Do most coin shops provide free valuations for vintage and collector coins?

Many coin shops do provide free valuations; however, some charge a fee if the customer does not sell the coins to the coin shop, warns Taber Numismatics. Some coin shops, like Houston Coin Buyer, offer free appraisals for gold and silver coins in person or through mail, although the customer is responsible for shipping charges for the latter.

A disadvantage of getting a free valuation with the promise of selling the coins to the coin shop is that there's no opportunity to get a second opinion and perhaps a higher offer, notes Houston Coin Buyer. Coin shops that don't require that the customer sells the coins to them will typically give the customer values for each item or for the entire collection.