Old uk silver coins

[markhoward13]

Hi 

My nan has some UK old silver coins that date from between 1920 and 1946. She is on about getting rid of them and has asked me to see what they are worth.

I have had a look online and from what I can gather they are best put in for scrap for there silver content. 

Has anyone had any experience with selling shillings, half crowns, 6 pence, florin and 2 shillings. She has about 8.5kg in total. Is scrapping them the best way or selling them to collectors. 

Thanks Mark 

 

[Bobba]

I'd a similar situation. My mother left my son loads of old silver coins. His philosophy was that if he sold them as scrap or to a coin dealer then either way they would know the true worth and, given that that they would know that he had no idea of their true value, would try to buy them off him as cheaply as possible. Rip him off I think he said.......

He's in no rush. So he is slowly putting them in date order then will research their value by type of coin eg 2/- or 2/6 and by date to see if there are any pleasant surprises. 

If your Nan has no need of the money and your both in no rush to get ripped off then suggest that for sentimental sake she leaves them to you in her will. You can the take on the research in slow time.

[la bala]

Sound advice 

[steve_b_wales]

A silver sixpence is worth around £3:00 in 'good' condition.

[Vince Green]

16 minutes ago, Bobba said:

I'd a similar situation. My mother left my son loads of old silver coins. His philosophy was that if he sold them as scrap or to a coin dealer then either way they would know the true worth and, given that that they would know that he had no idea of their true value, would try to buy them off him as cheaply as possible. Rip him off I think he said.......

He's in no rush. So he is slowly putting them in date order then will research their value by type of coin eg 2/- or 2/6 and by date to see if there are any pleasant surprises. 

If your Nan has no need of the money and your both in no rush to get ripped off then suggest that for sentimental sake she leaves them to you in her will. You can the take on the research in slow time.

The only flaw in that idea is that if they are listed in a will they have to be valued for probate and that could be a bit of a problem

[markhoward13]

If I was to scrap them I can be fairly sure im not being ripped off as my brother works for a non ferris scrap yard, but don't want to go that route if I'm only going to get a fraction of there ture value. I had a look on ebay at the shillings and they have sold for about £1 each, but only found about 10 uk listings. She has over 400 and at that rate i would have thought it would take me the rest of my life to get rid of them.

Thanks Mark 

[mossy835]

i have some very old silver dollars,i brought back from the farm in the michigan,dont know what they are worth,

[la bala]

You have really answered your own question. If you dont want to research the dates, weigh them in., quick fix job done.

 

[markhoward13]

I don't mind doing some research but not everything you read on the internet is true. Just looking for a reliable source to start with. 

Thanks Mark 

[inthedark]

Spink, coins of England is generally accepted as a good guide to coin values. Trouble is, it costs £30. I've got a 2014 copy and I'll happily give you the values out of it as an indicator if you want

[Teal]

I was in a similar position for a friend. Theoretically there are a couple of odd ones, but for circulated coins I researched it a bit at the time, and in the end took it to a coin dealer for scrap value. He gave me the full market price for silver, as he had someone after some specific dates for making jewellery.  Depending on the date the silver content varies, prior to 1920 they were 97.5% (sterling) silver, but for your coins would be 50% silver. Maybe a bit over £1600 worth if my maths is right. Silver value seems to be on the down and has been for years, if only they were gold!

[markhoward13]

21 hours ago, inthedark said:

Spink, coins of England is generally accepted as a good guide to coin values. Trouble is, it costs £30. I've got a 2014 copy and I'll happily give you the values out of it as an indicator if you want

Thanks for that i think I'll order a copy as there is about 1200 coins to go through. Might get lucky and find something of grater value. My brother checked the silver prices today and at that purity it was 17p a gram. Not bad considering the face value of the coins is £73.50.

Thanks Mark 

[markhoward13]

31 minutes ago, Teal said:

I was in a similar position for a friend. Theoretically there are a couple of odd ones, but for circulated coins I researched it a bit at the time, and in the end took it to a coin dealer for scrap value. He gave me the full market price for silver, as he had someone after some specific dates for making jewellery.  Depending on the date the silver content varies, prior to 1920 they were 97.5% (sterling) silver, but for your coins would be 50% silver. Maybe a bit over £1600 worth if my maths is right. Silver value seems to be on the down and has been for years, if only they were gold!

My brother took some in to work today and scanned them with there machine to tell the purity. They are between 50 and 60% silver according to there machine. Im assuming that the 1920 coin was on the higher end. Gold coins would have been nice but as a £73.50 investment all those years ago, its still a nice profit for her.

Thanks Mark 

[Whatmuff]

If keep hold of them if I were you buddy! I've got lots of silver bullion for the next financial crash. Silver hasn't been performing great due to other assets doing fairly well (stocks and shares) wait for the next crash and then see what happens to the precious metals market. 

[markhoward13]

My nan wasn't very well the other day and at 89 since coming out of hospital she has been trying to sort out everything. To the point that she wants to get in the loft and go through that. She is in a position where she won't go hungry if she kept hold of them. I'll order the spinks book and see if I can get her interested in the research of the coins instead of getting rid and it might give her something else to concentrate on. Thanks Mark 

[Teal]

Find it hard to believe govt minted coins would not be at the right % silver, perhaps you have some earlier ones in there, great result though ?

[johnphilip]

5 hours ago, Teal said:

Find it hard to believe govt minted coins would not be at the right % silver, perhaps you have some earlier ones in there, great result though ?

Have you tried a magnet , on our modern coins , think you will find it very interesting.

[markhoward13]

The machine is calibrated and should stand up in a cort of law if anyone was to question the results, so im told. 

The 1p and 2p coins are interesting with a magnet. If you have got a handful of them with different dates the older ones dont stick and as the dates get newer the better they stick. 

[johnphilip]

1 hour ago, markhoward13 said:

The machine is calibrated and should stand up in a cort of law if anyone was to question the results, so im told. 

The 1p and 2p coins are interesting with a magnet. If you have got a handful of them with different dates the older ones dont stick and as the dates get newer the better they stick. 

Try some of the new ten and twenty pence , they stick to a magnet aswell.

[hawkfanz]

the new copper coins are now made of steel but copper coated,cos copper cost more that the coins were worth,hence change of metal,and modern silver coins are mostly cu,if you have half crowns there are a couple of scarcer ones around 1920,they have a slight variation in the die,cant find my coin book at mo to tell you,will post if i find relevant info.