they are sock drawer coins or church lot finds.

 

[Jim/ MacBeth SC]

Thanks Littlejohn,

Appreciate your comeback. Anyone else with an opinion or in particular first hand experience, would
love to hear from you. Warm regards, Jim

 

[SteveP(NH)]

You can get good money for the two real keydates - 1909-S VDB and the 1914-D as long as the dates are clearly readable. For the semi-keys like the mint marked low teens, the 24-D and the 1931-S it really comes down to how much eye appeal the coin has. For example I found a 1909-s (no VDB) and you can just barely make out the date and mint mark and the coin surfaces are very corroded and porous and so the coin has poor eye appeal so it doesn't have much if any numismatic value.

I took it in for show and tell at my last coin club meeting and someone jokingly offered me a buck for it.

 

[Jim/ MacBeth SC]

Hi Steve,

I appreciate the info very much. Alas, I don't have the biggies, but I've got at least one of about
everything else. Several were rubbed with a soft cloth and cleaned up pretty well, I thought. LOL!
Now I know better. Here are typical examples of coin quality. Can you give me a hint at what they
might grade at? Thanks! Warm regards, Jim

You can see I rubbed too hard on this one. Removed some patina in streaks. Dang it!

Anyway, there are a number of the semi-key dates. I have no idea about
coin grades though so it doesn't mean much to me yet. LOL! I just thought
it would be neat to pay for a new Garrett Pro pin pointer with a handful of
pennies. I never could resist a bargin. LOL!

 

[Jim/ MacBeth SC]

Better picture of the 3rd coin, 1909 S.

 

[Sven]

Most dug copper coins are considered culls by collectors and dealers. they are great filler material until a better coin comes along.

I have sold lots of US coins on ebay without grading them. You just have to make sure you post two clear detailed pictures of both sides of the coin.
The buyer can then see what he is getting without question. If it's worth the $$, bidding will prove that out.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Down and dirty leave the cleaning to the experts...get the dirt off them by running under water and go from there..Of course dealers have to make a profit and understand about 70 percent of value is given by most legitimate dealers..

 

[Jim/ MacBeth SC]

Thanks Folks,

I have a little better understanding now, both from these comments and some off forum replies.
You folks are quite helpful and your comments are appreciated. I will try posting a few coins
on ebay and see what the market thinks. LOL! Warm regards, Jim

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Jim, the knee-jerk reaction (as can be seen in SteveP(NH)'s reply) is ............. "NEVER CLEAN YOUR COINS" The admonition is no doubt born out of horror-stories of guys who cleaned grandma's gold coins with ajax, or whatever But the truth be told, a lot of the coins we dig, if you did nothing to them, would be worth ......... nothing. Here's a true story I read years ago in a detecting magazine:

An east coast hunter had found a number of large cents during his years of detecting. One day, he sat down to look them all up in the coin books, to determine if any of them had value. He took them in to a local brick & mortar coin "buy/sell" store to see about selling a few. The clerk at the counter looked over his coins, and offered the guy a mere pittance for even the best of them. When the md'r objected and tried to show the guy book grading points and rarity yrs/mints, the coin-store guy bristled the told the guy "these coins are dirty and corroded. You can't expect to get those kind of prices". So the guy asked the coin-store clerk: "well if I took them home and cleaned them, THEN can I get the coin-book values?". At that the clerk responded in horror: "NEVER CLEAN COINS! If you did that, certainly we would never buy them at all".

Dejected and dissapointed, the md'r left the coin store, thinking he had value-less coins He then decided that if they had no value, that at least he could make a display case for his home cabinets/display. And since they had "no value", he wouldn't be loosing anything to clean them up enough to *at least* look good enough to be displayed in his home shadow boxes.

He set about looking at the various methods of cleaning old copper coins. He practiced on worthless wheaties, till finally arriving at various methods that left ........ supposedly ..... no trace of one's efforts. I forget which methods he used. Once he was done, he decided to take these same large cents back to the same store, to see if their offers had changed any. By now it was a few years later. As he came to the counter, he recognized it was the same clerk who had waited on him a few years earlier. Naturally, this clerk had forgotten the earlier previous meeting. The seller didn't say anything about the previous meeting, or "cleaned", etc... Instead he just put the large cents on the counter, and asked if they had any value.

Oddly, THIS time, the coin store clerk started offering values much more akin to the values alluded to in the books.

Moral of the story? It's not about whether or not a coin has ever been cleaned, but it's HOW it's cleaned. If you can do it with no trace of your effort, then you haven't lost anything. Because let's face it: a lot of the stuff we find in the ground would be laughed out of a coin store, the way they are when retrieved.

 

[ojm bc]

Common sense is too fully describe the coins, Ebay backs up buyers mainly and it is easy for the buyers to reverse a payment.
Since it's mainly a coin collector who will bid and buy, be sure all the facts are 100% clear since coin collectors are honest but extremely demanding on conditions of a coin. I'f I sold coins with a condition problem I most likely would sell as "fillers" . This automatically free's you of any
misconception's. Also if your worried of your Ebay rating may not be such a hot deal to sell dug coppers on Ebay.. hh

 

[mario_1012]

hello all, my name is mario, french from quebec, for 2 weeks i have read most of the post that is very interesting
i got and hold radio shack micronta 3001 that still work very well, i will get, end of july a garrett ace 250, what a difference it will be wow,
i wanted to help jim a little, never, never, never clean a coin even silver, the best way to do it, is using wood pegs
as in the picture, fill a plastic tobacco can 1/2 way with pegs 2 tablespoon of dishes soap and spring water only let it soak a couple of days, no tap water it contain chlore, you can even skake it or dance with it, the pegs will do no arm to the coins and it will clean good enough taking all the dirt out, after what is still on the coin let it like that, here is a copy of the red book, you can see where to find the mark VDB, i really think there is no VDB on
1909 S, for the prices just add 10x for today market, cause my book is a 1977 version, dont buy the book for nothing, you will get the same image, and this book does not give you the errors on us penny's, make some
research in error book, perhaps i know there is an error on 1909 S as a double strike on the reverse, cant give you priced for that, see the 1953 double 3 in picture as exemple, for the dammage you already done to the coin,
just put it back outside a couple of weeks flipping it over, the sun and the acid rain will give back the color in no time, in a (safe place loll.) collectors is using 30x and 60x digital microscope thats how you get the details
as in picture 53 double 3 close enough to see all scratch, include also the chart of grading for us coins,
i say your 1909 S is a F, 1911 D is a VF and 1931 S is EF, you should get easy $300.00 for the 1909 S,
if you or others ever need wood pegs, i can manage to sell you some at very cheap price, dont be to hard on me for my spelling, this is my second language

hope this will help a little, so long mario

 

[ojm bc]

good point about clorine in water, I never heard of your method before..