Money
Found a coin or bill that could be worth thousands of dollars? These are the 4 things you should never do
Digging through old drawers or going through the attic you may stumble across a treasure. But be careful what you do next, or you could make it worthless.
Four years ago, when Americans were forcibly cooped up at home, many took advantage of the confinement to start new hobbies, one of which was collecting rare coins and banknotes. While the market is “resettling” after becoming “somewhat inflated” there are still numismatists, people who collect coins, that are willing to spend a fortune for the certain specimens.
And you never know where a sought after coin or banknote might be found. Digging through a drawer, cleaning out the attic or like “The Great Kentucky Hoard.” The latter was discovered by a farmer buried in his field which contained over 700 rare gold and silver coins from the Civil War era.
But should you stumble across one of these treasures, you’ll want to avoid making a series of mistakes that could see the value of your prize diminish or vanish altogether.
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Found a coin or bill that could be worth thousands of dollars? These are the 4 things you should never do
If you are fortunate enough to have found a high-value coin or banknote, “don’t ‘wing it’” says GOBankingRates when trying to appraise your newfound treasure and figure out the in-and-outs of selling it on your own. You definitely want to speak to someone who knows a thing or two about numismatics, the study and collecting of things used as money. But you shouldn’t just speak to any Joe Schmoe, but someone who is reputable.
“Members of the Professional Numismatists Guild follow a strict Code of Ethics in buying and selling numismatic merchandise,” Donn Pearlman, spokesman for the guild, told the outlet. You can use the PNG directory to locate one near you who has knowledge in the area that you need advice on.
Another big no-no is trying to clean precious coins to pretty them up. While one would think that a shiny coin would be more highly prized than one whose age is showing, polishing a coin could dramatically slash its value. Perhaps by half, or even more.
That said, you want to keep the coin or banknote in the best possible condition once it has been discovered. That means avoid causing any harm to it once it’s in your possession.
You want to handle coins as little as possible to avoid getting skin oils on them. With banknotes, don’t even think about folding them to more easily store them.
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