Roanoke Coin Shop and Roanoke VA Coin Shops are a few and far between. If you are looking to buy coins there are a few retail coin shops in the Roanoke area that you can choose from. Chances are if you are a coin collector you already have a shop you deal with on a regular basis in the area or online. As there are only 2 or 3 mentionable coin shops that you can choose from we thought we would cover the issue of where to sell your coins locally in Roanoke VA and which coin guys in the area are a best match for your needs.

Sell Your Coins In Roanoke VA – Call: 540-632-1755

Selling your coin collection might be frustrating because you may have paid high retail for you coins or purchased silver coins when silver was high and going for nearly $35-$40 per ounce and at the time of this article silver is only worth $19.00 an ounce and remember most silver coins only contain 35%-90% silver content. So, if silver is worth $20.00 per an ounce on the market – your 90% silver coin is only worth $18 in silver content and a dealer may only pay $15-$17 for that coin. You might have paid $50.00 for your coin and because silver dropped you will be taking a loss.

When you go to sell a common Morgan Dollar or American Eagle Silver Coin you may only get 80% of the silver value in that coin. Some dealers may pay more or less depending on the condition and grade of the coin. Generally most coin buyers pay about the same give or take a $1 on silver dollar coins. Most dealers buy common coins at silver value not coin collectability value. If you have a rare silver dollar like a CC (Carson City) or key date coin you will obviously get more. Remember coin buyers and coin dealers buy coins to make a PROFIT on them and resell them, so you will never get what your coin is “Really Worth”.

Terminology:

You will hear a lot of coin dealer terminology around coin collectors, coin shows, and coin shops. Below we will cover some of these terms.

Glossary of Common Coin Collecting Terms

-A-

Adjustment Marks
File marks made on the planchet to correct its weight.

Alloy
A mixture of more than one metal, e.g. the Sacagawea and Presidential Dollars are comprised of an alloy of .770 copper, .120 zinc, .070 manganese and .040 nickel.

American Eagle
Silver, gold and platinum bullion coins released by the US Mint starting in 1986.  The mint produces an investor version and two versions for the collector, a proof and uncirculated in special packaging.

ANA
American Numismatic Association is the largest nonprofit numismatic organization in the country.

AU
About Uncirculated refers to the coins condition or grade.

-B-

Bag Marks
Refers to small scratches and nicks caused by contact with other coins.

Blue Book
Nickname given to the annual price guide “Handbook of United States Coins”, which has a blue cover.  The books gives wholesale prices of what dealers might pay to other dealers for US coins.

Blue Ikes
Refers to mint state Eisenhower dollars composed of 40% silver and issued by the US Mint between 1971-1974, in blue envelopes.

Bourse/Bourse Floor
The area at a coin show or convention where dealers setup tables to display, buy and sell coins.

Brown Ikes
Refers to proof Eisenhower dollars composed of 40% silver and issued by the US Mint between 1971-1974, in a brown box.

BU
Brilliant Uncirculated refers to the coins condition or grade

Bullion/Bullion Coin
A coin (American Eagle) or other object (bars, ingots, etc…) consisting primarily of a precious metal, e.g. silver, gold, platinum

Business Strike
A coin minted for general circulation.

-C-

Cameo/Deep Cameo
Used to describe a Proof or Proof-Like coin in which the devices (like Washington’s portrait on a state quarter) are frosted and the fields are mirrored and reflective.  Giving the coin almost a black & white appearance.

Certified
A coin that has been authenticated and graded by one of the major grading service, like PCGS or NGS.

Circulated
Coins with obvious signs of wear due to being “circulated” in regular commerce.

Clad
Coins made from more than one layer of metal, e.g. quarters since 1965 have a pure copper core, with the outer layers copper-nickel (.750 copper, .250 nickel).

Contact Marks
Refers to small scratches and nicks caused by contact with other coins.

Cull
A coin that is extremely worn or damaged.

Deep Mirror Proof-Like (DMPL)
A description given to Morgan Dollars that have heavily frosted devices and mirrored fields, which result in a cameo appearance.

Device
The principal raised element, such as Ms. Liberty on the obverse and the eagle on the reverse of the Walking Liberty half dollar.

Double Eagle
A US gold coin with a face value of $20.

-E-

Eagle
A US gold coin with a face value of $10.

E Pluribus Unum
Latin for “Out of Many, One”.

EF or XF
Extremely Fine refers to the coins condition or grade.

