Oakton Coins & Collectibles is one of the best coin stores near Oak Brook.

We’re interested in buying every kind of gold, from old yellow or white gold jewelry to contemporary designer pieces. Even damaged, broken, or outdated jewelry holds value. We also purchase estate collections, dental gold, and bullion. Every karat level, including 10k, 14k, 18k, 22k, and 24k, is accepted. Items with gemstones such as diamonds, sapphires, or emeralds are carefully appraised so both the gold and gems are taken into account. Whether it’s coins, bars, or personal jewelry, we make the selling process simple and rewarding.

Tips for Selling Coin Collections around Oakbrook

The value of coins depends on several moving factors, and understanding those factors will help you get the price that your collection is worth.   For instance, some coins are only worth face value, while others are worth many times more and the average person wouldn’t know the difference.  But you can’t assume that all the coins are worth more than face value either.  Collectors don’t always choose valuable coins; they might collect coins only for their art, or only coins from a certain historical period, etc.  Oakton Coins has put together this list of tips to help you sell your coins.  No matter what type of collection you have in your possession, we can help.

When looking for a place to sell your coins, it can be overwhelming to know what to look for. Here at Oakton Coins & Collectibles, we understand that selling your coins can be a burdensome task.   We are here to help you with the process, whether you are a life-long collector or you have just inherited a collection.  Although you have many options to sell your coins or your coin collection, we can provide guidance and make it a pleasant experience. 

Terminology/ Types of value

Clickbait Pricing:  Clickbait (also known as link bait or linkbait) is a link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to click the link and to view online content that is typically deceptive, sensationalized, or plain misleading.  One of the most common clickbait headlines are get-rich-quick stories of a typical coins being allegedly worth very large sums of money. The prices shown are of course not real, but unfortunately, they do deceive many readers that fall for the bait. 

Real-World Pricing: Real world pricing is true market value.  It is a price that is mutually beneficial for both the buyer and the seller.  Any previous assumption or opinion about the price are only that.  A coin is worth what a buyer will pay for it, and what someone pays is dependent in part by its numismatic value, and its melt value.

Melt Value Pricing: Melt value is also a real-world value.  It is based on what the recycling facility will pay for that particular metal. All precious metal value is dependent on the precious metal content, its purity and weight.  Since it is tied to the precious metal market, melt-value fluctuates daily so it is not a fixed value.  Older American coins (before 1965) and other collectible coins may actually contain gold, silver or copper.  The US Mint does sell special edition coins that contain platinum.  In addition to the melt-value, silver and gold coins could potentially have numismatic value on top of that, depending on rarity and condition.

Numismatics: Originating from the French word for money, numismatics refers to the study of money: coins, paper currency, and other articles such as medals. The essential rule is that the more rare the coin is and the better the condition, the higher the price.  Rarity and condition is not something that is readily apparent to a lay person, which is where the studying comes in.  Expertise in numismatics is needed to properly evaluate the worth of a coin.  Oakton Coins & Collectibles has numismatic experts at your disposal which can help you save a lot of time.  We give free evaluations without any obligation to sell your coins.  

Coin price guides:  There are coin reference guides that can help you establish a sensible price range for a coin. However it is worth mentiongin that these guides tend to have inflated values.  If you want to buy a coin, these references are good to check, but if you are selling a collection, it’s unlikely you will see prices close to these.  Keeping in mind real world pricing, you may need to search for the right buyer for each coin if you are expecting those prices.

What a Mess!: We Can Help

When it comes to organizing coins, there are several different methods of categorizing, but one to stay away from is to organize by date.   If you inherited a messy coin collection, don’t panic. You don’t have to organize them before you bring them to us. At Oakton Coins, our appraisals begin by sorting the coins into a few meaningful categories.  You can organize them yourself, but please use the below categories.  Since these are the groupings we look for, we would have to undo all your hard work, and the last thing we would want is for you to waste your time.

When we appraise a coin collection, we separate coins by their makeup (e.g. copper, nickel, silver, or gold), and then by denomination and key years. If you decide to organize, use 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

Understanding the Origins of the Collection

Each collection is unique and personal and depends on the collector’s interests.  Knowing more about how the collection originated can help you understand the potential value of your coin collection. 

Can you determine how much the collector spent on the coins or how regularly they bought?  Are there any invoices or canceled checks from coin shops or auctions?  Do you know if there was an insurance policy?  Does the will mention the coins?  

The answers to these questions can be a good guide to the collection’s possible worth, but coin value is subject to multiple factors. Here is a reminder of a couple key factors. First, the metals market fluctuates daily so a gold coin may be worth more or less the day after it is appraised, bought or sold.  Second, the value is ultimately what a buyer agrees to pay a willing seller. 

A final concern that some sellers go through is deciding if they want to sell their entire coin collection.   Our recommendation is to get the information first and that might enlighten your decision.  Some people end up only selling the most valuable parts and save the rest as a keepsake.   Some families decided to split up the coins equally and then each individual makes their own choice about selling.  In the even that the collection doesn’t hold much monetary value, some decide to pass it on to a younger person that might be interested in starting a collectino of their own. 

Places NOT to sell gold around Oak Brook.

• • Jewelry Stores and Pawn Shops – Jewelry stores understand jewelry and pawn shops understand high interest loans, but only coins shops understand coins.  Going to one of these places will get you a small percentage of melt-value.  It’s doubtful they would recognize any numismatic value at all.
  • ebay – ebay is an online marketplace for everything including coins.  While many coins are sold on ebay, this can be very time consuming, especially if you are not an experienced seller, and there are also fees. Click here for more information.

Sell gold near me, sell gold locally near Oak Brook.

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