Frequently Asked Questions

The government made special quarters, halves, and Ike Dollars to celebrate the Bicentennial. Because so many were minted, they are still just worth the face value.

Wheat cents were minted from 1909 to 1958. Most are very common, and are worth about 2 cents each. There are some rare dates, mostly in the teen years. If your wheats are in coin folders, or you have the early years separated, we can look and see if you have some we can pay more for.

We are available to do in home or in bank appointments. Please call or email us for more details.

We pretty much just handle coins, paper money, and gold and silver related items.

We do buy all foreign coins and paper money. Many are common, and do not bring much value. However, if you do have an unusual or rare item, we can pay top price, as we know collectors and specialists who need foreign, ancient and medievil coins. We can pay well for foreign silver and gold coins too.

Yes, we do handle a number of items that are popular as gifts. The ones we sell the most of include silver eagles in nice holders, proof sets - both current year, and past years, and birth year coins. For example, for someone born in 1942, we have nice looking 1942 coins that can be put in special gift holders.

I think the best book on coins is the "Red Book". Published by Whitman, it has come out every year for about 60 years. It has alot of good information about collecting, grading, values, and varieties. It's sister publication is the "Blue Book". It does not have as much information, but tends to be more accurate when trying to find a value for a coin you'd like to sell. We do have both books available at our stores.

We try and stock the parks quarters and Presidential dollar coins in Uncirculated condition. We also have many different holders for them, including folders, maps and albums.

In general, we can pay a premium for coins that are silver, or collectable. Below is a chart of the years to look for:

• Dollars: 1935 and older
• Half dollars: 1970 and older
• Quarters and Dimes: 1964 and older
• Nickels: 1945 and older
• (some) Cents: 1958 and older

In 1943, the government made cents out of steel because we needed the copper for the war. They are a neat item, but only worth around a couple cents  each. The reason is that there was over 1 Billion minted, and most were saved because they looked different.

The coins advertised on the different TV shows, and in the newspaper suppliments, etc. can be very interesting. They tend to come in fancy, informative packaging. The problem is that we have seen on average that they do charge 1 1/2 to 3 times what your local dealer will charge. That is not always the case, and we cannot always get what they sell, but it would pay to shop around.

The best advice I can give is to NOT clean your coins. There are a couple of safe ways to clean certain coins, but in general cleaning coins HURTS the value! It is better to leave them the way they are, or bring them in for us to look at for you.

It all really depends on the date, mintmark, and the condition of the coin. Current silver prices also have a large effect on the price. It's best to bring in your silver dollars for us to look at.

We carry a wide variety of gold and silver bullion in numerous varying weights.

We have a large selection of collectable coins and paper money of the world including everything from U.S. common wheat cents to unique or very rare items. We also have ancient coins. We do handle books and other supplies for coin collectors.

The Brookfield store is open:
M-F          10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 2pm

Most paper money from 1928 and newer does not have much of a premium. There are definately expensive notes, but most are not. The reason is lots of notes were made, and unlike coins, the date on the bills were not changed often. For example, a silver certificate with a 1935 date, may have been printed as late as 1956! The best thing is to bring them into one of our stores, but most silver certificates and red seal $2 bills are worth about 25 cents over face value.

We pretty much buy all precious metals with an emphasis on gold, silver, and platinum. We buy old coin silver, bullion silver and gold. Gold, silver and platinum eagles, maple leafs, krugerrands, and other bullion coins, silver bars, sterling silver coin and bar sets, and sterling flatware. Gold and platinum jewelry, dental gold and diamonds. Some industrial silver we can either buy, or send in for an assay. We buy sterling silver flatware, however, we typically do not buy flatware that is just plated in silver. If you are not sure, please contact us.

We are able to pay the highest prices because of the large amount of business we do, both wholesale and retail. We also try to be friendly and informative with our customers. And, with our various bank accounts and contacts, no collection is too large. Please see our we are buying page for more details.

We can pay a very competitive price for your coins, and make it an easy, pleasant experience. The problem with selling at an online auction, is all the work that is necessary. On top of that, you better know what you all have and how to group them and list them accurately to actually get something near to a good price. Lastly you have to pay all the listing fees, commissions, postage, and deal with getting paid, shipping, etc. We do occasionally sell on Ebay - but we have learned that the best things to sell there are the unique items (interesting tokens, etc.) that not everyone has.

We have always bought sterling silverware, including plates, forks spoons and knives, candlesticks, and many other items.  The value can add up quickly.  Recently we found a new refinery that will also now take most plated silverware.   Unfortunately the value is very low, but it is something, and keeps the items out of landfills, and helps clean up your clutter.  If you are not sure which you have, just bring it in and we can sort it our and let you know.  Real sterling items will almost always say "sterling" or ".925".