By Monty Siekerman
How would you like to lug around a 33 pound coin?
Brian Siden, a coin appraiser who spent a day at Liberty National Bank on Friday, said the Swedish plate coin from the 1750s is probably the most unusual coin brought to him for appraisal.
Sweden lacked silver to make coins, but the country had a lot of copper...so large copper coins were struck there. Movement of them to pay debts or purchase things was inconvenient, at best.
.
What about the Indian head penny, something that a number of people around here collect? He said the penny, struck between 1859 and 1909, may be worth as little as ten cents or valued at over a thousand dollars depending on condition—corrosion, wear, damage—and where it was struck and the year it was made.
Is ancient money extremely valuable? He said 2,000-year-old Roman coins could be worth less than $50 each or valued into the thousands.
One of the most valuable coins brought to him was an uncirculated $20 gold coin minted in Carson City in 1875, a rare date. Value: $14,000.
Stamp collecting has gone by the wayside, but Siden said that coin collecting still continues. He said a good number of people still attend coin shows and seeing younger people at the shows is encouraging.
Siden, who has collected coins since childhood and has appraised coins for 11 years, works for HCC Rare Coins in Maumee. He travels throughout Ohio and neighboring states to appraise coins brought to him. If a person wants to sell coins to HCC at an agreed upon price, then HCC buys them and resells them on the internet, to wholesalers, or at the store in Maumee (419-893-2200).
He emphasized that those with coins stored at home or kept at a bank are under no obligation to sell to him. He said he tries to treat the customer fairly so that they will recommend him to others. And, he said that a lot of people aren’t ready to sell their collections at the first meeting, but if treated right will return to him when they want to dispose of coins.
For large collections, he will meet people at their homes.