Encapsulated Coin
A coin that has been sealed in a plastic holder by a third-party grading service.

Exonumia
A broad category on non-money numismatic items, including medals, tokens and badges.

-F-

Field
The flat surface or background of a coin.

Flip
Refers to a soft plastic holder with two pouches.

FB/Full Bands
Refers to the fully separated and distinct cross bands on the reverse of a Mercury dime.

FBL/Full Bell Lines
Refers to the lower horizontal lines on the Liberty Bell, which is on the reverse of the Franklin half dollar.

FS/Full Steps
Refers to the steps of Monticello on the reverse of the Jefferson Nickel.  Six steps should be visible if the coin is fully stuck.

F.U.N.
Florida United Numismatists and they host one of the nation’s largest coin conventions every January.

-G-

Grade or grading
A term used to determine the coins condition.

-K-

Key/Key Date
Refers to the scarcest coin in a series and carries a higher price. e.g. 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent

-L-

Luster
The brilliance or shine of coin and is considered to be one of the main factors in the coins value and grade.

-M-

Mintmark
A small letter(s) designating where the coin was produced.

C = Charlotte, NC (gold coins only; 1838-1861)
CC = Carson City, NV (1870-1893)
D = Dahlonega, GA (gold coins only; 1838-1861)
D = Denver, CO (1906 to date)
O = New Orleans, LA (1838-1909)
P or No Mintmark = Philadelphia, PA (1793 to date)
S = San Francisco, CA (1854 to date)
W = West Point, NY (1984 to date)

Mint Set
An Official set containing one uncirculated coin for each denomination made that year.

MS/Mint State
A term to describe a coin in the condition as it left the mint, also are uncirculated coins or BU.

-N-

NGC
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation is one of the major grading companies.

Numismatics
The study, art or collection of coins, medals, tokens and similar objects.

Numismatist
A person who is knowledgeable in the collecting of coins, medals, token and similar objects.

-O-

Obverse
The front or heads of a coin.

-P-

Patina
A term used to describe the lighter shades of toning on a coin.

PCGS
Professional Coin Grading Service is one of the major grading companies.

Proof
A specially produced coin made from highly polished planchets and dies and often struck more than once to accent the design.  Proof coins receive the highest quality strike possible and can be distinguished by their sharpness of detail and brilliant, mirror-like surface and sometimes cameo effect.

Proof Set
A complete set of proof coins for each denomination made that year and specially packaged.

-Q-

Quarter Eagle
A $2.50 face value US gold coin.

-R-

Raw
Refers to a coin that has not been certified by a third party grading company.

Red Book
“A Guide Book of United States Coins”, the one with the red cover.  It’s a retail price guide, along with other valuable information.

Relief
The part of a coin’s design that is raised above the surface.

Reverse
The back of the coin or tails.

Rim
The raised outer edge of the coin, that helps protect the design from wear.

-S-

Slab
A nickname referring to coins that have been graded by a third party service and placed in a plastic holder.

Special Mint Sets (SMS)
During the years of 1965-1967 the mint did not make proof sets, instead they issued mints sets with proof-like coins.  Then in 2005 the mint started making their mint sets with coins that have a satin-like finish to them, instead of using business strike uncirculated coins.

Strike
The act of impressing the image on to the planchet.  The quality of the strike is an important part of the grading process.

-T-

Toning
Coloring on the surface of a coin caused by a chemical reaction, such as sulfur from older cardboard books, flips or envelopes.  Rainbow-colored toning and original toning is often a desirable characteristic to many collectors.

Type Set
A collection of one coin for each denomination and/or a particular design.

-U-

Uncirculated/Unc
Refers to a coin that has never been in circulation, has no wear, but may have bag marks and/or toning.

-V-

VAM
A comprehensive book on Morgan & Peace Dollars written by Van Allen and Mallis.  Their system gives reference numbers to particular die varieties.  There are clubs and collectors dedicated only VAM varieties.

Variety
Any coin that differs from another with the same date and mintmark.  Like the 1909 Lincoln Cents, some have the VDB and some do not.

-W-

Want List
A list given to a dealer from a collector listing coins the collector needs for a collection.

Whizzed/Whizzing
Severe polishing of a coin, generally with a wire brush or polishes, like silver polish for silverware.  This practice may make the coin look nicer at first, but it greatly lowers the value of the coin.

WIN
Women In Numismatics is a nonprofit organization.

-Y-

Year Set
A collection of all coins for any given year.