We have been going through the process of moving my 87 year old mother out of my childhood home and into an Independent Living facility.
During a visit yesterday to her old house, I was presented with a cool old wooden, Cuban cigar box of old coins and a few bills.
These were a collection of coins kept by my father's uncle.
There are about 50 Silver Dollars from years 1888 to 1935. Most are 1923 and earlier.
About 15 are Morgan Dollars
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1921-Morgan-Dollar-/320975479086?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item4abba1212e
There are also about 35 of these Silver Peace Dollars
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1923-Peace-Silver-Dollar-90-Silver-Coin-Free-Shipping-/380468125751?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item5895aae037
There are nickles from 1898 to 1912 which seem to be Liberty Nickels, there are Buffalo Nickles, lots of Dimes from these same era of 1888 to 1923. No pennies except a very few.
There is a cool $20 Confederate Bill and two US big $1 bills from 1923. Also a $2 bill from 1928.
None of these are Mint quality, just some cool coins saved in a cigar box. No other methods of preservation or presentation.
So, what do I have here?
I am not interested in converting it into spendable cash but I am sort of interested in putting a value on it all. Is there really any way to trust an appraiser? Do I just have to buy the books and search ebay myself to establish a value?
wbjones
UltraDork
9/9/12 10:41 a.m.
there are many reputable dealers and appraisers out there ... can't really help you find anything in your area ...
the people I deal with the most are South Park coins ( Forney Tx .... 972 552-1150 ... http://www.southparkcoins.com/ )
they have treated me very fairly for over 20 yrs
Nice score.
Whatever you do, don't clean the coins. The patina is often the valuable part.
Woody
MegaDork
9/9/12 11:12 a.m.
I'm glad that you posted this, as it reminded me that I have a Confederate $100 bill that I should get checked out. I've had it since the end of the war.
As an aside, Confederate bills are worthless outside of a collector. Confederate bonds have even less value.
I will give you a $1 each for those silver dollars 
Heck I will be generous and give you $2 for them...
All joking aside try and find someone reputable there to take a look at them and see what you have. Some will more than likely only be worth their silver value especially if they are fairly well circulated. Normally unless they are a rare minting or uncirculated they are not going to be worth very much. I have a jar full of '64 and earlier US coins that are mostly considered "junk" silver and really only have value as their silver content. If you were closer SWMBO's father could help you go through it as he has been a coin collector most of his life and can spot even the smallest detail that could mean the coin is worth something or not.
Interestingly enough there is starting to be a growing demand for these junk silver coins and in some cases people are beginning to use them as barter items for other goods. I have known several people that have had items for sale on Craigslist and have been offered payment in silver coin. I always make sure to search my change I get for any of the older silver coins.
DoctorBlade wrote:
As an aside, Confederate bills are worthless outside of a collector. Confederate bonds have even less value.
The coins are only worth their face value outside of a collector as well. But as long as there are collectors...
wbjones wrote:
there are many reputable dealers and appraisers out there ... can't really help you find anything in your area ...
There are also many that aren't so reputable...the trick will be finding the good guys.
One thing to note about Confederate bills - there were a lot of them reprinted, primarily 100 years after the civil war. There are a lot more of those out there than original ones.
Keith Tanner wrote:
DoctorBlade wrote:
As an aside, Confederate bills are worthless outside of a collector. Confederate bonds have even less value.
The coins are only worth their face value outside of a collector as well. But as long as there are collectors...
If you mean that as of the Fourteenth Amendment both are legally "worthless" as fiat currency. I know there are cases of hapless groups of investors suing various former confederate states or the US government hoping to force the issue on those old Bonds. Hasn't worked yet. 
