Selling my collection of foreign (non-US) currency

April 15, 2017 12:58 PM

I used to actively collect foreign currency (coins and banknotes), at least half of which are no longer in circulation. I now want to sell the collection - either in bulk or small lots/individually. While I realize my collection probably isn't worth much, I'd like to know what I can do to earn the most profit from its sale.

Most of these were given to me as a teenager, as gifts from neighbors who traveled for work and new I collected them. So I have little financial investment in them, which means anything I can get for them is profit.

The majority of my collection is from the 1960s through the late 1990s, but I have a handful from as early as the 1920s.

I have coins and/or banknotes from the following locations:

- Every (pre-Euro) member of the EU
- Iceland
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Singapore
- Laos
- Bhutan
- India
- Malaysia
- Vietnam
- China
- Hong Kong
- South Korea
- United Arab Emirates
- Tunisia
- Iraq (while Saddam was still in power and on the banknotes)
- USSR and Russia
- Turkey
- Egypt
- Kenya
- Peru
- Bermuda
- Aruba
- Honduras
- Grand Cayman
- Ecuador
- Dominican Republic

- A handful of as-yet-unidentified coins from countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America

- German "notgeld" Emergency banknotes from the 1920s, in pristine condition

Almost all of the banknotes are in pristine condition; the condition of the coins, however, vary. A few are heavily soiled, some show normal wear and tear from being in circulation, others look like they've never been touched a day in their life.

Should I just sell them individually, as opposed to in small lots or as one bulk lot?

Am I better off selling on Ebay? Or to some kind of third party/service?

What is the best resource for determining the market value of these coins?

What is the best resource for identifying my unknown coins?

Anything else I should know?

Thanks in advance!

posted by nightrecordings to Work & Money (3 answers total)

Best answer: Go to Reddit's /r/coins community and post pictures (front and back) with a textual description. They will give fair estimates of the value, as well as advice on liquidating the collection. There's also a comparable community for the bills, linked to in the righhand sidebar of those pages. They're a very friendly, patient group who handles questions like this all the time.

Alternately, just send them to me, and I will make sure they get plenty of exercise on my farm upstate. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 4:26 AM on April 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Perfect, did not know about that subreddit! Thank you wenestvedt!
posted by nightrecordings at 4:49 PM on April 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

You betcha!

I found a tub of coins in a store last week that I got for four bucks. There were two nickels from 1902 & 1910, and a penny from 1837, among other cool things. And that subreddit is where I learned a much of stuff from very friendly people.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:15 PM on April 16, 2017