Coin dealers in NYC?

July 16, 2008 8:08 AM

Can anyone recommend a good coin dealer in New York City? I have a bunch of old coins, I'm not sure whether any of them are worth anything, but they're cool anyway and I'd like advice on preservation. Also of course I'd want an appraisal on anything of value. I'm totally new to this, though, and don't know where good advice is to be found.
posted by maniabug to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

First off - don't do anything to the coins themselves for preservation aside from put them in an airless container, preferably one that does not allow them to touch each other. You can damage the value of coins by putting foriegn substances on them to make them shiny/protect them, and anything you can to to stop them getting scratched is useful.

I don't know much about the new york scene, but the word to google for is 'numismatics'.
posted by Sparx at 9:44 AM on July 16, 2008

Response by poster: Thanks! Advice well taken, I'm not going to hit them with the ol' brillo pad or tarn-x or even the bead blaster in the hangar. :-)
posted by maniabug at 9:57 AM on July 16, 2008

Stack's on West 57th Street is one of the most reputable coin dealers in the city. I've been there a few times over the years and they've always been helpful and informative.
posted by JaredSeth at 12:11 PM on July 16, 2008

Response by poster: Cool, it's even near me. Thanks for the pointer! Long live Mefi!
posted by maniabug at 3:14 PM on July 16, 2008

If you can wait until September, see the American Numismatic Society. They used to be located in Harlem and are moving to Tribeca. Do NOT clean old coins.
posted by bad grammar at 6:44 PM on July 16, 2008

Oh wow, bad grammar. I know this is totally off base in an AskMe but do you know what they've done with their old location? Their building in Harlem (and Trinity Cemetery) have always been one of my favorite places uptown. If I had to guess, part of Columbia's never ending expansion?
posted by JaredSeth at 7:15 PM on July 16, 2008

Response by poster: <notcleaningmycoins>

Yeah I saw that ANS is moving, and look forward to checking them out when they reopen.

I also found a dealer named John Kraljevich on the ANA's Web site, wrote him an inquiry. I got a very nice note back suggesting several reference works and steering me to Stacks. This is going to be fun!

Suggested reading copied here for the general aedification:
Guide Book of U.S. Coins
Walter Breen's Encyclopedia
100 Greatest US Coins and 100 Greatest U.S. Tokens and Medals
Books by Dave Bowers
Periodicals: Coin World, Coinage, The Numismatist

Thanks everyone for your help!
Jason

</notcleaningmycoins>
posted by maniabug at 6:23 AM on July 17, 2008