What to do with Eisenhower, Franklin, and Susan B dollars?

[kirispupis]

Hello everyone!

I'm cleaning out most of my modern coins and I came across a stash of Eisenhower, Franklin, and Susan B dollars that I've had for ages. All are circulated and I've already verified there are no 1972 Type II examples.

My wife wants to just take them to the bank and deposit them, but I was wondering if there's a way to get anything more than $1 each for them. I kind of wish they were in the hands of someone who appreciated them, but since there's over $100 worth I'm obviously not going to give them away.

Thank you for your help!

[DonnaML]

Other than looking on Ebay to see what similar specimens sell for and then trying to dispose of yours on Ebay yourself, I have no useful advice. I have a similar dilemma concerning my 30 or 40 old (and well-circulated!) Morgan and Peace silver dollars, which I acquired in my childhood, at the age of 8 or so, by going to a nearby bank and exchanging paper money my parents gave me, $5 at a time, for silver dollars back before 1964.  Surely the melt value must be > $1 apiece for them, even assuming that they have no numismatic value above that? Like you, though, I have no idea how to dispose of them.

[Operator1997]

I can't help but hold on to them, I have accumulated all the SBAs and $2 bills I've came across in my life. 

Franklin Silvers are definitely easier to sell though.

[Ryro]

I would recommend buying a Handbook of United States coins for 2024. That will let you know if you have anything special. That or take them into a local coin shop if you have one.

[ewomack]

You should be able to get above face value for the Franklins, even as "junk silver" if they're very circulated. The Ikes and the SBAs may prove trickier and, if circulated, may just bring face value. A few proof SBAs are fairly valuable, but it sounds like none of them are proofs. But getting a Red Book wouldn't hurt, or you could even search online since Red Books don't often include every known variation. I've sold a number of modern coins recently and I usually just do a quick search to see what prices currently exist. So far, the searches have given me pretty accurate results.

Edited October 31, 2024 by ewomack

[JayAg47]

Just spend the non silver coins like the Ikes and Susan B’s? I always find it amusing that Americans prefer bank notes more than coins! Also why isn’t the half dollar more widely used? You can’t give me it’s huge argument, have you seen the Australian 50 cent coin? Try having a bunch of them in your pocket and walk, yet it’s still a commonly used denomination here.

Edited November 1, 2024 by JayAg47

[CPK]

25 minutes ago, JayAg47 said:

Just spend the non silver coins like the Ikes and Susan B’s? I always find it amusing that Americans prefer bank notes more than coins! Also why isn’t the half dollar more widely used? You can’t give me it’s huge argument, have you seen the Australian 50 cent coin? Try having a bunch of them in your pocket and walk, yet it’s still a commonly used denomination here.

While you're answering that one maybe you can also find out why nobody here ever uses the $2 bill. 😉

 

[robinjojo]

If your Franklin halves are circulated, unless there are some "good dates", they are probably worth bullion value.  With silver at around $34 an ounce that's a consideration selling them.  The spot silver price for a Franklin half dollar is $11.86 as of today, but if the coins are extremely worn or damaged the value would be less.  Below VF seems to be the cutoff.  Most of the Franklin halves that I have seen sold at the spot price seem to be in the EF to AU range.  Silver and gold are on a roll right now.  I remember when silver hit $50 and ounce in March 1980, when the Hunt brothers attempted to corner that market.  I don't know if silver will reach that lofty level again, but demand is strong right now.

The Ike dollars are nickel clad over copper.  The proofs are worth more, but otherwise I can get them from my local dealer as spending money.  Ditto for the SBA dollars.

So the most valuable coins in the lot are the Franklin halves, in my view.  

Edited November 1, 2024 by robinjojo

[Original Skin Coins]

6 hours ago, DonnaML said:

Other than looking on Ebay to see what similar specimens sell for and then trying to dispose of yours on Ebay yourself, I have no useful advice. I have a similar dilemma concerning my 30 or 40 old (and well-circulated!) Morgan and Peace silver dollars, which I acquired in my childhood, at the age of 8 or so, by going to a nearby bank and exchanging paper money my parents gave me, $5 at a time, for silver dollars back before 1964.  Surely the melt value must be > $1 apiece for them, even assuming that they have no numismatic value above that? Like you, though, I have no idea how to dispose of them.

$25 in melt value alone for silver dollars right now, with silver at nearly $33/oz. $30-35 in numismatic value for common-dates, though with quite a few valuable date/mintmark combinations, it's worth checking a reference book. In either case, eBay is usually the best bet for maximum money if you are willing to put in the effort of creating listings, as most coin shops will offer much less. 

 

Ikes/SBAs and the like will be difficult to find a buyer for at more than face value, unless you were to sell them within an estate or yard sale. 

[kirispupis]

Thank you everyone for the responses!

In the end, I proposed taking them to a coin store to get face value for them - with the idea that they can use them as change.

My wife countered that I should just get over it, so she's taking them all to the bank today. It turns out I didn't have any Franklin Halves, so nothing else was worth anything more than face value. I did go through them to look for common variants and found none. I feel a bit sad because most of those dollars were Chanukah presents from when I was a kid, but I just need to accept that they'll never have much value during my lifetime and with inflation won't even be sufficient for giving out to kids...

[DonnaML]

I was inspired by @kirispupis to dig out the box containing my 3-ring binder of U.S. dollar and half-dollar coins, essentially untouched and rarely thought of since 1972 -- so for more than 50 years! -- to see what I have. I'm sure the plastic pages holding the coins weren't PVC-free, which probably explains why some of them have green stains and spots on them! Not as many as I feared, though. Time to order a bottle of 100% acetone to see what I can accomplish. I've seen varying advice on how long to soak them, ranging from a few minutes to 24 hours. Does anyone have an opinion?

Anyway, I found 24 Morgan silver dollars, 15 Peace silver dollars, 4 Eisenhower dollars (all from 1971), 11 Walking Liberty half-dollars, 10 Franklin half-dollars, 22(!) JFK half-dollars dated 1964 (with 90% silver content), 8 dated 1965-1970 (40% silver), and 6 dated 1971-1972 (no silver). I really don't remember why I have so many 1964 half-dollars. Maybe I (and/or my older sister and parents) knew that the silver content was being reduced the following year, and decided to save all the ones we came across? After 1972, I lost whatever minor interest I had had in collecting U.S. coins. Unlike most kids I knew growing up in New York City, I was always much less interested in U.S. coins than in world (especially British) coins -- why, I can't tell you -- and that interest has never disappeared. My interest in ancients came considerably later, except for my brief flirtation with spending my allowance on cheap LRBs at my local coin shop when I was about 8 or 9.

In any event, that's $7.00 face value in coins with no silver (4 Ike dollars and the 6 JFK halves from 1971-72) that I might as well just spend (after I give them an acetone bath) if I can get anyone to take them. As for the rest, I guess I should try to find someplace that will pay me something reasonable if I decide to get rid of them, as I probably will. There seem to be no uncommon dates or mint marks, and they're all circulated, some  more so than others.  Especially the Walking Liberty and Franklin halves, which some people must have gotten a lot of use out of.  I had forgotten that back in the 1960s, one could still find both kinds in change. A few of the silver dollars might qualify as being in "Fine" condition, although if they were ancient I'm sure there are dealers who would describe them as "AU"! The NGC price guide suggests that most common-date Morgan and Peace dollars in Fine condition sell for $40-$50, so hopefully I can get at least half that for the better examples among mine, which would still be something above the melt value, I believe. Less, of course, for the ones in lesser condition.

Edited November 2, 2024 by DonnaML