Nope. A numismatist is an expert who deals in coins and banknotes.
I mentioned the other day that we had found a box of old coins in the basement. I did some research and found out that Alliance Coin and Banknote in the nearby town of Almonte is the best place to go in the area to get an appraisal. So I made an appointment and we went for a drive over there yesterday morning.
But we didn't bring only the old box of coins. Back in the 1970's and 1980's Ruth's father was an avid buyer of collector coins sets from the Royal Canadian Mint. Some of them were single gold coins and others were silver Olympic coin sets, and some were just standard issue coins in fancy cases.
We have no idea what he paid for these coins, but based on current pricing for new issues, there is a big premium that you pay over and above the value of the the metal content.
However, he bought these collector sets at a time when the price of gold and silver was far lower than it is now.
Numismatist Sean, testing the gold jewelry.
Long story short, we walked out of there with a cheque (check) for over $11,000 CAD ($8,300 USD) for Ruth's dad.
The gold coins did very well. If you haven't been paying attention, the price of gold is near all time highs right now (although I think it is going far higher in the next year or two) and that was what saved him. You have to be careful though.., some of the gold coins are not pure gold. Some were 22k, but others were only 14k.
The silver coins did okay, but Sean told us that the 28 coin 1976 Olympics set likely cost about $400 in 1976, and now it was worth just over $800. So, not a very good investment over a 44 year period.
The other sets were money losers. Coins that are sold as "collector" sets normally don't gain in value because you pay too much for them to begin with, and there are simply too many of them sold.
Same thing with most recent coins. What is a 1928 nickel worth? About 65 cents! What is a 1937 $100 bill worth? Exactly $100 unless it is in absolute mind condition.
Any standard issue circulation Canadian coin from 1968 and up is worth no more than face value.
We also brought some things that we owned. Anything that wasn't gold or silver was essentially worth nothing more than face value. Fortunately, we had some gold and silver jewelry that added up. Ruth never wears the stuff anymore, and we are trying to get rid of stuff so it had to go.
We were surprised when it all added up to $1,855 CAD ($1,405 USD)!
All of our riches!
Funny story... last winter in Mexico, I had a molar removed. Probably 25 years ago it had a gold cap put on it. When I had the tooth removed, I asked the dentist if I could keep the tooth.
I had brought the gold cap with me yesterday... with part of the tooth still attached to it. Sean had the tool to remove the cap, and sure enough there was $75 CAD ($57 USD) worth of gold! That's more than I paid to have the tooth removed!
So, that was a worthwhile and interesting trip. Got rid of some stuff and got a decent bank deposit to show for it.
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And in Canada...
That is an impressive amount... a good down payment on a brand new motor home!
ReplyDeleteThe $11,000 is my Dad's not ours! Ours was 1,800 and that really wouldn't be enough for a down payment.
Deleteoops! Of course!! My apology - and good for your dad!
DeleteNo worries! :-)
DeleteDefinitely useful information because we also have a few Coins but nothing like you had.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
Just make sure you do your research beforehand to find a numismatist that has really good reviews and is highly recommended.
DeleteI knew the Canadian coins I had saved from living near Detroit in the 70s were only worth face value, but on my last trip there (when I visited you guys!) I had a fun time with the young cashiers at McDs getting rid of my old pennies lol
ReplyDeleteI thought Canada got rid of pennies. If Congress wanted to do something useful for us, they'd do the same.
DeleteWhen our son was born in 1970 a family friend who foresaw them being taken out of circulation, gave him about fifty pounds of pennies, saying they would pay his way through college. Well, no, they might have bought one textbook or two because I think they are still worth a penny. Too many people saved them.
DeleteCreigh, Canada did get rid of it's pennies but you can still use them, they just don't make them anymore. And when they come into the bank they are then remove from circulation.
DeleteYep you are right Croft, the penny is still worth only a penny! Now maybe if you took those pennies at the time and put them into some kind of stock then over the years they might have contributed more to the cost of his higher education.
We have some Mexican gold centennial coins that have done quite well. Eggs in different baskets!
ReplyDeleteThey will only have done well if you actually turn around and sell them at some point in time, otherwise they aren't doing anything just sitting around, especially if you were to die tomorrow.
DeleteI have a zip lock bag of old gold teeth that I should take down to the local "We Buy Gold" shop although I always think they are going to rip me off!
ReplyDeleteYou have to be careful because some dealers operate on different margins than others. Read the reviews and do the research to see who pays the most. Also, these guys have to be honest because it would be too easy to catch them as cheaters. If you knew how much an item weighed in advance, and they didn't pay you for that weight then they would get a bad reputation pretty quickly.
DeleteAbout five years ago a jewelry store in Mesa, AZ offered us $800 US for it but we knew gold was going up and we didn't need the money so we said no. He immediately said, well, I might be able to do a little better. Red flag!
DeleteNow might be a good time to sell with the price of gold being so good. :-)
DeleteWow! Score! Nice for you 2,and for your Dad! In United States we had to spend most of what was in her account, 4 thousand of her money, so we went shopping with her, she had a blast as well us too! New tv, and furniture, and other items.
ReplyDeleteShe's been gone now for ten years now.
Maybe it's different in Canadian coin. Well,take care Rawn Stone
We don't understand what you mean by your mother having to spend the money in her account? The money in my Dad's account goes to pay for him staying at the care home and his upkeep as well as paying the expenses on his house.
DeleteWell, she had to go in Medicare, so all her expenses were paid by the state of Oregon.
DeleteIt was Medicaid,not Medicare, all expenses paid by the state.
DeleteOk, now we understand. Having said that we probably might have put the money in another bank account under one of our names so that is she would have needed something that the government didn't pay for, such as clothing or just personal type items then the money would have been there for her.
DeleteExactly!
DeleteGood luck on the new RV! You two are true adventurers! Takes one to know one!
Thank you! :-)
DeleteIt's much convenient and affordable if you go to see dentist in China, wish you two have a lovely day~
ReplyDeleteWe will keep that in mind Anna if we ever go to China. It is also very inexpensive when we go to the dentist in Mexico. We never go to a dentist in Canada or the USA anymore, they charge way too much money.
DeleteSo glad you did this!! I was a little concerned that you'd say "oh well," and just put it in a garage sale for a few bucks. Even your share will help pay for that new motorhome...
ReplyDeleteWe are glad that we did this as well! There were no worries that we would have just sluffed them off, we knew that they had value and we wanted to make sure that we got that value for my Dad. By the way, we have done garage sales back in the day and the last one we had was the last one we will ever do, they just aren't worth the effort put into them. Next spring we will have an estate auction here, we think we will get more money for his stuff and we will get rid of more stuff that way too, at least we think we will. :-)
DeleteYes, our share will definitely be put towards our "new" motorhome that we have been saving for.