An inherited collection usually arrives as a tin, a drawer or a box of albums, and the first question is always the same.

The honest answer is that most inherited Australian collections are worth less than the family hopes and more than a scrap dealer will offer. Working out which applies takes a few careful hours.

Before anything else, do not do these three things

Do not clean anything. Cleaning is the fastest way to destroy value in an old collection, and dark toning on silver is frequently desirable. A collection that arrives tarnished should be left tarnished.

Do not break up sets. A complete year set, a proof set in its case, or a series in an album is worth more together. Loose coins from a broken set are worth much less than the set was.

Do not accept the first offer. Anybody who offers to buy the lot sight unseen for a round number is pricing in their own margin and your inconvenience.

Step one. Sort into four groups

Sealed and cased. Proof sets, coins in original mint packaging, anything with a certificate. This is where the value usually is. Leave it sealed.

Pre-decimal. Australian coins dated 1966 and earlier. Silver content matters here. Australian silver coins from 1946 to 1964 are fifty per cent silver, and earlier ones are ninety-two and a half per cent. Even worn examples have a metal floor.

Decimal collector issues. Uncirculated and proof coins from 1966 onwards, usually in cards or capsules.

Circulating and foreign. Loose change, holiday leftovers, jars of copper. Occasionally holds something. Usually does not.

Step two. Write it down

Build a spreadsheet. One row per coin or set. Record the denomination, the year, any mint mark, the finish, whether packaging and certificates are present, and the condition in plain words.

Photograph every item, both sides, in daylight, without touching the surface. Photograph the certificates too.

This list is what a valuer, a dealer, an insurer and an executor will all ask for. Doing it once saves doing it four times.

Step three. Learn what drives the number

Four things set the price of a collected coin.

Rarity. How many were made, and how many survive in that condition.

Condition. The difference between a worn coin and an untouched one is frequently ten times the price. This is why handling matters so much.

Completeness. Case, certificate and box present, or not.

Demand. What people are actively buying right now, which changes.

Metal value is the floor, not the answer. A silver coin cannot be worth less than its silver, but a collectable coin worth only its silver is a coin that has lost its collector premium.

Step four. Use a reference

The standard Australian reference is Renniks Australian Coin and Banknote Values, updated regularly. It lists catalogue values by year, denomination and grade, and it is the book Australian dealers and collectors work from.

Renniks Australian Coin and Banknote Values 33rd Edition (/products/renniks-australian-coin-banknote-values-33rd-ed) at forty-nine dollars ninety-five.

For a collection that includes odd or misstruck coins, Renniks Australian Pre-Decimal and Decimal Coin Errors (/products/renniks-australian-pre-decimal-decimal-coin-errors) at thirty-four dollars ninety-five.

Read catalogue values as a guide rather than a price. They describe a retail figure in a stated grade. A private seller should expect less, sometimes considerably less, and the grade assigned by an optimistic owner is usually a grade or two high.

Step five. Get a real valuation if the numbers warrant it

Where the reference suggests the collection runs to thousands, a professional valuation is worth paying for. Options in Australia include member dealers of the Australasian Numismatic Dealers Association, auction houses that run regular numismatic sales, and independent valuers for insurance and probate purposes.

Ask what the valuation is for before commissioning it. An insurance valuation, a probate valuation and an offer to purchase are three different numbers, and the highest of them is not the one a seller will receive.

A valuation for insurance is written at replacement cost. A dealer's offer reflects what they can resell it for. Expect a gap.

Please note

Mint Coin Shop sells new coins sourced directly from The Royal Australian Mint, The Perth Mint and Agoro by New Zealand Mint. It does not value coins, grade coins, buy collections or offer storage.

This page exists because the question is asked constantly and a straight answer is hard to find. The reference books above are the practical next step, and they are the same ones the trade uses.

For those starting a collection rather than inheriting one, see how to start collecting Australian coins on our website.