Just curious are damaged coins worth anything?? When I say damaged I mean bent, holes in the coin, etc...
If you can figure out if they are silver, dealers may buy them for scrap. To see current melt prices for silver coins go to www.coinflation.com I have a baggie with old dateless silver in it that I will take next time I go to a coin shop. What I do is trade towards something I need.
Besides those with bullion value, occasionally a really rare coin will be found in damaged condition, and will be worth a small fraction of the value of an undamaged example - for instance a damaged 1921D Walking Liberty might bring a few bucks on EBay. There are collectors who specialize in holed coins, and to one of them any coin that they don't already have might also be worth a buck or so. Remember, the "worth" of a coin is what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller, which is not necessarily the same as "market value", which is what "most" buyers would pay "most" sellers.
It depends on the type of damage and degree of damage. If the damage is a neat hole or a slight bend in an otherwise numismatically valuable coin, it can still be worth between 1/3 and 2/3 of what the coin would sell for in the same condition, but undamaged. Silver coins with no dates or mintmarks are probably worth melt value or a slight discount to melt at a coin dealer. This is my opinion only and what I've seen similar coins sell for. I don't think there is any rule to follow. Some collectors won't even look at a damaged coin regardless of price. Others don't mind if it enables them to acquire a date/mintmark that would otherwise be out of their price range.
With coins before 1800, if they are rare, they will still be worth lots holed, bent and scratched....seriously-a holed potrait coin of Julius Ceaser might cost $500 as opposed to four times the amount for a unholed one in better conditon..
Even An Ugly Coin Can Make You Happy I have an 1877 Indian Head Cent that is badly worn and scratched on the obverse. I sent in to ANACS or verification more than for grading. It is valued at $750 in the Red book and $850 in Coin Values website at G-4. Considering the probable outcome of the grading it won't be worth anywhere those figures. But the 1877 being the key coin it'll have a place in my collection and I can always upgrade if I have the $$ to do so. It's the only one I have and am grateful for that. (Providing it comes back as authentic.) Sometimes you can't afford the quality coin you'd like. But in this case it completed my collection. That made me happy. Bruce:kewl:
